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minecraft.net on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition
Minecraft horizontal key art

Key art by Mojang Studios

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (only Minecraft on most platforms and in-game) refers to the multi-platform versions of Minecraft developed by Mojang Studios, Xbox Game Studios, and SkyBox Labs and based on the Bedrock codebase.

Bedrock codebase

The term "Bedrock Edition" originates from the Bedrock codebase, which was created in the C++ programming language to run on platforms that cannot support Java. Code was added to accommodate differences in the target platforms for such facilities as networking and storage access, though around 90% of the code is used on every platform.[citation needed] This common core of functionality is called the "Bedrock Engine".[29]

The codebase resides within a software system that manages the pieces of code and tracks their evolution. This allows the codebase to host not only the current version but all past versions, the standalone Bedrock Dedicated Server (BDS) versions, and several Beta versions simultaneously with no conflicts.

Target platform builds are created individually, then transmitted to the platform's app store. Most stores have their own compliance requirements and subject the incoming edition to a series of certification tests before making it available for download. Xbox Game Studios attempts to synchronize availability across stores, but the certification process is not under their control and can delay an edition's availability on a certain platform, especially if it fails certification and has to go back to the developers for a fix.

Bedrock code is used for Minecraft Education, China Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, and Minecraft Legends, as well as the discontinued Pi Edition, New Nintendo 3DS Edition, and Minecraft Earth.

Nomenclature

Up until June 7, 2022[30], the name "Bedrock Edition" was not the official name of any edition of the game. Starting with the Better Together Update, all Bedrock editions of Minecraft have been named simply Minecraft. Before then, they each had a subtitle identifying the target platform, including Pocket Edition (for all mobile platforms), Windows 10 Edition, Gear VR Edition, and Fire TV Edition. The earliest of these was Pocket Edition, also known as "MCPE" or "PE", and these names were (and still are) sometimes used to refer to all the Bedrock editions, possibly even including those that were introduced after the renaming occurred.

The renaming of the Bedrock editions to Minecraft with no "Edition" subtitles created confusion in the community for several reasons:

  • This name had, until then, referred to the version now known as Java Edition, which is not Bedrock Edition. The Java version was renamed to Minecraft: Java Edition at the same time the Bedrock editions were renamed to Minecraft, so for a while any use of the name was hopelessly ambiguous.
  • Although officially named simply Minecraft, the Bedrock editions for consoles are marketed as Minecraft for Xbox, Minecraft for Nintendo Switch, and Minecraft for PlayStation 4.[31][32][33] These names are similar to the Legacy Console Editions on the same platforms, styled as Minecraft: Xbox One Edition, Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition, and Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition, leaving many confused about the differences between the two versions.
  • The term "Minecraft" was (and still is) also commonly used to refer to the game in general.

Together, these complications made the official name Minecraft useless for referring to the Bedrock editions collectively. The editors of this wiki, however, needed such a term in order to describe the functioning of the Bedrock Engine across all editions, so despite there not being a real Bedrock Edition, the wiki chose to use this as a term of art. Subsequently, the community adopted it as well and it is now the de facto standard term for referring to all the Bedrock editions collectively. Mojang Studios employees have also used Bedrock Edition to refer to said edition in news articles, until June 7, 2022 where both Java Edition for PC and Bedrock Edition for Windows are sold under one bundle, titled Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC, marking the first official use of "Bedrock Edition" as a subtitle in any Bedrock editions.[34]

Gameplay

The objective of the game remains the same as its Java Edition and Legacy Console Edition counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. Like them, Bedrock Edition has survival elements such as hunger and brewing, and the Nether and the End dimensions. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between all supported devices.[35]

Bedrock Edition differs from Java Edition and Legacy Console Edition in a variety of ways, such as more saturated graphics, different terrain generation, some exclusive items, and an official add-on system.[36] The HUD and other elements vary for each relevant device. Players can interact with the game via a keyboard and mouse, touchscreen, or a gamepad.

Differences from Java Edition include:

Some features of Bedrock Edition are available only on certain platforms.

  • Virtual reality is available only on Windows and PlayStation.
  • Importing or exporting worlds is supported only on Windows.
  • Joining servers through IP isn't supported by Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PlayStation.
  • Windows and mobile devices supports all three different control types. "Keyboard & Mouse", "Controller", and "Touch".
    • Xbox and PlayStation supports both "Keyboard & Mouse" and "Controller".

