Minecraft Java vs Minecraft Bedrock. Which is better?

The Minecraft Java vs Minecraft Bedrock has been a debate for some years whether which version is better when it comes to performance, visuals, and overall experience.

Minecraft comes in two versions that are purchased separately and are not interchangeable. Deciding which version is right for you can be a daunting experience, but we’ll try to make it easy for you.

The original version of Minecraft, purchasable through the Minecraft website, is dubbed the Java Edition. The version of Minecraft that you can grab on consoles, mobile devices, and through the Microsoft Store, is referred to as the Bedrock Edition.

When you're playing multiplayer in Minecraft with your friends, you need to get the same version of Minecraft they have. It's impossible to play minecraft with your friends having different versions.

If you're going to buy Minecraft, you should know the qualities of a good game: Flexibility - Make sure that there are many different ways to accomplish each goal. Simply plotting out a step-by-step progression through the goals can be stifling. As much as possible, let each player (or team) work out their own strategy to the endpoint while still keeping the game challenging and achieving the learning objectives. Continuous challenges, a good game have continuous challenges each of which leads to another challenge, to keep "hooked" on playing the game.

Performance & Optimization

The Java Edition has the upper hand when it comes to performance and visuals and manages to look and play better on high-performing gaming PCs. Bedrock, however, is designed to play more smoothly and with more stability on lower-end machines. Bedrock was poorly optimized it was just developed for a different platform and ported to another platform so you may experience lag and different types of bugs within the game. Sometimes Bedrock Edition is meant to be more versatile in terms of performance, and comes with a smoother frame rate as well as quicker load times. It's a more forgiving rendition on a technical level, though it doesn't tend to shine as much as the Java Edition.

Interface And Controls

The Bedrock Edition may not have quite as much flexibility as a whole, but it does in terms of controller support. Being designed with consoles and mobile in mind, this rendition of Minecraft offers the option to switch to different controllers for movement (and touch controls if playing on mobile).

While there's ample input customization allowed for the Java Edition, this version is designed around the refined movements and quick inputs of a keyboard and mouse setup. Using a keyboard and mouse is technically possible for some Bedrock variants. However, they're unsupported for the Switch version, often require configuration, and have varying degrees of support; thus, this input isn't ideal for Bedrock.

Hardcore Mode

Hardcore is a Java Edition exclusive variant of Survival and one of the main game modes in Minecraft. In this mode, the world is locked to Hard difficulty and the player cannot respawn after dying.

The key feature of Hardcore mode is that the player is not given the option to respawn upon death as they would in other game modes. Instead, there are two buttons on the death screen: "Spectate world" and "Title screen". "Spectate world" sets the player to Spectator mode and respawns the player at the world's spawn point, making them able to view and explore the world only in that mode. The "Title screen" button simply leads the player to the main menu screen; re-opening the world simply returns the player back to the same death screen as before. Respawn anchors do not resurrect players in Hardcore mode.

While Bedrock Edition players are spared of the cruelty and maddening gameplay this option contains, as Hardcore Mode is not featured in this version.

Redstone And Commands

There are various differences when it comes to programming commands and Redstone circuits in both versions — most of which would be indecipherable to those who aren't familiar with coding. In short, commands and Redstone functions are more complex and versatile in the Java Edition.

Although Bedrock Edition have some redstones and commands but it doesn't support Redstone circuits that have quasi-connectivity. Minecraft players find it confusing, less stable and less functional.

File Storage Format

Java Edition utilizes a unique "world format" as compared to Bedrock. The Java Edition runs on the Anvil format, which has refinements and improvements over the previously-used Region. Meanwhile, Bedrock uses a fast key-value storage library written at Google, LevelDB.

Getting past the technical nitty-gritty, this basically means that the world-generating procedures are different, and thus they're not cross-compatible. It also means that most third-party tools crafted for the Java Edition world editing wouldn't work with the Bedrock Edition. Now have you chosen one of the two versions? Comment down below.