Crossplay Minecraft server hosting, one world for Java and Bedrock.
Pixly is Java and Bedrock server hosting on a single address: your world runs as a regular Java Edition server, and the built-in Geyser bridge lets Bedrock players on phones, tablets, and consoles walk into the same map. One switch turns it on, two addresses get everyone in, and you pay per hour only while the server is online.
~10 free hours to try · no card · instant setup
How Minecraft crossplay actually works
Java Edition and Bedrock Edition are two different programs speaking two different network languages. A Minecraft crossplay server doesn't merge them — it's a Java server with a translator standing in front. That translator is Geyser, and on Pixly it's part of the hosting rather than a project you assemble.
Geyser speaks Bedrock at the door
When a phone or console connects, it talks the only protocol it knows. Geyser answers in kind, then converts every packet — movement, blocks, chat, inventory — into what the server expects, live in both directions. The world itself stays pure Java, which is why plugins and world data behave normally.
Floodgate skips the second account
On its own, Geyser would still ask each Bedrock player to sign in with a Java Edition account most of them don't have. Floodgate closes that gap: friends walk in on the Microsoft account they already have and appear in the world like anyone else. No new logins, nothing to buy.
One switch instead of a stack of jars
Running the bridge yourself means downloading builds, matching them to your loader, and updating them after every Minecraft release. On Pixly, Geyser server hosting is a toggle: turn on "Bedrock cross-play" in Settings and everything installs itself on the next start, staying current without you touching a file.
Getting everyone in, device by device
Flip the switch, restart, and the server's Connection card shows two entries: a Java address and a Bedrock address with a port. Which one a friend needs depends only on what they play on.
Java Edition — PC and Mac
Friends on the Java game use the plain address, something like cozyglade-7x.pixly.gg. They add it under Multiplayer → Add Server once; it survives every restart, so nobody re-shares links before game night.
Bedrock Edition — phone, tablet, console, Windows
Bedrock friends use the second row: the same name with a port on the end. On their device's Servers screen they add that address plus its port, and your world appears in their list like any other. From there, joining is one tap.
Why Bedrock needs the port
A Java join carries the server's name inside the connection, so hosting infrastructure can read it and route the player to the right world. Bedrock's protocol sends no name — the network only sees which numbered port the traffic arrived on. So every Pixly crossplay world reserves its own Bedrock port, and that number does the routing.
Version mismatches, bridged automatically
Geyser has to understand a Minecraft release before it can translate it, so its support can trail a new release by days or weeks — while Java launchers update themselves on day one. That scissor between a pinned server and auto-updated players is the classic crossplay headache, and Pixly closes it for you.
The toggle checks before it promises
"Bedrock cross-play" looks at your server type and pinned Minecraft version before it enables. If Geyser can't serve that combination yet, the switch is disabled with the reason spelled out — you find out at the moment of the click, not from a crash after a restart.
ViaVersion joins in while you're behind
While your pinned version trails the latest release, Pixly slots ViaVersion in beside the bridge the next time the server boots. Java friends whose launcher already auto-updated connect to the older server anyway, instead of bouncing off a version-mismatch screen.
…and leaves when you catch up
The check runs against the version gap itself. Update the server once Geyser supports the newest release and ViaVersion simply stops being included. Your saved mod list never accumulates plumbing — the bridge pieces come and go with the need.
Which server types support crossplay
Geyser lives inside the server as a plugin or mod, so it needs a server type with somewhere to attach. On Pixly that means Paper, Fabric, Quilt, or NeoForge — and Settings makes the distinction clear before you commit to anything.
Paper, for plugin worlds
The most common crossplay setup. Paper plays like vanilla survival for your group, runs plugins, and hosts Geyser and Floodgate as two of them. If you just want friends on every device in one ordinary world, this is the default worth picking.
Fabric, Quilt, and NeoForge, for modded worlds
On mod loaders the same pieces install as mods, so a modded world and crossplay aren't either-or. Everything that runs server-side — terrain generation, farms, mechanics — applies to the whole group, whatever edition they're on. The modded Minecraft server hosting page digs into loaders and packs.
Vanilla and Forge sit this one out
Plain Vanilla has no loader for the bridge to live in, and Geyser doesn't support Forge at all. Both are a Settings change away — though switching server type resets the world (a backup is taken first), so it's a choice best made early.
What crossplay can't smooth over
Geyser is remarkably good, and it is still a translation. An honest crossplay page should say what stays imperfect, so here it is.
Bedrock players see a very close copy
Almost everything maps cleanly — building, exploring, chat, inventories. A few Java-side details, like certain particles, menus, and combat timing, are approximations on Bedrock. For playing together it's rarely noticeable; for competitive Java PvP nuance, the original client remains the reference.
Client-side extras stay on Java
Geyser translates network traffic, not the game program itself. Shaders, minimaps, and other client-side Java mods exist only for whoever installed them, and mods that add new blocks or items are drawn by the Java client — the Bedrock side may see stand-ins. Server-side plugins and datapacks, though, work for everyone.
It's Java hosting underneath
Pixly runs a Java server with Bedrock crossplay, not native Bedrock hosting. A group that plays Bedrock exclusively and wants its exclusive behavior — Bedrock redstone, marketplace content — is better served elsewhere, and we'd rather say so. For mixed groups, the Java-with-bridge model is the one that gets everybody in.
Crossplay adds nothing to the bill — it's priced like any other Pixly server, per hour while it's online, and the meter stops when it sleeps. The live grid below shows every size and region; the pay-per-hour Minecraft server hosting page explains the billing model in full, and the cost guide works out what a Minecraft server costs per month at real play patterns.
Pick a size. Pay for time you play.
Pixly’s pay-per-hour Minecraft server hosting only charges you for the hours your players are actually online — an affordable, budget-friendly alternative that works out cheaper than a flat monthly plan for the way you really play.
Crossplay hosting questions
Get every device into one world
Create a server, turn the crossplay switch on, and share two addresses. Start with ~10 free hours and pay for the time you play.
No card to start