Set up your Minecraft Bedrock server

This guide is based on a real OmneHosting Bedrock server (Minecraft Bedrock Edition 1.26.51.1 at the time of testing).

Caution

New Bedrock servers start with the allow list turned on and empty. Nobody can join until you add players. Follow the steps below before you invite anyone.

What to expect

• The server is small and starts quickly. It was ready about two seconds after starting and used less than 200 MB of memory when idle.
• The Console shows Server started. when it is ready.

Add players to the allow list

On first start the Console warns:

ALLOW LIST WARNING
Allow list is enabled but contains no entries.
Use allowlist add <playername> for you and your friends so that they can access

To let your friends in, type this in the Console command box for each player:

allowlist add <player name>

If you would rather let anyone join, open Properties, search for allow, switch allow-list off, save, and restart the server. Then anyone who has your address can join, so only do this if you are comfortable with that.

Your allow list is saved in allowlist.json in Files.

Default settings

Setting	Default
Server name	Bedrock Dedicated Server
Game mode	survival
Difficulty	easy
Max players	10
Cheats	off
Allow list	on
Sign-in check (online mode)	on
World name	Bedrock level
Default permission for new players	member
View distance	32
Tick distance	4

Change these on the Properties page or on Startup. See Minecraft Bedrock server settings and options. Restart after changing them.

Files

File or folder	What it is
server.properties	The main settings.
allowlist.json	Players allowed to join.
permissions.json	Player permission levels.
worlds/	Your world, created on first start.
behavior_packs/ and resource_packs/	Add-ons and resource packs.

Join the server

1. Start the server and wait for Server started.
2. Find your address and port on the Network page. See Network and ports.
3. In Minecraft Bedrock Edition, open Play, then Servers, then Add Server, and enter the address and port.

Java Edition players cannot join a Bedrock server. If you want both editions on one server, see Let Bedrock players join your Java server.

Problems? See Minecraft Bedrock server problems.