FH6 Convoy & Multiplayer: How to Play With Friends
Published: May 14, 2026 · 8 min read
Multiplayer Overview
Look, Forza Horizon 6 has a bunch of ways to play online. Casual free-roam cruising with your friends, sweaty PvP racing, co-op events... you get the idea. Servers hold up to 72 players now — was only 48 in FH5 — spread across the open world and instanced events. That's a lot to take in at first. I've been grinding through every single mode since launch and here's what I actually figured out after way too many hours of getting smoked by dudes with meta builds. What's worth your time and what's kinda meh.
Convoys: Playing with Friends
Convoys are basically FH6's party system. Make one or join one, and you and your buddies end up in the same open world server. Up to 6 players per Convoy. Here's how it actually works in practice.
- Creating a Convoy - Hit pause, tab over to "Convoy," pick "Create Convoy." Boom, your session is now joinable. That's it. You don't need to do anything else.
- Joining a Convoy - Accept a game invite from a friend, or find their session through the Xbox/Windows Friends List and select "Join Game." Pretty straightforward, though sometimes that invite system gets wonky after updates.
- Convoy features - All Convoy members show up on the same map with colored icons so you know who's who. You can fast-travel to any Convoy member's location for free — actually super useful when someone finds a barn find or whatever. XP and credits earned get shared across the group too. Basically free stuff.
- Convoy events - The Convoy leader kicks off events that everyone auto-joins — races, PR stunts, Horizon Arcade, all that. Members can also start events and invite the whole Convoy. Works pretty smoothly most of the time.
- Leaving a Convoy - Press Start, go to Convoy, pick "Leave Convoy." You'll stay on the same server unless you quit to main menu. Nothing complicated.
Convoy Etiquette
- Use Convoy voice chat or hop on Discord for coordination. In-game voice is... fine. Quality varies though. I've had sessions where it sounds like someone's talking through a potato. Just use Discord, honestly.
- The Convoy leader controls event invites. If you wanna start a specific race, just ask. Or leave and make your own Convoy — nobody's gonna get mad about it. It's not that deep.
- Got an AFK member? The leader can kick them from the Convoy (not the whole server). Opens up a slot for someone else.
- When you're doing co-op races, the group's collective performance actually matters. Yeah, for real — wait at the finish line for slower members if the event needs everyone to finish. Don't be that guy who zooms off and leaves three people behind.
Horizon Open: Competitive PvP
Horizon Open is where things get sweaty. It's FH6's ranked multiplayer playlist with real matchmaking. Several race types, ranking system going from Bronze all the way up to Elite. I've been stuck in Diamond for like two weeks now and it's brutal up there. You gotta bring your absolute best builds or you're just gonna get smoked. Plain and simple.
Race Types
- Road Racing - Standard circuits and point-to-point on pavement. This is the most popular mode by far — queues pop instantly. Also the most competitive, so bring your best builds or you're gonna get left in the dust.
- Street Racing (Night) - Road racing but at night with traffic turned on. The traffic adds chaos in a way that's honestly kinda fun. Different strategy too — you can't just hug the racing line and call it a day. Gotta actually think about where cars might be.
- Dirt Racing - Off-road circuits and sprints. Lower speeds, looser surfaces, tighter racing overall. A good dirt tune makes an insane difference here. Like, night and day difference.
- Cross Country - The most chaotic mode, no contest. Open terrain with jumps everywhere, water crossings, stuff you can smash through. It's legit mayhem and I love it. Nothing beats launching off a hill and somehow landing on the checkpoint.
- Custom - Rotating playlists with car restrictions — stuff like "A Class Japanese Icons" or "S1 Retro Muscle." Nice change of pace when you're tired of seeing the same meta cars in every lobby.
Ranking System
Your rank depends entirely on how you do in Horizon Open events. Win races, podium regularly, rank goes up. Simple. The matchmaking uses a hidden MMR (Matchmaking Rating) that shifts based on your finishes and who you're racing against. Beat stronger opponents, gain more. Lose to weaker ones, tank harder. Yeah, it's brutal like that.
| Division | MMR Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 0 - 1,000 | Starting division. You will be matched with other new players. |
| Silver | 1,000 - 2,500 | Most players settle here. Competition is fair. |
| Gold | 2,500 - 4,500 | Above average. You need consistent top-3 finishes to advance. |
| Platinum | 4,500 - 6,500 | Strong players with good car knowledge and racecraft. |
| Diamond | 6,500 - 8,500 | Top 10% of players. Expect meta builds and aggressive racing. |
| Elite | 8,500+ | Top 1%. The best drivers on the platform. |
Horizon Open Tips
- Bring meta cars - Look, in ranked play, your car choice actually matters — a lot. For Road Racing S1, the 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and 2018 McLaren Senna are straight-up dominant. A class dirt? Hoonigan RS200 is still king. Don't overthink it. Just bring the meta and focus on driving.
- Practice your tunes - A solid tune is worth 2-3 seconds per lap. I've tested this myself. Download tunes from top-ranked players or check the tuning guide on this site. Don't run stock setups and wonder why you're losing. You're just making it harder for yourself for no reason.
- Defend strategically - Blocking is allowed in FH6 Open — yeah, for real. Defend your line into corners but don't weave on straights. That's considered trash behaviour and people will report you. Keep it clean-ish, sorta like real racing etiquette.
- Watch the minimap - Seriously, pay attention to where other cars are. If someone's sitting 0.5 seconds behind you going into the final corner, defend the inside line. Basic stuff but so many people tunnel vision on the road ahead. Don't be one of them.
