I made a server by watching a video and followed the steps exactly, but when i went to play it, it said "Can't connect to server" I checked the ip, and it was fine. I also tried it with.jar, and that did not work either. Also I have a windows 7. What is wrong with it?
Here's the video:
The steps vary per router; I would encourage looking up your router brand and model to make sure you've properly and correctly configured yours to support Minecraft.
Lookup: http://portforward.com
Find your router's brand and model, then locate Minecraft on the list and follow the instructions from there. If it is not listed, your router may not be supported. An alternative would be looking around YouTube/Google for a work-around, if possible.
Open port checker: http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/
Note: check the Minecraft port only when the server is running; this is the only time it should be open. When the server is not running it should be closed. The port you'll want open is 25565 (both TCP and UDP). Rebooting your router is optional. After opening the port, ensure you forward it to your computer's IPv4 address so the server can function properly.
Lookup your public IP: http://whatismyip.com
The alternative is inputting 'localhost' in direct connect while the server is running, but this will only work for you; everyone else needs the IP address to join. You could opt to mask your IP using http://noip.com or similar services. That way, you can update your IP address (if it's dynamic) rather than continuously giving out the new address.