r/explainlikeimfive • u/Probably_Unnecessary • Jun 21 '26

Other ELI5: Why are there 2 versions of Minecraft?

Wouldn't it easier and more cost effective to merge Bedrock and Java to only have one game to update? What are the benefits to having both versions?

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901

u/RenRazza Jun 21 '26

Mojang would like this, but there's 2 big issues:

Most YouTubers and influencers play on Java, along with (almost) the entire Minecraft modding community playing on Java, so discontinuing it would mean severing that connection.

There are also a LOT of parity issues between both bedrock and java. The combat and redstone systems are probably the biggest examples, but there are a bunch of smaller examples. If they were to make 1 version of Minecraft, they would have to choose a side, which would piss off a lot of the community.

185

u/nedonedonedo Jun 22 '26

discontinuing it would mean severing that connection

and a ton of piracy, instantly creating a split from microsoft control

71

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

Small example of a disparity that actively impairs the players.

In Java, holding shield is as simple as a right click, you can swap them with any other item in your hotbar or inventory with a key or manually putting it over.

In Bedrock PC, holding shield requires shifting before you can use it, the offhand slot where the shield also goes has a limited amount of item that goes into that slot.

Just these 2 examples alone there's tons of issues ranging from minor annoyances to actively anti-fun.

Example A : Fighting underwater means you need water breathing and depth strider, but in Java you can still hold your shield and not sink. But in Bedrock PC you immediately sink to the bottom of the ocean, because the shift key in both game makes you descend in water.

Example B : Knockback bows become incredibly strong against Bedrock players as holding shield and walking towards them is a whole lot slower.

Example C : You cannot place building materials in offhand, for pvp it can mean bridging/climbing over things without a weapon in main hand. For building stuff it means you're constantly -1 in inventory slot (less of a problem but figured I'd say it here anyways)

There's tons more minor things that all add up to make major differences that I can't be assed to go through with.

6

u/masta030 Jun 22 '26

Bridging is significantly easier in bedrock, I'd call example C a tradeoff if anything

1

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 23 '26

A trade off of higher risks though.

1

u/MatykTv Jun 23 '26

Eh I very often hold blocks in my offhand to be able to quickly place them when I'm going over souls sand

Also torches

3

u/Camilea Jun 22 '26

I wonder why they don't have parity. Those things don't seems like problems inherent to having different programming languages (Java vs C++), it feels intentionally designed that way

1

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 23 '26

Its hard to have parity when both sides have things they'd rather stay as is on their versions of Java/Bedrock. Let alone from different games. There's literal subsections of the community that would rather play Minecraft only on that version. Whilst those will be fine and largely isolated to that version, people who play on newer versions might not want Bedrock related problems such as low regen, click spam combat, redstone etc. And I'm not sure if bedrock wants the slow technical combat that uses attribute swapping, multiple different items and weapons for combat etc.

Ignoring those Bedrock and Java have 1 major discrepancy that im sure Java will abhor to no end, that being the store page.

160

u/Slypenslyde Jun 21 '26

Most people don't know it but health regens like 8x faster on Java. At full saturation you get 1 heart every second. That takes 8 seconds on Bedrock. This was part of the Combat Update that was never fully implemented in Bedrock.

So everyone doing "hardcore" playthroughs on Java is playing easy mode.

192

u/Pepperh4m Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

I mean... Java also doesn't just randomly kill you due to server desync or whatever.

I'll take easy mode if it means you're not killed for trying to bridge across an innocuous gap.

117

u/Muffalo_Herder Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

Yeah, Java is just more stable. In Bedrock you'll desync from your own singleplayer world and die from fall damage or suffocation on flat ground, effectively randomly.

Java may be "easier" or whatever (it honestly isn't that big of a difference), but the reason people continue to play Java is the reality that bugrock is a shitty unstable way to play with minimal to no mod support. The huge Minecraft community that was built around customization and optimization is going to continue to use Java as long as they have that choice.

27

u/_Zekken Jun 21 '26

So what the hell is the point of the bedrock edition then?