Compatible devices

Windows ChromeOS Android Fire iOS & iPadOS
Minimum version Windows 10 version 1803 (build 17134.0)[38] ChromeOS 111[38] Android Lollipop (5.0)[38] Fire OS 5
  • Latest version: Fire OS 5
  • Until 1.17.0: Fire OS 3
  • Until 0.12.2: Fire OS 2
iOS 11[38]
Processor

Intel Celeron J4105 | AMD FX-4100 (Intel i7-6500U | AMD A8-6600K recommended)

AMD A4-9120C, Intel Celeron N4000, Intel 3865U, Intel i3-7130U, Intel m3-8100Y, Mediatek Kompanio 500 Any with support of floating-point calculations ("ARM-v7a code") and Neon[39] Dual-core A7 processor or later
Video card

Intel HD Graphics 4000 | AMD Radeon R5 (NVIDIA GeForce 940M | AMD Radeon HD 8570D recommended) (Minimum RTX 2060 For RTX)

Not applicable
Graphics DirectX 12 FL 11 Any with support of OpenGL ES 2.0
RAM memory 4 GB (8 GB recommended) 4 GB 768 MB 1 GB minimum
Storage 300 MB (100 MB to 1 GB is the max to save a map)
Data connection Optional (Realms access)
Supported devices
  • Any Surface except original Surface, Surface 2, & Surface Duo line
  • Most Windows PCs
  • Pixelbook
  • Pixel Slate
  • Pixelbook Go
  • All ChromeOS devices launched in the last three years
  • Pixel (all models)
  • Most Android mobile devices
  • Fire HD (2014 or later)
  • Fire (2015 or later)
  • Fire HDX 8.9 (2014)
  • iPhone 5S or later
  • iPhone SE (all models)
  • iPad (5th gen) or later
  • iPad Air (all models)
  • iPad mini 2 or later
  • iPad Pro (all models)
  • iPod touch (6th gen) or later

Some devices below these specifications have been known to work fine either with or without custom ROM images, kernels, and overclocking of the CPU. The MSM7227 CPU is not supported due to its lack of the floating-point unit.[40] The "Tegra 2" processor is also not supported because it lacks support for Neon.

Development

Release

A video of an early prototype was released on Twitter (now X), showing the game on the Xperia PLAY. The Alpha version was later released, and was released for different platforms on October 7, 2011. The non-exclusive version was going to be released on September 29 for Android[41] but there were several severe bugs that needed to be fixed; the release was delayed until October 7.

A version for iOS devices was confirmed to be released before 2012 in an interview with Mojang Studios[42] and was subsequently released on November 17, 2011.

Alpha

Main article: Bedrock Edition Alpha

After the initial releases for Android and iOS, updates were released in parallel, with the same features being added for both platforms. During the Alpha stage, various aspects of gameplay were introduced into the Bedrock codebase including: crafting, smelting, more blocks, items, mobs and more game modes to bring it closer to the Java Edition. As the Pocket Edition development team works closely, often blocks released on the Java Edition are released around the same time for Pocket Edition. Certain features were also tested on Pocket Edition before their Java releases, such as beetroots and their related items, and also block models.

During the Alpha phase, the Bedrock codebase was ported to more platforms: first, Pocket Edition was released for Fire on September 13, 2012, and for Windows Phone on December 10, 2014. The Windows 10 Edition Beta was released on July 29, 2015, at a higher price than Pocket Edition. Gear VR Edition was released April 27, 2016 for the same price as Pocket Edition.

Two other versions of Minecraft that are based on the Bedrock codebase, but separate from Bedrock Edition, were also released during this period. Pi Edition is a free and discontinued version of Minecraft for the Raspberry Pi, which was based on an old alpha version of Bedrock. Minecraft Education was released for Windows and macOS on November 1, 2016.

Full release

On November 11, 2016, the full release of the game, version 1.0.0 (dubbed the Ender Update), was announced. It was released on December 19, 2016, along with the Apple TV Edition and Fire TV Edition. Pocket Edition began to receive updates again for Windows 10 Mobile on February 22, 2017.[43]

From version 1.2.0, the Better Together Update, the Bedrock editions no longer have the "Edition" subtitle and are renamed to simply Minecraft.[44] A port of Bedrock Edition for Xbox One was released along with the update, and one for the Nintendo Switch was released digitally and physically on June 21, 2018.[45] PlayStation 4 users received the Bedrock Edition with the 1.14.0 update on December 10, 2019.[46] Owners of the original Legacy Console Edition for these consoles are able to download the new version for free. In October 2020, the Gear VR and Windows 10 Mobile editions of the game were discontinued.[47] In June 2021, the Fire TV edition of the game was discontinued.[48]

Beta and Preview test versions

Starting on November 22, 2013,[49] Mojang Studios began to publicly release testing versions of full updates to Android users who opt into the beta program, in order to get major feedback, especially for bug reporting. This enabled the official updates to be considerably more stable.

Versions from 0.8.0 to 0.12.1 required opting into a Google+ group to receive development builds. Players would then see development updates appear as normal updates in the Play Store. On July 17, 2015, the Google+ group was removed due to the amount of spam and advertisements that the group attracted.[50][51][52] On November 3, 2015, the PE Beta team published a dedicated blog[53] that was subsequently used for users to opt into the 0.13.0 beta program and to display changelogs for these development builds.

