Qcord
- By
Faces above heads, screen shares with sound, and party voice chat, all client side and working on any server without a plugin
Qcord
Webcams above players' heads, screen shares on your HUD with their sound, and voice chat for your party, inside Minecraft, on any server.
Nothing is installed on the Minecraft server. Everyone who wants to be seen installs the mod; that is the whole requirement.
Video and voice travel over Qcord's own connection, so vanilla servers, modded servers, and public networks work the same way. The Minecraft server does not need Qcord installed.
Cameras
A live camera above each player:
- Up to 16 players in a private party
- Up to 48 players in a server lobby
- Resize and reposition individual cameras
- Put one friend's camera higher or larger
- Hide cameras you do not want to watch
- Your layout is completely local and is not shown to anyone else
Cameras you cannot see are not sent to you, so a busy room only uses bandwidth for the cameras you are actually looking at.
Screen Sharing With Sound
Pick a monitor or a window from a grid of live previews.
When sharing a window: Qcord sends the audio from that program.
When sharing an entire screen: Qcord sends everything your machine plays except Minecraft, preventing people in the party from hearing their own voices back through your game.
No Stereo Mix. No virtual audio cable. No audio device configuration.
Voice Chat
The party host can enable voice chat for the party.
Voice uses WebRTC features including:
- Echo cancellation
- Noise suppression
- Automatic gain control
- Per-player volume controls
When somebody speaks, the border around their camera lights up.
Press M to mute yourself.
When muted, your microphone is closed and Qcord refuses to transmit microphone audio.
New parties start with voice chat disabled.
Server lobbies do not have voice chat.
Video
Qcord uses:
- Hardware H.264 when your computer has a supported encoder
- Software H.264 when hardware encoding is unavailable
- VP8 or MJPEG as additional fallbacks
- Up to 60 FPS
If one viewer's connection cannot keep up, only that viewer's frames are dropped. Qcord then requests a fresh keyframe for them instead of degrading the stream for everybody else.
Floating Windows and Host Controls
Screen shares can be pulled out of the Minecraft HUD into floating windows.
You can:
- Drag them
- Resize them
- Open them full screen
- Arrange them independently
The party host can:
- Kick a member with a ten-minute ban
- Mute a member
- Block a camera
- Stop a screen share
- Transfer party ownership to somebody else
Encryption
Camera video, screen sharing, shared audio, and voice are encrypted on your computer and decrypted on the computers of the people in your room.
Media reaches the Qcord relay through TLS and is additionally encrypted using a key that the relay does not have.
There is no unencrypted media mode.
Qcord will not intentionally transmit media in plaintext and will not play media received without the expected encryption.
The encryption key comes from your invite code. The relay never receives that invite code directly. Instead, it receives a token derived from the code using a one-way function, which is enough to verify that someone was invited.
Room Security Badges
Qcord displays different security information depending on the type of room.
Private Party
Encrypted end to end
The invite code provides the key used for the room.
Server Lobby
Encrypted, membership not verified
A normal server lobby has no invite code. Traffic is protected from the network, but the lobby does not cryptographically authenticate membership against the Minecraft server.
Server Lobby with Qcord-SL
Encrypted end to end, verified by this server
When the server owner installs Qcord-SL, the Minecraft server participates in verifying the lobby and mints the room key.
The relay cannot read the room.
Safety Codes
Run:
/qcord verify
Qcord displays safety codes that players can compare with each other.
If somebody's key changes, for example after a reinstall or because somebody is impersonating them, an amber dot appears on their camera until you confirm them using This is them.
Parties and Server Lobbies
Private Party
Press K, create a party, and send your invite code to your friends.
Private parties support up to 16 people and include cameras, screen sharing, audio, and optional voice chat.
Server Lobby
Each Minecraft server can have one shared Qcord lobby.
Server lobbies:
- Support up to 48 players
- Are joined automatically when you connect if you allowed this feature
- Have cameras
- Never have voice chat
- Have screen sharing disabled by default
Screen sharing can be enabled using:
/qcord lobby policy open
The first person to claim a server's lobby becomes its host, regardless of whether they actually operate the Minecraft server.
If you run a server, it is recommended to claim its Qcord lobby when you install Qcord.
Installing Qcord-SL moves that verification onto the Minecraft server itself.
Getting Started
- Install NeoForge for Minecraft 1.21.1.
- Put the Qcord
.jarfile into yourmodsfolder. - Launch Minecraft.
- Complete the Qcord welcome and privacy screen.
- Press
K. - Select Create party.
- Send the invite code to your friends.
Qcord is client-side only. The Minecraft server does not need to install the main Qcord mod.
Default Keybinds
K - Party panel
U - Camera on or off
I - Share your screen
O - Arrange floating windows
N - Hide your own preview
M - Mute
All keybinds can be changed in:
Options → Controls → Qcord
Commands
Party
/qcord
Open the party panel.
/qcord host
Create a party.
/qcord join <code>
Join a party.
/qcord leave
Leave your current party.
/qcord invite
Copy your invite code.
/qcord invite <player>
Invite somebody on the current Minecraft server through Qcord.
/qcord accept
Accept a waiting invitation after comparing its safety digits.
/qcord newcode
Generate a new invite code. The old one immediately stops working and everybody reconnects.
Camera and Sharing
/qcord cam [off|pick]
Turn your camera on or off, or select another camera.
/qcord screen [off|pick]
Start sharing, stop sharing, or choose what to share.
/qcord view [player]
Open the full-screen viewer.
/qcord overlay
Arrange floating windows.
Security and Diagnostics
/qcord verify
Display safety codes.