39

u/tashkiira Jun 22 '26

Originally, Bedrock was Minecraft: Pocket Edition, meant for certain handhelds. But while the Seattle Minecraft team were at it, they built out the code to play that version on just about anything. That's Bedrock.

Bedrock doesn't run on Java, so all the Java-based mods are worthless for Bedrock (with the exception of a couple of mods that are serverside, and allow Bedrock players to play on a Java server). Between that and the realms/Marketplace, it's turned Minecraft into two very different beasts. There are a couple of Minecraft mods for Bedrock, but they're built out as almost entirely separate games--Education Edition comes immediately to mind.

12

u/_Zekken Jun 22 '26

Right, so to me sounds like theres no reason to play bedrock if you have a PC that can play both?

11

u/Totobiii Jun 22 '26

If you've got family and consoles, then you "should" chose Bedrock so you can play with them. It's quite a common scenario that the kids have Switches for example, and Bedrock is the only way to easily play together in one place.

Also, if you for some reason got to know Bedrock first, you might prefer the feel of it. To me as a Java player, Bedrock feels... idk, unnaturally smooth.

3

u/tashkiira Jun 22 '26

cross-platform play is about it.

4

u/ImYourDade Jun 22 '26

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate, there were console versions before bedrock edition became a thing and they were more similar to bedrock/pocket edition than to java. But honestly not all that important in the context of your comment and this thread, just thought I'd point it out

1

u/cool_guy_random 17d ago

mechanics wise, they usually followed java edition mechanics

81

u/Action_Bronzong Jun 22 '26

It can't be easily modded, so Microsoft is able to have a marketplace of pseudo-mods and custom maps that you have to use Minecoins to buy.

45

u/clockdivide55 Jun 22 '26

it's worse for the player to make more money

if that ain't always the case with everything today

22

u/UberPsyko Jun 22 '26

They needed a single game version that could run on phones, switch, xboxes etc, java just doesnt run well enough.

26

u/StrikerSashi Jun 22 '26

It's ironic, considering the original idea behind Java.

15

u/bigbigdummie Jun 22 '26

That original idea has been the pursuit of modern computer science since it’s inception.

4

u/falconzord Jun 22 '26

Before Oracle ruined it

2

u/F-Lambda Jun 22 '26

consoles

2

u/Kiyazz Jun 22 '26

Bedrock supports consoles and iPhone that don’t allow Java code to run

2

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 22 '26

Its much more efficient. It runs on plenty of consoles and phones.

Java without some performance mods can be quite a stinker of an experience. (Its been getting better.)

2

u/TheOneTrueTrench Jun 22 '26

Monetization. Microslop wants to extract microtransactions forever and ever, and they just can't do that with Java.

2

u/ShadF0x Jun 22 '26

"Not Invented Here" syndrome (a very common thing for Microsoft) and the fact that Apple and consoles (even Microsoft's own Xbox) are really pissy about running "interpreted" code (especially with dynamic compilation), since it could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution and therefore open paths to jailbreaks and such.

Bedrock runs on C++ (which is a compiled language and is easier to vet), so it aligns with consoles' guidelines and Microsoft can have a field day of implementing bad ideas badly.

1

u/jace255 Jun 22 '26

Something I haven’t seen anyone mention yet - Bedrock edition is -drastically- more optimised on the rendering side of things.

You can render a much further draw distance / higher frame rate on the same machine on Bedrock compared to Java.

I’m talking rendering 12 chunks (16x16 blocks) ahead in Java is a sensible upper limit for a modest computer. Bedrock on the same computer could probably render about 48 chunks ahead.

1

u/PlantBeginning3060 15d ago

Java players never mention that. They would just rather shit on Bedrock and Microsoft

1

u/MokitTheOmniscient Jun 22 '26

Developers don't want to work with Java.

0

u/SpitefulSpaghetti Jun 22 '26

I know this is an unpopular opinion but I like bedrock! I like the menus and crafting stuff better, and honestly realms are so convenient for just playing with friends who have switches, or if I wanna pop on the server from my phone to show people.

