[Solved] “Your Network Settings Are Blocking Party Chat” On Xbox And Xbox App

Multiplayer gaming is often an excuse to just talk and hang out with your friends. The fun can end, though, if you see the “Network Settings Are Blocking Party Chat” error. 

The problem affects Xbox One, Xbox Series, and the Xbox software on your Windows PC. It will prevent you from using the party chat until you solve it.

The “Network Settings Blocking Party Chat” can be a difficult problem to solve for Xbox gamers. The root of the cause varies greatly, but it may revolve around Xbox’s privacy settings, the Windows Firewall, or the NAT Type of your router.

Your Network Settings Are Blocking Party Chat Error Causes

“Your Network Settings Are Blocking Party Chat On Xbox” Solutions

We’re going through a list of Xbox Series and Xbox One solutions. We’re also taking care of the problem if you’re using the Xbox app on Windows PCs. We encourage you to try the fixes one by one until the error disappears.

Change Your Privacy Settings

The first solution is changing your Xbox account’s privacy settings. If you do it on a web browser on your PC, it will change it for both your Windows and your Xbox systems.

Therefore, we’ll start the process on the web browser. Then, we’re explaining how to do it on Xbox.

1. Go to the Xbox login page. It takes you straight to the Privacy Settings.
2. Sing-in with the Xbox account. It should be the same one you’re using on your PC. 
3. Review your privacy settings. There’re three privacy tabs here:
   • Privacy
   • Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 devices Online Safety
   • Xbox 360 Online Safety
4. You should put “Allow” on every setting on the second tab, so your multiplayer functions work properly. Click on “Submit” at the bottom to confirm any changes. 
5. Then, on the first tab (Privacy), there are two key settings: “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites,” and “You can communicate outside of Xbox Live with voice & text.” Both should be on “Friends” or “Everyone.” If it’s “Block,” you won’t be able to use voice chat.
6. If you change it, click Submit at the bottom to save your changes. 

Now, you can do this on the Xbox One or Xbox Series as well:

1. Press the Xbox button on the controller.
2. Go to Profile & system.
3. Select Settings.
4. Go to Account.
5. Go to Privacy & Online Safety on the right.
6. Go to Xbox Privacy on the new page.
7. Go to View Details & Customize.
8. Go to Communication & Multiplayer
9. Scroll to the right of the menu to view your privacy settings and change what you need.

The two key configurations are: “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites,” and “You can communicate outside of Xbox Live with voice & text.” Both settings should be on “Everybody” or “Friends.”

Also, tweak these settings:

• Allow your account to join multiplayer games
• Allow your account to enter crossplay games

Here’s how it should look:

Clear your Xbox’s persistent storage

Here’s another potential problem with Xbox One and Xbox Series. Files saved from Blu-ray discs go to persistent storage. These files may cause the error message, so you could try removing them:

1. Press the Xbox button on your controller.
2. Go to Profile and system.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Disc & Blu-ray.
5. Select Clear Persistent Storage.
6. Select Blu-ray in the new menu.
7. Repeat the process a few times. 

Enable Energy-Saving on Xbox

Turning the energy-saving mode on may fix your voice-chat problems. That’s because your Xbox may be on “Instant-On,” which puts it on standby mode at weird moments.

1. Press the Xbox button on your controller.
2. Go to Profile & System.
3. Select Settings.
4. Go to General.
5. Select Power mode & startup.
6. On Power mode (Power options), swap from Instant-on to Energy-saving.

The Xbox may turn a little bit slower now, but the party chat may be working now. 

Make Sure Your Friend is on Your “Allowed” List

You still can’t eliminate the error Network Settings are Blocking Party Chat. Make sure your buddies are on the Allowed list.

You should put your buddies on the allowed list. This could also solve the issue. 

The process is the same on Xbox or the Xbox app. Simply choose the icon of the friend you can’t communicate with. Then, give your friend a name and a score, and click Apply. This confirms the Xbox system that you validated this player. 

Reset Your Modem and Your Xbox

The next step is resetting your modem and router. It will solve glitches and bugs unrelated to your privacy settings. 

1. Turn off your modem or gateway, and unplug all its cables for five minutes.
2. Turn off the Xbox, and unplug all its cables for five minutes.
3. Plug back the modem or gateway’s cables, and turn it on.
4. Plug back the Xbox’s cables, and turn it on.
5. Try using a voice chat again.

This process will reset the console’s cache if database corruption affects the multiplayer function. 

Restart the IP Helper Service

The IP Helper Service allows your Xbox app to communicate on the network. Whenever it’s not working properly, your app may not work properly.

You can try restarting it to see if it solves the problem.

1. Press the Windows key plus “R” to open the Run box.
2. Type “services.msc” and click ok.
3. Click the IP Helper and select Restart.
   
4. Click the IP Helper again and select Properties.
5. Ensure the Startup is Automatic.
6. Click Apply if you made changes, and then OK.

Allow the Xbox App Through the Windows Firewall

It would help if you also tried allowing the app through the Firewall. Otherwise, Windows is blocking its multiplayer features.

