BedrockConnect

Last reviewed Sep 13, 2026 · 869 words

Consoles running Minecraft Bedrock can only join the five or six "featured servers" Microsoft lists, and BedrockConnect is a DNS trick that turns one of those entries into a menu of any servers you want. You change the console's DNS to a server that resolves the featured hostnames to a BedrockConnect instance; the console joins what it thinks is a featured server and gets an in-game server list instead. Pick your server from the list and you are transferred to it. The 2,155-star project has been the standard answer to "how do I get my kid's Switch onto our server" since 2020, and it is an MIT-licensed Java program that runs on almost nothing.

The mechanism, because it explains every caveat

Two pieces are involved. A DNS server answers the console's lookups for hostnames like mco.mineplex.com and the other featured entries with the IP of your BedrockConnect instance instead of the real one, and answers everything else honestly. BedrockConnect itself listens on UDP 19132, speaks enough of the Bedrock protocol to present a form-based menu, and sends a transfer instruction that points the client at the server you chose. Your actual Minecraft server is untouched; nothing runs on it.

That means three things follow. Every console needs its DNS changed. Whatever DNS server the console uses must be reachable from it. And the target server must be reachable from the console directly, since after the transfer BedrockConnect is out of the picture.

Public instance or your own

The project maintains a public DNS server and BedrockConnect instance, and for a lot of families that is the correct amount of effort: set the console's DNS to the project's published address, done. Self-hosting is worth it when you want the list pre-populated with your own servers so nobody types an IP on a controller, when you do not want console DNS pointed at a stranger, or when the console is on a LAN with your server and you would rather never leave it.

Running it yourself is a Docker image (pugmatt/bedrock-connect) or a jar with Java, 256 MB of memory, and UDP 19132 open. Pass a JSON file of custom servers so they appear on the menu by default, and leave the built-in featured entries so the console's normal servers still work. The DNS half is the part people miss: you also need something answering port 53 for the console. The project ships a DNS config for that, or you can add the handful of hostname overrides to a resolver you already run, such as AdGuard Home with its DNS rewrites, which is the tidier homelab pattern.

Console-specific pain

Each console does DNS differently. Xbox lets you set DNS in its network settings without fuss. PlayStation likewise, but expects both a primary and secondary, and both should be yours or the console will sometimes fall back to the real answer. Switch is the same and also needs the primary to answer quickly or it reports no connection. On every platform, the console will show an internet check failing if your DNS server does not forward ordinary lookups properly, so test with a laptop set to that DNS first.

Bedrock on mobile and Windows does not need any of this; they can add servers directly. BedrockConnect is purely a console workaround, which is why the catalogue calls it niche.

Pair it with Geyser if the server is Java

If your server is a Paper or Vanilla Java server, consoles cannot join it at all without a translator. Geyser runs as a plugin or proxy and lets Bedrock clients join Java servers; BedrockConnect then gets the console to Geyser. If the server is already Bedrock, the Bedrock dedicated server container plus BedrockConnect is the whole stack. The combination of Geyser and BedrockConnect is the entire practical answer to the cross-play workarounds people search for, and it is why both projects are as popular as they are for something so specific. The alternative, a Realms subscription, does not work for a self-hosted server at all.

Keep it patched and expect breakage

Microsoft changes the featured server list and the Bedrock protocol with each game update, and BedrockConnect has to follow. When a console update lands and the menu stops appearing, the fix is nearly always pulling the newest image. The project is well maintained but a one-person effort at heart; if it stops tracking the protocol, this trick stops working, and there is no fallback. Budget for that possibility before building a community around console players.

What I'd do

If one or two consoles in the house need onto your server, use the public instance and spend your time on the server. If you run a community with console players, self-host BedrockConnect in Docker with your servers in the custom list, do the DNS overrides in AdGuard Home so nothing else on the network changes, put Geyser on the Java server, and pin a note to update BedrockConnect the day after every Minecraft release.