{"id":3520,"date":"2026-10-01T18:40:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucartz.com\/blog\/minecraft-java-vs-bedrock-server\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T18:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:40:10","slug":"minecraft-java-vs-bedrock-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucartz.com\/blog\/minecraft-java-vs-bedrock-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Minecraft Java vs Bedrock: Which Edition Should Your Server Run?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Short answer:<\/strong> pick the edition your players use. Java Edition runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and is the one for mods and plugin servers. Bedrock Edition runs on consoles, phones, tablets and Windows, and lets those devices play together. Java and Bedrock players cannot join each other’s servers out of the box, so a server is either Java or Bedrock, unless you add a bridge such as Geyser to a Java server. We ran both official servers for this guide: Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Dedicated Server 1.26.52.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Terminal
A Minecraft Java Edition 26.3 server on Java 25: it starts on *:25565 and ss shows it listening on TCP port 25565.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The differences for players<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These points come from Mojang’s own comparison, The Difference between Java and Bedrock Editions<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/th>Java Edition<\/th>Bedrock Edition<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Devices<\/td>Windows, Mac and Linux only<\/td>Windows 10 and 11, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS<\/td><\/tr>
Plays with the other edition<\/td>No<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr>
Custom content<\/td>Third-party mods, maps and skins<\/td>Minecraft Marketplace and add-ons<\/td><\/tr>
Older versions<\/td>Any release version, chosen in the launcher<\/td>Only the latest stable version or a preview<\/td><\/tr>
Official hosting<\/td>Realms<\/td>Realms Plus<\/td><\/tr>
Split screen<\/td>No<\/td>Console versions only<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Within an edition, cross-play works: according to Mojang’s Java & Bedrock store page<\/a>, Bedrock players can play with other Bedrock players on any platform, and Java players on Windows, Mac and Linux can play together. On Windows 10 and 11, the Java & Bedrock Edition bundle includes both editions, and Mojang says owning one edition entitles you to the other. Online play on consoles usually needs the console’s own subscription. Realms is simple, but Mojang notes it is not meant for large groups: there is a maximum of 10 players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The differences for server owners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both official servers are free to download from minecraft.net<\/a>. This is what we found when we ran them in Docker:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/th>Java Edition server 26.3<\/th>Bedrock Dedicated Server 1.26.52.3<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
What you run<\/td>server.jar<\/code><\/td>bedrock_server<\/code> (Linux) or bedrock_server.exe<\/code> (Windows)<\/td><\/tr>
Needs<\/td>Java 25 (from Mojang’s version data)<\/td>No Java<\/td><\/tr>
Operating system<\/td>Anything that runs Java; it also ran on 64-bit ARM<\/td>Windows 10 (1703 or later), Windows Server 2016 or later, or Ubuntu 18 or later; other Linux distributions are not supported<\/td><\/tr>
Processor<\/td>x86-64 or ARM<\/td>64-bit Intel or AMD; Mojang recommends at least 2 cores and 1 GB RAM<\/td><\/tr>
Listens on<\/td>TCP 25565<\/td>TCP 19132 for the connection handshake, then UDP for gameplay (details below)<\/td><\/tr>
Default player limit<\/td>max-players=20<\/code><\/td>max-players=10<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
Allow list on by default<\/td>Yes (white-list=true<\/code>)<\/td>Yes (allow-list=true<\/code>)<\/td><\/tr>
Extending it<\/td>Plugins (Paper) or mods (Fabric, NeoForge, Forge)<\/td>Add-ons (behaviour packs and resource packs)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note the allow list. On both servers it was switched on in a fresh install, so nobody can join until you add them. The Bedrock server even prints an ALLOW LIST WARNING<\/code> at start-up telling you to use allowlist add <playername><\/code>. On Java, the console command is whitelist add <playername><\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ports and firewall rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Java Edition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Simple: the 26.3 server logged Starting Minecraft server on *:25565<\/code> and listened on TCP port 25565. Open that one port:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sudo ufw allow 25565\/tcp<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
For port forwarding at home and other firewalls, see Minecraft server port 25565<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bedrock Edition: the new NetherNet transport<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Many older guides say Bedrock uses UDP ports 19132 and 19133. That was true for the traditional transport, called RakNet. The server we tested defaults to a newer transport, transport=nethernet<\/code>, and the how-to file that ships with the server describes it like this: the server listens on a single TCP socket on server-port<\/code> for an HTTP-based handshake, then negotiates a UDP connection with each player for the gameplay traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That matched what we saw. With the default settings, the server logged Accepting clients on [::]:19132<\/code>, and ss<\/code> showed a TCP listener:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netid State  Local Address:Port\ntcp   LISTEN             *:19132   users:((\"bedrock_server\",...))<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
When we switched to transport=raknet<\/code>, the server went back to UDP 19132 and 19133 but also printed an error: In this release, NetherNet is the only supported transport type.<\/code> So plan for NetherNet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By default, NetherNet picks the UDP port for each player from the operating system’s ephemeral range. Mojang’s documentation says that is fine for most LAN setups but not always for servers behind a firewall or NAT, and adds the server-udp-ports<\/code> setting to pin a range. A firewall-friendly setup looks like this (the range is Mojang’s own example):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# server.properties\nserver-port=19132\ntransport=nethernet\nserver-udp-ports=49152-49200<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
sudo ufw allow 19132\/tcp\nsudo ufw allow 49152:49200\/udp<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
With firewalld (AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux) the same ports are written --add-port=19132\/tcp<\/code> and --add-port=49152-49200\/udp<\/code>. We confirmed that the server starts with these settings and that ufw 0.36.2 and firewalld 1.3.4 accept the rules. We did not test a real player connection through a firewall, so check the how-to file in your server download: Bedrock networking is changing between releases, and the file describes the version you actually have. The same file suggests putting a reverse proxy in front of the TCP handshake port on public servers, to absorb abusive traffic before it reaches the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can Java and Bedrock players play together?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not with the official software. Mojang is clear that the two editions use different servers. The common workaround is Geyser<\/a>, an open-source proxy that lets Bedrock players join a Java server. Its companion, Floodgate<\/a>, lets players who come in through Geyser join servers that run in online mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two cautions from Geyser’s own README. It translates between two different games, so “do not expect everything to work perfectly”. And support for new Minecraft versions can lag: when we checked, the README listed Java 26.2 while 26.3 was already out. Check the supported versions before you update a crossplay server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which edition should your server run?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n