Set and troubleshoot Xbox LIVE Beacons

You can use an Xbox LIVE Beacon to tell your friends on Xbox LIVE and social networks what game you’re playing, or which games you want to play on Xbox LIVE. For example, you can send out a beacon to let your friends know that you're interested in playing Halo, while you watch a TV show on your console. With beacons, no matter what you're doing, your friends know it’s OK to ask you to play the game in your beacon.

Letting your friends know what game you want to play is easy. Here’s how:

1. Press the Xbox Guide button on your controller.

2. Go to Beacons & Activity.
3. On the My Beacons (leftmost) tab, select Set Beacon.
4. Select the game you want to play from your game history.
   Note You can only set beacons for games you have played.
5. Beacons are shared to all of your Xbox LIVE friends, but you can also share on Facebook by selecting Share to social networks.
6. Edit the comment for the beacon if you’d like.
7. Select Set Beacon.

Note If you haven’t shared something on Facebook from your console before, you’ll be prompted for your Facebook log in information. For more information on posting to Facebook, see Post to Facebook from your console.

Now your friends will know which games you’re interested in playing. You can have three beacons set at a time.

You can view your friend’s beacons directly in the Friends view. When you have selected a friend, and you see the beacon symbol next to a game title, you then know they’ve set a beacon and want to play. In addition, when you start a game, you’ll receive a message that one or more of your online friends wants to play that game. Go ahead and invite them to your game.

After you set a beacon, you can remove it at any time. Here’s how:

1. Press the Xbox Guide button on your controller.

2. Go to Beacons & Activity.
3. On the My Beacons (leftmost) tab, select the beacon that you want to remove, and then select Remove Beacon.

Are you getting one of the following error messages?

• "Sorry, can't retrieve this activity right now. Try again later."
• "Sorry, can't get your beacons right now. Try again later."
• "Sorry, your beacons aren't available right now. Try again later."
• "Sorry, couldn't remove your beacon. Try again later."
• "Sorry, couldn't update your beacon. Try again later."

If so, check the Xbox LIVE Service page to see if there is an Xbox LIVE service problem.

"Your comment contains a word or phrase that isn't allowed. Try again."

When you post a beacon, your comments are subject to the Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct. If you get this message, please revise your comment. Some disallowed words or phrases might be used in games, game modes, or Xbox achievements.

"None of your friends have tried this activity."

When attempting to view your friends’ activity, no items were found for the game title or activity you selected. This might be because your friends haven’t chosen to share their game activity or game history. For more information about privacy settings, see Online safety and privacy.

"Your friends haven't been playing any games or apps."

When attempting to view your friends’ activity, no items were found for the game title or activity you selected. This might be because your friends haven’t chosen to share their game activity or game history. For more information about privacy settings, see Online safety and privacy.