Why won't my hearth secret work?

[jvl39]

I tried to make an alt, and when I typed in my hearth secret, the stairway appeared, but when I click on the stairway, nothing happens. My only option was to spawn randomly via the ladder. I've tried this a few times with multiple hearth secrets and it never works. I even tried making sure my hearthfire is outside of my claim and it still doesn't work.

[Eemerald]

make sure u set the hearth secret otherwise it doesn't save
and it must be outdoor to be able to spawn on it