Java or Bedrock? Let your friends join from their phones

Two editions, and two groups of friends who never meet

Minecraft has two editions, and this is the thing that confuses people most when they set out to make a server with their friends:

• Java Edition: the computer edition, on Windows, macOS and Linux. This is the one with mods, plugins and custom server software.
• Bedrock Edition: the phone, console and Windows 10/11 edition. It's the most widespread one around here, because most people play on a phone.

The problem: by default a Bedrock player can't join a Java server, and the reverse doesn't work either. So half of you are on a PC, half on a phone, and no server brings you together.

Which one should your server be?

The short answer: start with Java.

A Java server is the one that unlocks everything: plugins, mods, modpacks, and server types like Paper, Fabric and Forge. Most importantly, you can let Bedrock players into it, while the other direction doesn't work.

How do you let phone players into a Java server?

On Serverk, crossplay is a single switch in your Minecraft server settings. Turn it on and your server gets a second port where Bedrock players join at the same time as Java players: same world, same chat, same everything.

Under the hood this runs on Geyser and Floodgate, which translate the Bedrock protocol into Java. You install nothing and configure nothing. We set it up.

The full steps are in the crossplay guide.

Watch one thing: RAM

Translating between the two protocols isn't free. Every Bedrock player who joins through crossplay costs your server a little more memory and CPU than a plain Java player would.

So if you sized the plan exactly to your player count, leave some headroom before you turn crossplay on. The server planner adds that overhead for you. Just check the "My friends play from phone or console" option.

And if your friends are on different Java versions?

A closely related problem, and a common one: one friend updated to the newest version, another stayed on an older one for mods, and now they can't share a server.

That's one switch here too. See the version compatibility guide.

Start here

• The server planner with crossplay: sizes your plan with the phone players counted in.
• The crossplay guide: the full steps inside the panel.
• Create your server: ready in about a minute, and crossplay is one click after that.