If you’ve spent hours grinding for copper ore or fending off Shroud wraiths alone in Enshrouded, you already know the game is 10x more fun with a crew. Figuring out how to invite friends in Enshrouded doesn’t have to be a headache, even if you’ve run into weird connection pop-ups or can’t find the invite button buried in menus. I’ve spent dozens of hours running co-op sessions with 4 of my closest friends, and I’ve worked through every common error and hidden setting to make the process as smooth as possible. I’ve had my fair share of frustrations too — once I spent 20 minutes trying to send an invite to my roommate before I realized I’d left my world set to single player. This guide will walk you through every step, from setting up your world to fixing issues that pop up mid-session.
How to Invite Friends in Enshrouded: Step-by-Step for All Platforms
Once you’ve got your initial world settings sorted, the actual process of how to invite friends in Enshrouded takes less than a minute, no matter if you’re playing on PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S. First, load into your saved world, then hit the escape key (or the start button on console) to pull up the main menu. Navigate to the “Social” tab, where you’ll see three lists: your platform friends, your in-game Keen Games friends, and players currently in your world. Make sure your world is set to “Friends Only” or “Public” before you load in, because you can’t change this setting once the world is running.
To send an invite, just find your friend’s name on the list, click it, and select “Send Invite”. They’ll get a pop-up in their game or platform notifications that lets them join directly. If you’re playing cross-platform, you’ll need to add your friend via their Keen Games username first, not their Steam, PSN, or Xbox gamertag. Cross-play invites require all players to link their Keen Games account to their platform of choice, even if you’re playing on Steam. You can link your account through the game’s main menu settings in 2 minutes flat.
If you don’t want to send invites every time you play, you can add friends to your “Allowed List” when you first create your world. Anyone on that list can join your world whenever it’s active without needing a separate invite, which saves a lot of time if you play with the same group regularly.
Pre-Session Settings to Avoid Headaches Before Sending Invites
A little prep before you load your world can save you hours of troubleshooting later, especially if you’re playing with a mix of new and experienced players. First, decide on your player limit: Enshrouded supports up to 8 players per co-op world, but smaller groups of 2-4 tend to have less lag, especially if the host has a slower internet connection. Set your world to “Persistent” if you want builds and progress to stay even when the host is offline — most players miss this setting when they first create a world, and end up losing 10 hours of build progress when the host logs off for the night.
You’ll also want to adjust difficulty settings to match your group’s skill level. If you’re playing with people who are new to survival games, you can turn down enemy damage and increase resource spawn rates to make the early game less frustrating. Public worlds are great if you want to meet new players, but you run the risk of random players destroying your builds, so stick to friends only if you’ve spent dozens of hours on your base.
Before you send any invites, run through this quick checklist to eliminate 90% of common issues:
- Confirm all players have installed the latest game patch, as mismatched versions will block invites entirely
- Verify that every player’s internet connection has at least 3Mbps upload speed if they’re hosting, to avoid lag during base building or large fights
- Decide if you want to enable PvP before loading the world, as this setting can’t be toggled mid-session
- Double check that you’ve added all players to your in-game Keen Games friends list if you’re playing cross-platform
Mismatched game versions are the #1 cause of failed invites for Enshrouded co-op, so if someone can’t join, ask them to check for updates first before you start messing with other settings. I’ve had entire sessions delayed by 30 minutes because one of my friends forgot to turn on automatic updates for the game.
Fixes for Common Enshrouded Friend Invite Errors
Even if you follow all the pre-session steps, you might run into the occasional error, especially right after a new game patch drops. The most common error is “Invite Failed to Send”, which usually means one of three things: your friend is already in another Enshrouded session, they haven’t accepted your Keen Games friend request, or your internet connection dropped temporarily. If you get this error, close and re-open the social tab, then send the invite again — that fixes it 80% of the time.
Another common issue is not seeing your friend in the invite list at all. This is almost always a cross-play problem. Make sure your friend gave you their correct Keen Games username (capitalization matters!), and that they have cross-play enabled in their settings. If you still can’t find them, have them send you a friend request instead, that usually bypasses the search glitch.
If your friend gets a “Disconnected Immediately After Joining” error, the issue is almost always on the host’s end. The host might have a firewall blocking Enshrouded’s connection, or their internet might be dropping packets. If you keep getting connection errors, have the host restart their router before sending new invites — this fixes 70% of common co-op issues I’ve run into. If you’re on PC, you can also add Enshrouded as an exception to your Windows Defender firewall to stop it from blocking incoming connections.
If you’re still struggling to figure out how to invite friends in Enshrouded after trying these fixes, check the official game forums for known server issues, especially if there was a recent patch. Sometimes the game’s co-op servers go down for maintenance, and there’s nothing you can do but wait a little while.
Tips for a Smooth Multiplayer Session After Inviting Friends
Once everyone is in the world, there are a few small things you can do to make your session way more fun for everyone. First, assign loose roles based on what people enjoy doing. If one of your friends loves building, let them handle base design while the rest of the group gathers resources and explores the Shroud. If someone is really good at combat, let them lead boss fights. You don’t have to stick to strict roles, but having a loose plan stops everyone from running off and doing the same task over and over.
Make sure you use the game’s shared map features to keep everyone on the same page. You can mark resource veins, boss locations, and base spots on the map that everyone in your group can see, so no one gets lost in the Shroud or wastes time looking for iron ore that someone already mined. You can also set down shared waypoints at temporary campfires so everyone can fast travel to exploration spots without having to walk across the entire map.
Help out new players by giving them spare gear early on. There’s no worse feeling than joining a friend’s world that’s 20 hours in, only to spawn with a stone axe and get one-shot by the first wolf you see. Keep a chest of spare iron tools, armor, and healing potions near your spawn point so new players can gear up quickly. You can share items with friends by dropping them on the ground, or placing them in a shared chest at your base that everyone can access.
Don’t be afraid to take breaks and mess around too. Some of my favorite Enshrouded memories have nothing to do with progressing the main quest — they’re from building ridiculous floating bases or having glider races off the top of the Spire with my friends. The game is designed to be flexible, so you don’t have to stick to a strict to-do list if you’d rather mess around.
Playing Enshrouded with friends turns a fun survival crafting game into a memorable adventure, whether you’re building a giant castle in the mountains or taking down the Fell Wyrm for the first time. Once you know how to invite friends in Enshrouded and work through the small common kinks, you’ll be able to jump into sessions together with zero stress. Don’t be afraid to tweak your world settings as you go, and remember that even the occasional connection error is worth it for the chaos of fighting a horde of Shroud monsters side by side with people you enjoy playing with. Happy exploring!