The Xbox Insider Hub app is used to opt into the beta program on Windows since July 31, 2017, and on Xbox One since August 24. Before the release of the Better Together Update, the Xbox One beta was available only to owners of the digital version of the original Xbox One Edition, and not owners of the disc version.

Starting on January 31, 2022, the beta program was expanded to other platforms, starting with iOS and iPadOS, with Minecraft Preview.[54] The previous beta program through Xbox Insider Hub has been phased out and replaced by Minecraft Preview.

Players can also test unfinished or work-in-progress features using Experimental Gameplay, a toggle that can be turned on through world settings, but once on, it cannot be turned off again in that world.

Price

Although all Bedrock editions are nearly identical, the price[note 1] varies depending on the platform. The Android, iOS/iPadOS, and Fire versions cost US$6.99 (£6.99), while the ChromeOS, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 versions cost US$19.99 (£19.99, £16.74, and £12.99 respectively). The Windows and Nintendo Switch versions are the most expensive, both costing US$29.99 (£24.99 and £19.99 respectively), though the Windows version includes Java Edition and the Nintendo Switch version includes some DLC. DLC purchased from the Marketplace on one platform is usable on all other platforms, but the game itself is sold separately on each platform. Xbox achievements are not shared between platforms and buying the game on one of these platforms does not get the game on the others. The Xbox One and Windows versions are also playable to Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass subscribers respectively, with both versions playable to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.[55][31] The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are playable on the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 respectively via backward compatibility.[31][56] As with all other versions of Minecraft, updates are free of charge. On Windows, the game can be launched via the Minecraft Launcher.

Sales

Minecraft Sales Data

Minecraft sales data, up to December 2015.

As of December 2013, Pocket Edition (the only Bedrock Codebase edition at the time) had sold 16.5 million copies, while at the same time, the Java Edition had sold 13 million. These calculations came out after the 0.8.0 update.[57] This was considered a huge success, with Pocket Edition outselling both Java Edition and Legacy Console Edition, despite being considered to be the least-developed at the time.

On December 2, 2016, Marsh Davies announced that Pocket Edition had sold over 40 million copies[58] (at the time, Java Edition had sold over 24 million). This statistic included Windows 10 Edition and Gear VR Edition.

Minecraft is also usually in the top 10 and regularly #1 in the Apple App Store's and Google Play's Paid Apps Section in the Top Charts.[59][60]

Platform differences

Further information: Compare platform & features

There are several features in Bedrock Edition that are exclusive to certain platforms due to capability restrictions on different platforms. Here is a table of the features that are available only on certain platforms.

Windows ChromeOS Android iOS & iPadOS Fire Xbox Nintendo Switch PlayStation
Split screen No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Import & Export world buttons Yes No No No No No No No
Structure block 3D export Yes No No No No No No No
Custom skins Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Join servers via IP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[a] No[a] No[a]
Keyboard controls Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[b] Yes
Mouse controls Yes Yes Yes[c] Yes Yes[d] Yes No Yes
Touch controls Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Partial[e] No
Virtual reality Yes[f] No No No No No No Yes[g]
Deferred Rendering Pipeline Upcoming Unknown Upcoming No No Upcoming No No
Ray tracing Yes No No No No No No No
Shader language HLSL GLSL GLSL GLSL GLSL HLSL GLSL PSSL
Beta versions Yes[h] No[i] Yes No No Yes No No
Minecraft Preview versions Yes No No Yes No Yes No No
Base Game Price (USD) $29.99[j] $19.99[k] $6.99 $6.99 $6.99 $19.99 $29.99[l] $19.99
Free trial Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes
Deluxe Collection (USD) $39.99[j] No No No No $29.99 $39.99[m] $29.99
  1. a b c Can be joined only by setting a specific custom DNS.
  2. Can be used only for chat.
  3. Requires Android Oreo (8.0) or later.
  4. Requires Fire OS 7 or later.
  5. Can be used for inventory management and in the UI, but not for game actions (movement, attack, etc.).
  6. Via Oculus Rift, Meta Quest (via Link and Air Link), and Windows Mixed Reality.
  7. Via PlayStation VR.
  8. You need to own PC Game Pass to try Minecraft Bedrock beta.
  9. Unless Android environment in emulated.
  10. a b Includes Java Edition.
  11. Includes Android version.
  12. Includes DLC.
  13. Includes extra DLC.

