How to Make a Minecraft Bedrock Server in 2026

Bedrock is what runs on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, mobile, and Windows 10/11. If you want console players on your server, you need a Bedrock-compatible setup. Here are your three real options.

Option 1: Bedrock Dedicated Server (BDS)

This is Mojang's official server software for Bedrock. Free, but no plugin support.

Download: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download/server/bedrock

Pick your OS (Windows or Linux), unzip into a folder, and:

```bash

Linux

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=. ./bedrock_server

Windows

bedrock_server.exe ```

Edit `server.properties`:

``` server-name=My Bedrock Server gamemode=survival difficulty=normal allow-cheats=false max-players=20 online-mode=true white-list=false server-port=19132 ```

Important: Bedrock uses UDP port 19132, not TCP. If you're self-hosting, port-forward UDP/19132 to your machine.

Option 2: PocketMine-MP (Plugins!)

If you want plugins, BDS won't help — use PocketMine-MP instead.

```bash curl -sL https://get.pmmp.io | bash -s - ./start.sh ```

PocketMine has its own plugin ecosystem (PoggitCI). Plugin parity with Java's Spigot/Paper is much smaller, but you'll find anti-cheat, claim, and economy plugins.

Tradeoff: PocketMine sometimes lags slightly behind official Bedrock in supporting new game versions.

Option 3: Geyser + Floodgate (Best for Cross-Play)

The most popular setup in 2026 is to run a Java Edition server and let Bedrock players connect through it using Geyser and Floodgate.

Why this is the way:

• Full plugin ecosystem (Paper + every Spigot plugin)
• Java and Bedrock players in the same world
• One server to maintain instead of two

How to set it up

1. Run a normal Paper server
2. Drop Geyser-Spigot.jar and floodgate-spigot.jar into `plugins/`
3. Start the server, stop it
4. Edit `plugins/Geyser-Spigot/config.yml`:

```yaml bedrock: port: 19132 remote: auth-type: floodgate ```

1. Start again. Bedrock players now connect on port 19132 UDP, Java players on 25565 TCP — same server, same world.

Floodgate handles authentication so Bedrock players don't need a Java account.

Connecting from Each Platform

Once your server is running:

• Mobile / Windows 10: Servers tab → Add Server → enter IP and port
• Xbox / PlayStation: Need a tool like BedrockTogether or DNS spoofing — Microsoft locks these consoles to a featured-server list, but workarounds are well-documented
• Switch: Same as console; needs a DNS workaround

Whitelist

``` whitelist on whitelist add Username ```

Bedrock whitelist uses gamertags, not UUIDs.

Backups

BDS doesn't auto-backup — back up the `worlds/` folder daily with cron or Task Scheduler:

```bash 0 4 * * * tar -czf /backups/bedrock-$(date +\%F).tar.gz /opt/bds/worlds/ ```

Common Issues

• Players can't connect: UDP port 19132 isn't forwarded, or your firewall is blocking it
• Connection times out on mobile: Some mobile carriers block port 19132 on cellular — try Wi-Fi
• Skin issues with Geyser: Update Geyser-Spigot to latest, restart

Which Should You Pick?

| Your goal | Use | | --- | --- | | Console-only, simple | BDS | | Bedrock-only with plugins | PocketMine-MP | | Cross-play with Java | Paper + Geyser + Floodgate |

For 90% of new servers in 2026, the answer is Geyser + Floodgate. Java's plugin ecosystem is too valuable to give up.

Once your server is live, list it on ServerList.cc under the Bedrock filter so the right players find you.