Geyser and Floodgate: Let Bedrock Players Join Your Java Server

This guide is for server owners who run a Java server and want Bedrock players (phone, tablet, Windows Bedrock, some consoles) to join without buying a second copy of the game. By the end you will have Geyser and Floodgate running, the right port open, and a short checklist for when a plugin acts strangely with Bedrock players.

How Geyser and Floodgate fit together#

Geyser is a bridge. It translates network packets between Bedrock Edition and Java Edition, so a Bedrock client can join a Java server. It runs as a plugin or mod on Paper, Spigot, Velocity, BungeeCord, Fabric and NeoForge, and its Modrinth page lists it as free and open source (MIT).

Geyser Free A bridge that lets Bedrock Edition clients join Java Edition servers, as a plugin, mod or standalone program. On Modrinth

Floodgate is the companion. Without it, every Bedrock player would need a Java account to pass online-mode checks. With it, Bedrock players sign in with their Microsoft account only. Floodgate also lets Java players see Bedrock skins, and plugins can use its API to send Bedrock forms.

Floodgate Free Companion to Geyser that lets Bedrock players join online-mode Java servers with only a Microsoft account. On Hangar

You can run Geyser alone, but if your server is in online mode and you want Bedrock players without Java accounts, you need both.

Check versions before you install#

Geyser emulates one Java client version. On its wiki, Geyser supports Bedrock 26.30 to 26.52 and Java 26.2 (as of 3 October 2026). Bedrock updates itself on every platform, so Geyser does not support old Bedrock versions.

• Server older than 26.2: add ViaVersion to the backend server (or use a proxy setup with it), so the 26.2 client Geyser emulates can connect.
• Paper or Spigot on 1.20.5 or newer: needs Java 21 or later.
• Standalone Geyser: also needs Java 21 or later.

ViaVersion Lets newer Java clients connect to older servers, which helps when your server is behind the version Geyser emulates. On Hangar

Install Geyser and Floodgate on Paper#

The plugin route is the simplest. Get the Geyser and Floodgate plugin jars for your platform from the project pages listed above (Modrinth for Geyser, Hangar for Floodgate), or follow the links on the official Geyser wikiSource site, and put both in your plugins folder. Pick the steps for how you run your server.

On a proxy (Velocity or BungeeCord), install Geyser on the proxy, and install Floodgate on the proxy plus each backend server that needs it. Then enable player information forwarding on Velocity (or ip_forward on BungeeCord), set bungeecord to true in spigot.yml on the backends, turn on send-floodgate-data in Floodgate's proxy config, and copy key.pem from the proxy to the Floodgate folder on every backend server.

Open the right port (UDP, not TCP)#

Bedrock connects over UDP. Geyser's default is port: 19132 in the bedrock section of its config, with address: 0.0.0.0. Your Java port (usually 25565) is TCP and does not help here.

• Open the Geyser port for UDP in your firewall and, if you host at home, your router.
• Voice chat or query plugins that use UDP cannot share the same port as Geyser.
• If your host only gives you one port, set clone-remote-port: true so Geyser uses the Java port number. The config default is false.
• Some hosts do not open UDP ports at all. Ask them, or look at a UDP-capable tunnel such as playit.gg (Ngrok is TCP only and does not work).

On a Pterodactyl or Multicraft host, the ports you can use are set by your host, so ask for an extra UDP port if the panel only shows the Java one.

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Test it with geyser connectiontest <ip> <port> in the console. Bedrock players then add a server with your IP and the Geyser port. Some consoles do not show custom servers in the server list, so check the Geyser wiki for the current options for those.

Usernames: the prefix, spaces and commands#

Floodgate gives Bedrock players a prefix on their name so they cannot clash with Java names. Two config keys matter: username-prefix (default .) and replace-spaces (default true, which turns spaces in Bedrock gamertags into underscores).

• Include the prefix in commands: /tp .SomeGamertag.
• If you choose a prefix like *, wrap the name in quotes in commands: /tp "*SomeGamertag".
• If a prefix change does not show up for returning players on certain Paper builds, delete usercache.json from the server root and restart.

If Paper rejects Bedrock logins with "Failed to verify username!", the Floodgate docs suggest turning off perform-username-validation in config/paper-global.yml (under unsupported settings), or running Floodgate on the backend servers.

Plugins that need care with Bedrock players#

Permissions#

The Floodgate docs say prefixed usernames conflict with LuckPerms, and the fix is to set allow-invalid-usernames to true in LuckPerms' config. See our LuckPerms ranks guide for building the groups themselves.

LuckPerms Free A permissions plugin for managing player access through groups and permission nodes. On Modrinth

Login and authentication plugins#

Plugins that handle logins or premium checks can interfere with Floodgate. The Geyser FAQ keeps a list of authentication plugins that conflict, so check it before adding one. Floodgate also cannot run on Forge or Fabric hybrid servers such as Magma or Mohist, so use a proxy there.

Mods and resource packs#

If a vanilla Java client can join, Geyser can too. Servers that need client-side mods will not work, because Geyser cannot translate modded blocks and items. Java resource packs are not converted automatically.

Offhand and menus#

Players can use /geyser offhand to put an item in their offhand. If chat commands freeze for some Bedrock players, try turning off command-suggestions in Geyser's config.

Account linking and shared progress#

By default, Bedrock players get their own player data under their prefixed name. Floodgate's linking connects a Bedrock account to a Java account. It offers global linking (a central service, on by default) and local linking (SQLite or MySQL on your server). Players run /linkaccount on one platform and /linkaccount <code> on the other.

Quick fixes when Bedrock players cannot join#

After any change to Geyser's config, geyser reload works but kicks every connected player, so schedule it. If you need help, geyser dump creates the debug report the Geyser team asks for.

The official docs live on the Geyser wikiSource site, and they are the place to check when versions move on.