- Use rewind carefully - In non-ranked Open events you can rewind, but it resets your pace. Only bother if you crash hard. Rewinding for a minor tap? You're just gonna lose more time, trust me. Should've just kept going.
Horizon Arcade: Co-op PvE
Horizon Arcade is a series of co-op PvE events that pop up randomly on the map. Big upgrade from FH5 — the old system made you wait for scheduled events like it was a dentist appointment. In FH6, Arcade events trigger dynamically based on player density in an area. Anyone can start one by driving to an active hotspot on the map. Way better. Like, so much better it's not even funny.
Arcade Event Types
- Drift Arcade - Accumulate drift score as a group. Each player's score adds to the collective total. Works best with 2-4 players in drift cars working the same area — more than that and you're just bumping into each other. Gets messy real quick.
- Wreckage Arcade - Destroy a target number of stuff. Fences, walls, signs, crops, whatever's in the way. Group score is combined so you don't need to sweat individual performance. Just smash things, basically. It's kinda therapeutic, not gonna lie.
- Speed Arcade - Hit cumulative speed milestones through traps and zones. High-speed hypercars are the play here, obviously. Don't show up in a stock D class and wonder why round 3 times out.
- Air Arcade - Combined air time target. Find jumps near the active area and create a circuit that loops multiple jumps. Once you find a good route it's basically free points. Gotta be one of the easiest Arcade types once you got a route down.
- Chaos Arcade - Mix of everything — any skill action scores points. This is the easiest Arcade type because literally anything you do counts. Good for farming when you just wanna chill and not think too hard.
Arcade Rewards
Completing all three rounds of a Horizon Arcade event rewards:
- Round 1 completion - 20 Forzathon Points
- Round 2 completion - 30 Forzathon Points
- Round 3 completion - 50 Forzathon Points + Wheelspin
- Bonus - If you are in a Convoy, all members receive the rewards. Forzathon Points are shared.
Horizon Arcade is the fastest way to earn Forzathon Points outside of the Festival Playlist. With a decent group a full 3-round Arcade takes about 15-20 minutes. That's pretty efficient for what you get. Worth running these whenever they pop up.
The Eliminator: Battle Royale
The Eliminator is FH6's take on battle royale — and yeah, car battle royale sounds weird but it actually works. Up to 72 players get dropped into the map in slow Volkswagen Beetles (lol) and you gotta find car drop crates to upgrade. The play area shrinks over time, last player standing wins. Simple concept but it gets intense at the end. Like, your heart will be pounding for real.
Eliminator Strategy Tips
- Head to car drops immediately - First 2 minutes are everything. Drive toward the nearest car drop icon on your map and don't stop. Don't engage anyone until you have at least a Level 4 car. Picking fights in a Beetle is a death wish. I'm not even exaggerating.
- Car level matters more than car quality - Here's the deal — a Level 6 Ford Transit is faster than a Level 3 Lamborghini. I've tested this and it's not even close. Upgrade tiers break down like this: Level 1-2 (slow), Level 3-4 (medium), Level 5-6 (fast), Level 7-8 (very fast), Level 9-10 (hypercars). Don't get fooled by the badge on the hood. That Transit will gap that Lambo every time.
- Avoid unnecessary head-to-head races - Every time you challenge someone to a head-to-head, you're risking elimination. Only go for it if you're confident your car is 2+ levels higher than theirs. You can gamble, but it's usually not worth it. Better to play it safe and keep upgrading.
- Use the terrain - Know a shortcut through a field or valley? Use it to either escape or close distance. The minimap shows finish line direction but not terrain difficulty — that's where experience comes in. Some of those "shortcuts" are straight into a cliff face, lol. I've done that more times than I wanna admit.
- Play the last zone smart - With 10 or fewer players left, stop chasing car drops. Position near the center of the safe zone and let other players fight each other. Third-party wins are still wins. Ain't nobody gonna judge how you got there.
- Final head-to-head - When it's down to 2, the game forces a head-to-head race. You can see their car level on the HUD. If you're outclassed, take risky shortcuts — nothing to lose. If you're stronger, play it safe on the road and don't throw. You got this.
Custom Events & Blueprints
FH6's Event Blueprint system lets you create and share custom races with whatever car restrictions, track layout, route, and rules you want. Share them via Share Codes — 10-character alphanumeric codes other players punch in to play your event. The blueprint scene is actually pretty active. Some of the custom tracks people make are incredible, like full-on recreation tracks and stuff.
- Creating blueprints - Go to any event icon on the map, select "Create Blueprint," and customize everything. Route (using the route creator), car restrictions, class limits, number of laps, time of day, and weather — all of it. Basically you can tweak every single thing.
- Finding blueprints - The Blueprint browser in the Creative Hub lets you search by tags, rating, or share code. Trending blueprints rotate weekly so there's always fresh stuff. You probably won't run out of new tracks to try.
- Featured blueprints - Playground Games features community blueprints in the "Featured" section. Getting featured is a great way to earn downloads toward Legendary Creator status. Some creators got thousands of downloads from this alone.
- Playing with friends - To play custom blueprints with friends, share the code in your Convoy chat. All members search for the share code and join the same event. Simple. That's all there is to it.
Forza Link: The Quick Chat System
Forza Link is FH6's radial menu for quick communication — no voice chat needed. It auto-generates context-relevant phrases like "Nice overtake!" after a clean pass, "I will wait" if you stop for a teammate, "Follow me" when you're leading an Arcade event. Honestly it's surprisingly effective for basic coordination with randoms. Mapped to the D-Pad by default. I use it all the time in Arcade and The Trial when I can't be bothered to plug in a mic. Not as good as actual voice, obviously, but for quick callouts it gets the job done. It ain't perfect but it works.