Let Bedrock players join your Java server

Bedrock Edition, the Minecraft on phones, tablets, consoles and the Windows Minecraft app, can't join a Java Edition server by itself. The Crossplay tab adds Geyser, which bridges the two editions, and on Fabric and NeoForge also Floodgate, which lets Bedrock players in without a Java account. Java players keep their usual address.

Before you start

1. Take a backup. Open the Backups tab and click Create backup. How to create and restore backups covers restoring it.
2. Check your server software. Crossplay works on Paper and Purpur (plugins) and on Fabric and NeoForge (mods). Vanilla can't load Geyser, and GeyserMC publishes no Forge or Quilt build. Switch in the JAR Manager tab (Change Minecraft server version or loader).
3. Check your Minecraft version. Geyser needs Java 21 or newer, which the panel runs from Minecraft 1.20.5. The Crossplay tab allows versions from 1.16.5, but Geyser can't load below 1.20.5. It also can't load on a Minecraft release newer than GeyserMC has caught up with, usually the first days after a release. GeyserMC's setup guide adds:
   • Paper or Purpur: below the latest release, also install the ViaVersion plugin from the Plugins tab (Install plugins on a Paper or Purpur server).
   • Fabric or NeoForge: the latest release only.
4. On Fabric, install Fabric API from the Mods tab. Geyser needs it, and the Crossplay tab doesn't add it (Install Fabric and Forge mods on your server).

Turn on crossplay

1. Open your server and go to the Crossplay tab, under Content in the panel menu.
2. Click Enable crossplay and wait for the Crossplay enabled message. The tab downloads Geyser into your plugins or mods folder, plus Floodgate on Fabric and NeoForge, and writes a Geyser setting so Bedrock players join on your server's own port.
3. On Paper or Purpur, add Floodgate now, as in the next section.
4. Go to the Console tab and click Restart under the console.
5. Watch for Started Geyser on UDP port followed by your server's port, a line or two before the server's own Done line.
6. Back in the Crossplay tab, Geyser and Floodgate (no Java account needed) should both have a tick.

Add Floodgate on Paper and Purpur

Modrinth has no Paper or Purpur build of Floodgate (checked 16 September 2026), so the tab can't add it. Without it, Bedrock players can only join by signing in with a Microsoft account that owns Java Edition.

1. Download floodgate-spigot.jar from GeyserMC's download page.

2. In the File Manager, open the plugins folder, click Upload and pick the jar (How to manage your server files).

   

3. Carry on from step 4 above. Geyser switches to Floodgate sign-in on its own when it finds Floodgate loaded, with no config to edit. Its config.yml still reads auth-type: online afterwards, and that is expected.

Join from Bedrock Edition

In the Crossplay tab, the Bedrock Edition card next to Java Edition shows the host with the port in brackets, and repeats the port on the line below. It is the same host and port Java players use. Its copy button copies the host only.

On a phone, tablet or the Windows Minecraft app:

1. Open Minecraft, tap Play, then the Servers tab, then Add Server.
2. Enter any name, paste the host as the Server Address, and type the port from the brackets as the Port. It is the same port Java players use.
3. Save, then tap the server to join.

Bedrock player names and the whitelist

By default, Floodgate puts a dot in front of Bedrock names and turns spaces into underscores, so "Steve Smith" joins as .Steve_Smith. Use that name for operators, bans and the whitelist.

To whitelist a Bedrock player, start the server and use Floodgate's own command in the Console, with the gamertag and no dot:

fwhitelist add Steve

The Players tab can't add a Bedrock player who hasn't joined yet: it takes the dotted name, but the server answers That player does not exist in the Console, because it looks the name up as a Java account. Use fwhitelist for Bedrock players, and confirm the spelling of the gamertag with them. Minecraft whitelist: add players, set ops covers turning the whitelist on.

What works differently for Bedrock players

Some of GeyserMC's current limitations:

• Links in chat can't be clicked, and the glowing effect doesn't show.
• Inventories can't tell a left click from a right click.
• Custom anvil and smithing recipes and custom enchantments don't carry over.

Mods that players must also install on their own computer don't work for Bedrock players.

If Bedrock players can't join

• Outdated Bedrock client! - the player updates Minecraft from their app store.
• Outdated Geyser proxy! - Geyser is older than the player's app. On Fabric or NeoForge, first move to the latest Minecraft release in the JAR Manager tab. Then click Disable crossplay and Enable crossplay to get a newer Geyser. Disabling deletes Floodgate and its settings too, so on Paper and Purpur upload it again before you restart.
• This server does not support Java Edition - add ViaVersion from the Plugins tab and restart, or update the server.
• has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime in the Console - Geyser needs Java 21, and the panel runs Minecraft 1.20.4 and older on Java 17 or 8. Update to 1.20.5 or newer in the JAR Manager tab and restart.
• Nothing connects - check the Console for Started Geyser on UDP port since the last restart, and for a tick on the Geyser chip in the Crossplay tab.
• Error occurred while enabling Geyser-Spigot followed by (Is it up to date?) in the Console, and no Started Geyser line - your Minecraft version is newer than Geyser supports yet, which happens in the days after a Minecraft release. Move back one release in the JAR Manager tab and restart.

If that doesn't fix it, note the player's device and Minecraft version, the exact message on their screen, the Geyser lines from the Console, and whether Java players can join.