How to Change Your Bedrock Version or Server Software

Bedrock updates itself through the app store, so your players' game can jump to a new version overnight while your server sits on the old one. Nobody can join until the two match. The Versions page is where you fix that, and it is also where you swap the server for something else entirely if you want plugins.

1Open the Versions Page

• Log in to your game panel and click your Bedrock server.
• Click Versions in the left menu under GAME SERVER.
• The bar in the middle tells you what is installed and whether it is current. UP TO DATE means there is nothing to do.

2Change the Version

• The list below is every Bedrock release, newest first. LATEST RELEASE marks the current one and INSTALLED marks yours.
• Press Install next to the version you want. Reinstall on the version you already have replaces the server files, which is the fix when something is corrupt.
• Show preview builds adds Mojang's preview releases to the list. Only use one of these if your players are on the matching preview client, because a normal Minecraft cannot join a preview server.
• Use the search box rather than scrolling. There are hundreds of builds.

3Choose Your Server Software

The three cards at the top are the bigger decision.

• Vanilla Bedrock is Mojang's own server. It behaves exactly like the game, supports add-ons and behaviour packs, and does not run plugins. This is what you want unless you have a reason not to.
• PocketMine-MP is a PHP server with a large plugin ecosystem on Poggit. It is how you get economies, ranks, minigames and land claims onto a Bedrock server.
• PowerNukkitX is a Java based Nukkit fork, also with plugin support. It runs on Java 21.

Press Switch on a card to change. Each one has its own version list, so PocketMine-MP offers its PM5 and PM4 channels rather than Minecraft version numbers, with each build labelled with the Minecraft version it supports.

Good to Know

• Back up before switching software. PocketMine-MP uses its own world format, so a world created on Vanilla does not simply carry across, and neither do your add-ons. Take a backup from the Backups page first.
• Plugin servers lag behind. When Minecraft updates, PocketMine-MP and PowerNukkitX need time to catch up. That is the trade you are making for plugins: you get them, and you wait a few days after every update.
• Add-ons are a Vanilla feature. The Add-ons page is for behaviour and resource packs, which is Vanilla's way of doing things. Plugins are the other route, and the two are not interchangeable.
• A restart alone updates a Vanilla server. You do not have to come here for routine updates. Restarting from the Console page pulls the newest release, which is why "restart it and try again" fixes most version mismatches.
• Your settings survive. server.properties is not replaced by an install, so everything on the Game Settings page stays as you left it.

Finished

Your server is on the version your players are. If people still cannot get in after an update, read players cannot connect.