1. Type “Command” on your Windows search bar.
2. Right-click the Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator.”
3. Copy and paste the following command:
   netsh advfirewall firewall show rule 4jxr4b3r3du76ina39a98x8k2
4. Hit Enter.
5. If the result is “no rule has been found,” it’s done. If it shows it found a rule, copy and paste the following command
   netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="4jxr4b3r3du76ina39a98x8k2" new enable=no
6. Hit Enter. Additionally, copy and paste the following command: netsh int ipv6 set teredo client teredo.trex.fi

These commands will allow the Xbox app through the Firewall and fix other IP-related errors. Aside from those commands, Xbox recommends running this command on the Command Prompt (administrator):

• netsh advfirewall show currentprofile

If the result is “AllowInbound,” run the following command:

• netsh advfirewall set currentprofile firewallpolicy blockinbound,allowoutbound

Lastly, you should deactivate any other third-party Firewall, as it will cause issues.

Enable Tunneling Pseudo-interface

Another potential issue is your Windows is not using an important network interface for the Xbox app. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Type “Device manager” on the Windows search bar and open “Device Manager.”
2. On the View tab, select “Show hidden devices.”
3. Navigate to “Network adapters” on the drop-down menu, and expand the category.
4. Right-click “Tunneling Pseudo-interface” and select Enable. 

Open Ports of the Windows Firewall

If nothing else works, you can try opening the ports on your Firewall. This means telling your computer to use specific network ports to router their services. In this case, the Xbox app will use Microsoft ports, bypassing your router’s default NAT configuration.

This process is much easier on PC than it is on the Xbox. You can check the console’s port forwarding guide if you’re using an Xbox.

Anyhow, on Windows, here’s how to open ports by using the Windows built-in Firewall:

1. Type “Firewall” on the Windows search bar. 
2. Open “Firewall & network protection.”
3. Select Advanced Settings.
   
4. Select Inbound Rules on the left. On the right (Actions window), click on New Rule.
   
5. On Rule Type, select Port.
   
6. The ports Xbox recommends using are these ones. In particular, they recommend 80 (TCP) for Windows. So, click TCP at the top, and type 80 on Specific local ports.
   
7. Click Next.
8. Select Allow the connection.
   
9. Click Next.
10. Leave the Profile page as is. 
11. Click Next.
12. Lastly, type a name for the server and a description if you wish. “
13. Click on Finish.
14. Restart your PC.

Now, you should try using voice chat again. After everything we did, the PC Xbox app will not give you any problems.

Switch IPv6 Server on Windows

Lastly, you can try changing the IPv6 server and see if it fixes the issue.

1. Type “Command” on your Windows search bar.
2. Right-click the Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator.”
3. Copy and paste the following command
   netsh advfirewall firewall show rule 4jxr4b3r3du76ina39a98x8k2
   1. Copy and paste this command|
      netsh int ipv6 set teredo client teredo.trex.fi
4. Press Enter.

Now, try joining an Xbox party chat.

Related Errors

There’re also various related errors you may see alongside the network error:

• Error code 0x89231906: You’d see it when you try to join party chats. The solution is to change the console’s privacy settings and Windows Firewall settings. Most of the time, you’re facing the wrong privacy configurations, and you’d see something like this: “Your network settings are blocking party chat. [0x89231806 ].”
• NAT Type: Unavailable/NAT Type: 3 (or Strict): You can see the NAT Type on the Xbox network settings. If it’s any of these two, you need to port forward the Xbox. This is a detailed process, so we’d encourage you to check the Xbox port forwarding guide.
• Can’t Get a Teredo IP Address: You’d see these errors on the Xbox network screen (console or app). It’s often a related error, but it’s a random bug you can solve easily.
• Double NAT Detected: This error also appears on the Network Status menu. Here’s a detailed guide to solving the issue.
• UPnP Not Successful: It’s also an error you’d see on the network page. We also have a detailed guide on the matter. 

How to Check the NAT Type on Your Xbox?

Network Address Translation (NAT) is built into your gateway or router. It takes care of translating private IPs to public IPs and vice-versa.

For instance, your Xbox uses a private IP to connect to a public IP. The NAT Type determines how much you can share. So, there’re three NAT categories: 

• Open (Type 1): There’re no restrictions on multiplayer features.
• Moderate (Type 2): You can chat and play with other users, as long as they have Open or Moderate NAT configurations.
• Strict (Type 3): Multiplayer features are very limited. You can only chat and play with users on an Open NAT configuration. 

So, if your NAT Type is Strict, you can’t use voice chat. For that reason, you should check the NAT configuration on Xbox:

1. Turn on the console.
2. Press the Xbox button on the controller.
3. Go to Profile & system.
4. Select Settings 
5. Select General
6. Select Network Settings 
7. Under Current Network Status, check your NAT Type.
8. Select Test Network connection to see if there’re other errors. Related errors in the menu include Double NAT detected and UPnP not successful.

Can You Check NAT Type on Windows 10 or 11?

Checking the NAT Type while using a Windows PC is more difficult. Instead, you should go through the troubleshooter to discard the other solutions.

Ultimately, you can port forward your PC via its Windows Firewall, which is easier than doing it on Xbox.