Connection and Avatar issue

Can’t connect to friends server. Getting stuck in “Locating Server” but my player name appears in their game with a marker on their map despite me still “Locating Server”.

My friend can join my game but his in-game avatar remains where he spawned despite him moving around the world. When mining and performing other interactions there is no animation or sound and enemies ignore him, however they attack his Avatar which is still where he spawned causing him to die.