/qcord codecs
Show what codecs and encoders your machine can use.
/qcord privacy
Open the welcome and privacy screen.
Server Lobby
/qcord lobby join
Join this server's lobby manually.
/qcord lobby leave
Leave this server's lobby.
/qcord lobby create
Create a lobby for this Minecraft server.
/qcord lobby delete
Delete the lobby.
/qcord lobby policy cams
Allow cameras only.
/qcord lobby policy open
Allow cameras and screen sharing.
/qcord lobby alias <address>
Attach another address belonging to the same Minecraft server.
/qcord lobby unalias <address>
Remove an attached server address.
Invite Codes
A Qcord invite code looks like:
QC:ABCDEF: + 20 characters
Anyone holding the full code can enter the party.
The invite code is also used as part of the encryption system, so it should be treated as private.
Qcord does not intentionally place invite codes into Minecraft chat.
When you use:
/qcord invite <player>
Qcord sends the invitation through its own relay, encrypted for that player, and displays a 10-digit safety code on both screens.
If the player cannot be reached through that system, Qcord copies the invite code to your clipboard and explains why.
If an invite code appears in Minecraft chat anyway, Qcord warns players who see it and offers the party host the option to generate a new code.
Requirements
Minecraft: 1.21.1 Mod Loader: NeoForge 21.1.0 or newer Java: 21
Windows
Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit.
macOS
macOS 13 or newer.
macOS 12 is supported with limitations:
- No single-window capture
- No screen-share audio
Linux
X11 only.
Linux support is currently untested.
Installation
Qcord is installed on every participating player's client, never on the Minecraft server.
The optional Qcord-SL component is different and may be deliberately installed by a server owner.
Languages
Qcord includes English plus 18 translations:
- Chinese, Simplified
- Chinese, Traditional
- Czech
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Polish
- Portuguese, Brazil
- Russian
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
Everyone inside a party must use the same Qcord version.
When a future release changes the network protocol, the mod and relay reject incompatible older versions.
Where Your Video Goes
Qcord currently operates one relay located in Warsaw, Poland.
Your media passes through this relay encrypted in a form the relay cannot read.
The relay can see limited connection metadata, including:
- Your IP address truncated to its network
- Your Minecraft name
- Room information
- Packet counters
- Who is connected to the room
- Packet sizes and timing
- When somebody speaks
- Invitation relationships
Relay logs are kept for 14 days.
Qcord has:
- No Qcord user account
- No analytics
- No automatic update check
- No recording
- No sale of user data
Until you answer the first-launch privacy screen, the mod connects to nothing.
Read the full privacy notice:
qwu.world/minecraft/qcord/privacy
You can also configure:
network.relayAddress
to use a relay operated by you.
The relay is a small Node.js program included in the source repository.
Inside the Download
The Qcord .jar is approximately 138 MB because important native components are bundled with the mod instead of being downloaded when you first launch it.
It includes:
- FFmpeg, LGPL v3, through JavaCV and JavaCPP by Bytedeco
- WebRTC audio processing through
webrtc-java qcord-sckfor macOSqcord-wasapi.exefor Windows
The last two are small capture helpers written for Qcord.
The helpers run only while the corresponding capture functionality is being used and are checked against a cryptographic hash before Qcord starts them.
Because an unsigned executable capable of capturing audio can trigger heuristic antivirus scanners, the SHA-256 hash of the distributed jar is published in the changelog so you can verify the file you downloaded.
Source Code
Source repository:
The repository contains:
- Qcord
- Qcord relay
- Qcord-SL
Qcord is source-available.
You may read, audit, build, and run your own copy.
Redistribution is not permitted under the project's current license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do my friends need Qcord?
Yes.
Without Qcord installed, they do not see Qcord cameras, shares, or voice, and Qcord does not transmit media about them.
Does the Minecraft server need Qcord?
No.
The main Qcord mod is client-side only.
The only exception is Qcord-SL, which is an optional component deliberately installed by a Minecraft server owner.
Can Minecraft server administrators see my camera?
Not through the Minecraft server.
Qcord media does not travel through the Minecraft connection.
How much bandwidth does it use?
A camera is approximately 1 Mbit/s, and you receive only the cameras you can currently see.
In testing, a full 48-player lobby with around a dozen active cameras used approximately 4.4 Mbit/s per player.
Actual usage depends on active cameras, video content, resolution, frame rate, and connection conditions.
Current Limitations
Qcord is still evolving.
Current limitations include:
- The encryption design has not received an independent external cryptographic review
- The relay can still observe the shape and timing of a call
- Server lobbies without Qcord-SL are not authenticated against the Minecraft server
- Qcord currently operates one public relay
- If that relay is unavailable, players cannot start or join parties through it
- Linux support is untested
- No mobile support
- No console support
QwU World
Qcord is built by QwU World.
Website: qwu.world
Report bugs or suggest features:
Follow QwU World:
You can also support the project voluntarily through:
Patreon support is completely optional and is not required to download, use, or access Qcord.
For data requests and the FFmpeg source offer:
it.qwuworld@gmail.com
Third-Party Components
FFmpeg 8.1.2
FFmpeg is distributed under the LGPL v3 or later and is built using the JavaCPP Presets.
Build recipe:
github.com/bytedeco/javacpp-presets/tree/1.5.14/ffmpeg
FFmpeg source:
Version tag:
n8.1.2
The libraries are extracted to:
qcord-natives/<platform>/
and may be replaced with your own compatible build.
Qcord is not affiliated with Discord, Mojang, or Microsoft.
© 2026 QwU World
Qcord Team