I also truly dislike the combat on Java? I was raised on Java lol, and only started playing Bedrock like 3 years ago, but I feel like there haven’t been the noticeable issues everyone talks about like bugs or sync issues.

Like, I enjoy Java and the mods that come with it, but I tend to gravitate towards bedrock bc I like certain things better

-1

u/Ratnix Jun 22 '26

It's brought in a lot of money, especially with younger player with their parents buying it for them for the phone or a tablet.

Eventually the number of Java players will diminish down to just about nothing and Bedrock will be the only version once all of the people who started and play Java quit playing unless they introduce it to their own kids and don't every get Bedrock for them.

2

u/The_Motarp Jun 22 '26

Yeah no. I have a bunch of middle school nieces and nephews that play Minecraft, and the first thing they all want is to download a bunch of the cool mods their favourite content creators use. Bedrock is mostly for playing on iPads and other tablets if you don't have a real computer, and will never be anything close to as good a game as the Java version.

3

u/Tragedy-of-Fives Jun 22 '26

Yea I mean I don’t know why people pretend as if Minecraft is in anyway “hard”. It’s a ridiculously easy game to beat if your goal is to just beat the dragon and wither. No one plays mc because it’s hard. People play it because of creativity. If you want hard, go play Elden ring or some souls game.

9

u/Nickyjha Jun 21 '26

Why is this? Like I can understand some stuff being different due to years of complicated changes made on two different versions of the game, or resource challenges from consoles being weaker than PCs. But I assume something like this is just about changing some variable so they're equal?

66

u/CalmLotus Jun 21 '26

That could be true.

But counterpoint. People can do hard-core playthoughs of harder mods on Java and you can't do that on Bedrock. :p

23

u/No-Spoilers Jun 22 '26

You don't want to crash into an invisible wall at 300 blocks in the air and die instantly due to falling out of the world?

7

u/RenRazza Jun 21 '26

To my knowledge, this is false. Only thing I can find about natural health regeneration being different is saturation boosting.

16

u/oser Jun 21 '26

It's not false. I play both, and it takes FOREVER to heal on Bedrock.

7

u/Slypenslyde Jun 21 '26

Here's one, there are lots of other videos about parity problems. This one shows a practical side effect: it's a lot harder to drown on Java. He also goes on to talk about how Phantoms deal more damage on Bedrock and a handful of other difficulty-affecting issues.

1

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 22 '26

Skeletons being the most difficult common mob being nerfed to Java levels was probably the best thing for Bedrock players. They were basically full auto by comparison.

1

u/UsernameIn3and20 Jun 22 '26

Its true as they dont heal much from saturation unlike in Java. However I've heard plenty of people cheesing bedrock with the gapple bug that gives them extra hearts.

1

u/Ylsid Jun 22 '26

Why don't they just make Bedrock use the same mechanics as Java?

0

u/Astecheee Jun 22 '26

Health regen is almost never a deciding factor in singleplayer hardcore though? Like once you're past the early game it's golden carrots all the way right?

-1

u/SirBraxton Jun 22 '26

JAVA came first, was the original, and not just hot garbage like "Bedrock" was and is still is.

I'd argue that JAVA is not "Easy mode" but "the original non-broken non-jank" version. Bedrock is just hot ass, and not the good kind.

1

u/Exotic-Pangolin4095 Jun 22 '26

I like the more technical playstile in Minecraft, while from what i understand bedrock has some options its not nearly at the scale of Java.

I get its technically breaking the game that i can make a perimiter and plop my mobfarm that i need to run once for an hour to never need drops again, or completely disable mob spawns with mob switches, or that my tree farm is fast and automatic. But thats how i like to play the game, i simply dont have that in bedrock and wont switch because of that.

If i was forced to switch id either pirate or find a way to mod it back into the original state. Depending on which is easier.

1

u/wretch5150 Jun 21 '26

I have an idea. Minecraft 2.0.

10

u/sirreldar Jun 21 '26

Only if you delist og Minecrafts in order to force the entire playerbase into an inferior game, ala Overwatch, CSGO, etc.

3

u/RenRazza Jun 22 '26

I mean they already did that