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07/26/2026

Minecraft Crossplay Server: Java + Bedrock with Geyser (2026)

Minecraft Crossplay Server: Java + Bedrock with Geyser (2026)

Here's the short version: you don't need two servers, and you don't need to buy Minecraft twice. Run one Paper server, add two plugins — Geyser and Floodgate — and your friends on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, phone or Windows can all join the same world as your friends on PC. This is the setup I run for crossplay, and below is exactly how I do it, plus the mistakes that cost people an evening.

Java or Bedrock — and why crossplay is even a question

Minecraft comes in two editions that don't naturally talk to each other. Java Edition is the PC version — Windows, macOS, Linux — and it's the one with the huge plugin and mod ecosystem. Bedrock Edition is everything else: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, phones, tablets and the Windows app. Mojang never built a bridge between them, so out of the box a Bedrock player simply can't join a Java server.

For most people the real question was never "which edition is better". It's "my friends are split across PC and console — how do we all play together?" That's what Geyser fixes, and it's why I put it on every server where the group plays across more than one device.

What Geyser and Floodgate actually do (nobody installs a mod)

  • Geyser — a server-side translator that sits on your Java server and speaks Bedrock's language back to console and mobile players. It runs as a plugin (the build is literally called Geyser-Spigot) and listens on its own UDP port, 19132 by default. Your Bedrock friends connect to it like any other Bedrock server — they install nothing.
  • Floodgate — Geyser's companion plugin. Without it, Bedrock players would need to own a paid Java account too. With Floodgate they join using just their normal Bedrock account. Important: you keep your server in online-mode — Floodgate authenticates Bedrock players on its own, you do not flip the whole server to offline mode.

That's the myth worth killing early: crossplay is server-side. Your friends don't install a mod, don't sideload anything, and don't buy the game a second time. You run one world; they add your address in the game they already own.

How I set it up on Paper, step by step

I run Paper — a drop-in fork of Spigot that's dramatically faster and is what basically every serious server uses. On the current version, Minecraft 26.2, Geyser connects natively, so there's nothing extra to bolt on. The flow:

  • Get a Paper server running normally first — Java players on the usual TCP port 25565. Make sure that part works before touching crossplay.
  • Drop Geyser-Spigot and Floodgate into your /plugins folder and restart. Two jars, one restart.
  • In Geyser's config, set the auth type to floodgate so the two plugins work as a pair.
  • Open UDP 19132 on your firewall or router — this is the single step people forget (more on that below).
  • Tell your Bedrock friends to add a server with your IP and port 19132. That's it — they're in.

The gotchas that actually trip people up

None of these are hard, but each one has cost someone an evening of "why won't it connect":

  • UDP, not TCP. Java uses TCP 25565; Bedrock uses UDP 19132. Different port, different protocol. If Java players can join but Bedrock players time out, this is almost always it — you opened TCP and forgot the UDP port.
  • On anything older than 26.2, add ViaVersion. Geyser targets the latest Minecraft; if your Paper server is running an older version than the current 26.2 release, install ViaVersion so Bedrock clients can still connect.
  • Don't test from the same Windows PC. Windows blocks a Bedrock client from reaching a Bedrock server on the same machine (loopback). Test from your phone or a friend's device instead of chasing a bug that isn't there.
  • Bedrock isn't a perfect clone of Java. Some redstone, inventory and UI behaviour differs between editions. Crossplay is excellent, but it's a bridge, not a mirror — set that expectation with your group.
  • Names get a small prefix. Floodgate adds a prefix (a dot by default) to Bedrock usernames so they can't clash with Java names. You can change it in the config, but leave it unless you have a reason.

Where to run all this

Here's the honest part. Geyser and Floodgate only work on a server that's always on and lets you add plugins. That's exactly where free hosts fall down: they sleep your server after a few idle minutes, put you in a queue for minutes when you want to play, and cap you at around 2GB of shared RAM. Crossplay adds load on top of that — more players, two protocols — so a free box is the worst place to try it.

All of this is free — but it's only as good as the box it runs on. On mcbalkan you get full plugin access, so Geyser and Floodgate are a two-minute job (or I'll set them up for you), the machines sit in Germany for low DACH ping, and when something breaks you talk directly to me — no ticket queue, no bot. See my Minecraft hosting.