Gallery

Notes

  1. Minecraft is sold in USD by the publishers, conversions vary from different distributors.

References

  1. "Minecon 2015 - Day Two" – Twitch.
  2. Xbox Game Studios § Subsidiaries
  3. SkyBox Labs Brings Bedrock Version of Minecraft to Nintendo Switch - SkyBox Labs
  4. Minecraft - Nintendo Switch - SkyBox Labs
  5. Minecraft - PlayStation®4 - SkyBox Labs
  6. "The Pocket Edition is ported to C++"@jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X, October 7, 2011
  7. "Minecraft Franchise Fact Sheet" – Xbox Wire, April 2021.
  8. Say hello to Minecraft – Pocket Edition - Mojang.com; August 16, 2011
  9. The initial general Android release blog post said the minimum version was 2.2, but this was a typo, as shown by this later blog post that mentions both 2.1 & 2.2 as previously-supported versions.
  10. Minecraft – Pocket Edition on Android - Mojang.com; October 7, 2011
  11. Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.6.0 Submitted - Mojang.com; January 21, 2013
  12. a b "Important news regarding Minecraft on Android and FireTV" – Minecraft.net, March 10, 2021
  13. a b Determined by viewing the AndroidManifest.xml files of some APKs. See discussion here.
  14. Minecraft for Windows | Xbox
  15. a b c Minecraft – Apps on Google Play
  16. a b Minecraft on the App Store
  17. a b Minecraft:Amazon.com:Appstore for Android
  18. Minecraft | Xbox
  19. Minecraft - ESRB
  20. Minecraft PEGI Rating
  21. Minecraft | Australian Classification
  22. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile — Microsoft Store (ru-RU)
  23. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile – Microsoft Store de-DE
  24. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile - Microsoft Store zh-TW
  25. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile - Microsoft Store ko-KR
  26. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile - Microsoft Store en-ZA
  27. Minecraft for Windows | Xbox (pt-BR)
  28. Minecraft for Windows 10 Mobile - Microsoft Store pt-BR
  29. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/better-together-faq
  30. https://minecraft.net/article/java---bedrock-edition-pc-out-june-7
  31. a b c Minecraft for Xbox | Minecraft
  32. Minecraft for Nintendo Switch | Minecraft
  33. Minecraft for PlayStation 4 | Minecraft
  34. https://youtu.be/qNMfF9TYETM
  35. Minecraft - Pocket Edition on iOS! - Mojang.com; November 18, 2011
  36. Minecraft Add-Ons: Customize Your Experience | Minecraft
  37. "Purchasing for Minecraft Java Edition is restored. You will know need to create a Microsoft account for new purchases of this version - JP"@MojangStatus on X, December 1, 2020 [sic]
  38. a b c d Minecraft (Bedrock) Installation Issues FAQ - Minecraft Help Center; Last updated July 22, 2021
  39. "MCPE on Android devices requires a processor that supports Neon" – MCPE-8332, comment by rplatham.
  40. MSM7000 § MSM7x27
  41. "Minecraft - Pocket Edition Touch Controls" – Minecraft on YouTube, September 26, 2011
  42. Minecraft Pocket Edition Interview With Mojang's Daniel Kaplan - Unboundgamer; September 29, 2011
  43. "Upgrade for Windows Phone players!" – Minecraft.net, February 22, 2017
  44. "Better Together (1.2) FAQ" – Minecraft.net, September 20, 2017
  45. "Minecraft Bedrock edition hits Nintendo Switch on June 21st! Available both digitally and physically at retail, it includes the Mario mash-up pack AND the Better Together update. Already own Minecraft on Switch? You'll be able to update to the new version for free!"@Minecraft (Minecraft) on X, May 11, 2018
  46. "Minecraft - Buzzy Bees - 1.14.0 (Bedrock)" , December 10, 2019.
  47. "Important News Regarding Minecraft Mobile" – Minecraft.net, July 8, 2020
  48. "Important news regarding Minecraft on Android and Fire TV" – Minecraft.net, March 10, 2021
  49. Android beta program for Minecraft PE - Mojang.com; November 22, 2013
  50. "PE BETA community in G+ that was briefly available yesterday and today was real, but we only used it for "spam control testing". >>"@missmarzenia on X, July 17, 2015
  51. "The community was removed and no longer exists. We always announce beta on our Twitter accounts and sometimes on Mojang blog."@missmarzenia on X, July 17, 2015
  52. "We were trying to limit spam amount we get from people who sign up not to test but to advertise."@missmarzenia on X, July 17, 2015
  53. "Please, read the FAQ bfore you ask a question."@missmarzenia on X, November 3, 2015 [sic]
  54. "Minecraft Preview FAQ - Home" , January 31, 2022. .
  55. Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC | Minecraft
  56. Minecraft - PS4 Games | PlayStation
  57. As Minecraft tops Apple's apps chart for 2013, Mojang talks Pocket Edition - The Guardian; December 17, 2013
  58. "Pocket Edition is 5 years old!" – Minecraft.net, December 2, 2016
  59. https://apple.com/itunes/charts/paid-apps
  60. https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topselling_paid
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