Minecraft Bedrock Edition: Install, Cross-Play and Realms

Bedrock Edition is the Minecraft that runs on Android, iPhone and iPad, Chromebook, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Windows. It’s the same game on all of them, and players on any of those devices can play together. If you play Minecraft on a phone, which most players in Bangladesh do, you’re playing Bedrock.

The Bedrock Edition guide explains what Bedrock is, where it came from (it used to be Pocket Edition) and how it differs from Java. For the buying decision, Java vs Bedrock puts the two side by side. If you’re on a PC, you don’t have to choose: buying Minecraft for Windows gets you both editions, and the Java Edition hub covers the other half.

New to Bedrock? Start here

• New to Bedrock? Read the edition guide, then install it from the list below.
• Moving a world between devices? How to export Minecraft worlds walks through saving a world as a .mcworld file and opening it on another phone, tablet or PC.
• Want to play with friends? Jump to the multiplayer section below.
• Following a Java tutorial? Read the last section first.

Install it on your device

Each device gets its own step-by-step guide: Android, iPhone and iPad, Chromebook, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and Windows. The guides cover sign-in and which subscription consoles need for online play.

Playing together

Cross-play is Bedrock’s biggest strength. Sign in with a free Microsoft account and friends on any Bedrock device show up in your friends list. How to play Minecraft multiplayer covers every method, and Minecraft Realms is the easy way to keep a shared world online. If a friend’s world won’t show up, try can’t connect to a friend’s world.

Bedrock players can’t join Java servers, and Java players can’t join Bedrock worlds, so check which edition your friends are on before you buy. A phone and an Xbox can share a world; a phone and a Java PC can’t.

Customizing it

Bedrock uses add-ons and resource packs instead of Java-style mods. Skins and texture packs install with a tap; see how to change your Minecraft skin and installing texture packs. The Marketplace sells extra worlds and skin packs for Minecoins, and some items are free.

Where Bedrock behaves differently

Combat has no attack cooldown, some redstone builds from Java tutorials won’t work, and a few mobs and drops differ. The Wither, for example, has more health on Normal and Hard than it does on Java. Pages across the site point out Bedrock differences where they matter, so check the edition note before building a farm from a guide.

If a farm or redstone tutorial doesn’t say which edition it’s for, assume it’s Java and search for a Bedrock version before you start placing blocks. Updates also arrive differently: phones and consoles update through their app stores, so updating Minecraft is the first thing to try when a friend’s world says your version is too old.