Screenshot by GameSkinny

Payday 3: How to Set Up Private Lobby

Here's how to set up a private lobby in Payday 3 and play with your crew.

Payday 3 is all about robbing banks and completing heists with your crew. Indeed, it can be fun to play with randoms, but it’s even better when you’re playing with your friends. The best way to make sure everyone is on the same page is to only allow a selected few into the gang. Here’s how to set up a private lobby in Payday 3.

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How to Set Up a Private Lobby in Payday 3

Screenshot by GameSkinny

Here’s how to set up a private lobby in Payday 3:

  • Select Heists from the home screen.
  • Select the heist you want to do.
  • Change the Lobby Type to Invite Only.
  • Choose the difficulty as desired.
  • Select Matchmake at the bottom of the screen.
  • Once in the lobby, press the “social” button at the bottom middle of the screen. This is the “options” button on PS5.
  • Select a friend from the list that appears and invite them to the private lobby.
Screenshot by GameSkinny

It’s worth noting that you can play solo when you set up a private lobby. Simply don’t invite anyone, and you can go on a heist by yourself and bots.

Whereas a friends only lobby allows your friends to join your game at any time, a private lobby means that you must invite others to join your heist. This allows you to set up a specialized team of players to reap the rewards and XP.

While setting everything up, you’ll likely have to wait for the mission commentary to complete. And you’ll also have to wait for matchmaking to generate a lobby. In my experience, this took upwards of 10 minutes sometimes. It’s head-scratching, considering you aren’t technically matchmaking yet.

Related: How to Fix Matchmaking Error in Payday 3

That’s how to set up a private lobby in Payday 3 to rake in the money with your closest comrades. For more on the Starbreeze co-op FPS title, including other tips and tricks, head over to our PD3 guides hub.


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Author
Jonathan Moore
Jonathan Moore is the Editor-in-Chief of GameSkinny and has been writing about games since 2010. With over 1,200 published articles, he's written about almost every genre, from city builders and ARPGs to third-person shooters and sports titles. While patiently awaiting anything Dino Crisis, he consumes all things Star Wars. He has a BFA in Creative Writing and an MFA in Creative Writing focused on games writing and narrative design. He's previously been a newspaper copy editor, ad writer, and book editor. In his spare time, he enjoys playing music, watching football, and walking his three dogs. He lives on Earth and believes in aliens, thanks to Fox Mulder.