Convert a Bedrock world to Java

Your server runs Minecraft Java Edition, and a world saved by Bedrock Edition uses a different format that Java can't read. You can convert the world on your own computer with a free tool called Chunker, then upload the result with the World Import tab. The steps below cover the conversion and what it leaves behind.

Checked against Chunker 1.21.0 (released 2 October 2026), October 2026.

Decide whether to convert

Converting makes a Java copy of the world. If you only want Bedrock players, such as friends on phones, tablets or Windows, to join a Java server, you don't need to convert anything. Let Bedrock players join your Java server covers the Crossplay tab, which handles that. Consoles have no server address field, and that guide covers the workarounds.

Convert when you have a Bedrock world you want to keep playing on your Java server. The panel can't do the conversion, and World Import doesn't check the edition, so it will import a Bedrock save that the Java server then can't read.

What Chunker converts

Microsoft's Chunker overview lists what comes across. It converts level settings, world data (blocks, biomes and tile entities), multiple dimensions, containers and items, and in-game maps. Chunker's own README lists what does not convert: entities (paintings and item frames excepted) and structure data such as villages and strongholds. Expect animals, villagers and other mobs to be gone. Microsoft's overview, last updated in April 2025, also lists player inventories as unconverted, but Chunker's README does not mention them, so check what each player has after the first start.

Get the Bedrock world out

In Bedrock Edition, open the world's edit screen and use its export option to save a .mcworld file. Chunker takes that file directly, along with a zipped world or a world folder.

Convert with Chunker

1. Download the Chunker app for your system from the Chunker releases page. Your world is converted locally, so it never leaves your computer.
2. Open it and either drag your .mcworld onto it, or choose the world folder (the folder that holds level.dat) or an archive.
3. Pick the output. Choose Java Edition and the version your server runs. Check the version in the JAR Manager, under More. Chunker's list currently runs from Java 1.8.8 to 26.3.
4. Click Convert. Most worlds finish within a few minutes. If errors are shown, they come with an anonymous identifier you can pass to the Chunker developers.
5. Click Save and pick an output folder.

Match the server's version rather than picking a newer one. A world that has been upgraded to Minecraft 26.1 or newer can't be opened by an older server, so don't convert to a version newer than the one your server runs.

Upload it to your server

The converted world is a normal Java world folder. Zip it so that level.dat sits at the top of the zip or one folder down, then follow Upload your singleplayer Minecraft world: stop the server, open World Import, drop in the zip, click Import selected world and confirm. A large world goes over SFTP instead (Connect over SFTP with FileZilla or WinSCP).

The import renames your current world rather than deleting it. It leaves level.dat and the rest of the world data as they are, so it can't fix a bad conversion.

After the first start

• Check the Nether and the End. Chunker converts dimensions, but give each a visit. On Paper before Minecraft 26.1, the Nether and End live in separate folders (Convert Spigot and Vanilla world folders).
• Give players their things back. If a player's inventory didn't come across, open the Players tab, choose Give Items and hand over what they had.
• Set up the whitelist and operators. They live in the server's own files, not in the world, so add them in the Players tab if you haven't.

If it doesn't work

• Couldn't find a world (no level.dat) inside that zip: the zip has level.dat more than one folder down. Zip the folder that holds level.dat, not the folder above it.
• The server won't start: you may have chosen a newer Java version than your server runs. Convert again for the right version, and restore the old world from the Backups tab if needed.
• The world looks wrong: open Chunker's output in singleplayer Java Edition before you upload, to see what it produced. To do that, copy the folder into the saves folder of your Minecraft installation.