Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock Server

by Emmet

Updated Jul 25, 2024

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In this tutorial, we will be showing you how to set up your very own Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock server. This project is a cheap way of providing you with an always-on, Bedrock capable server.

This setup stops you from having to leave your phone or computer online if you want others to be always able to access your world. The Pi is also pretty good on power usage so you can save on your power bill too.

For this tutorial, we will be making use of the Nukkit software. We decided to utilize Nukkit since we found that it was one of the most stable Minecraft Bedrock servers currently available that will run on a Raspberry Pi.

Please keep in mind the Pi is quite limited in resources so you may have some issues when it comes to performance.

Tweaking the server properties is a great way to get more performance and maybe some room for more people. I wouldn’t recommend having more than five people joining the server. However, you may want to experiment to see how much it will be able to handle.

If you’re after a server for the Java version of Minecraft, then you should check out our previous tutorial that shows you how to set up a spigot Minecraft server.

If you would like to know more about the server software, then you can find out more about it on the Nukkit website.

Equipment List

The following pieces of equipment are what I recommend when it comes to completing this Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock server.

Optional

Raspberry Pi Case ( Amazon )

Setting up your Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock Server

In this tutorial, we will work entirely within the terminal. In fact, it is best to change the boot mode of the Raspberry Pi, so it boots directly into the terminal for the Minecraft Bedrock server.

You can also install Raspberry Pi OS Lite, so you don’t install any of the additional packages that come with the full version of Raspberry Pi OS, make sure you install java as we will need that.

Minecraft servers are hugely demanding on the Raspberry Pi’s hardware, so every extra bit of resources made available to it, the more it can handle. It’s important to keep this in mind before installing any additional software packages that may drag the performance down.

1. First, let’s make sure everything on the Raspberry Pi is up to date by running the following two commands.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

2. Now we will need to make a couple of changes in the raspberry pi config tool. Let’s open the tool by entering the following command:

sudo raspi-config

3. First, let’s go to Advanced Options->Memory Split and update this to 16. (This will allow for more memory to be free for the server)

4. Secondly, now is a good time to change the “boot up” option so that it boots straight into the terminal. Go to Boot Options -> Desktop/CLI, and press ENTER with Console selected to enable booting to console.

5. To truly make the most of the Minecraft Bedrock server, you will need to overclock your Raspberry Pi.

The following steps only work with the Raspberry Pi 1 and 2 as the raspi-config tool does not currently support the Raspberry Pi 3 for overclocking.

While you’re still in the raspi-config tool, go to Overclock, here pick the “High” overclocking option. This will give the Raspberry Pi a good overclock, though make sure you have a decent, stable power supply, most USB chargers will not cut it.

6. If you haven’t activated SSH before, make sure you go to Advanced Options->SSH and select “Enable“. You will need this for easy access to your Raspberry Pi.

7. Now go to “Finish” and reboot your Raspberry Pi using the following command.

sudo reboot

8. We need to make sure we have Java installed, the following command will install the default JDK package for Raspberry Pi OS.

sudo apt install default-jdk

9. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, now is a great chance to grab the IP address of the Raspberry Pi. You will need to write down the value from the next command, and we will need to use this later.

In the terminal, enter the following command:

sudo hostname -I

10. With that now set up, we will now proceed with downloading and setting up the Nukkit server software.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s first make a directory to keep this in.

Run the following commands to make the directory in the pi user’s root directory.

mkdir ~/nukkit
cd ~/nukkit

11. Finally, let’s download Nukkit, we usually will have to compile the software which can take a while due to the Raspberry Pi’s low processing power.

Thankfully some nice users have provided their CI (Continuous Integration) servers to the public.

Run the following wget command to download the latest build of Nukkit to your Raspberry Pi.

wget -O nukkit.jar https://go.pimylifeup.com/3xsPQA/nukkit

12. With Nukkit now downloaded to our Raspberry Pi, we can now run it, this will generate all the files we need to be able to configure the server further.

Running Nukkit is incredibly easy, we can run it with the following simple command.

java -jar nukkit.jar

Upon running the server for the first time, you will be asked to choose a language, for this tutorial we will be using English. Therefore, we typed eng into the console and pressed enter.

The server should immediately begin to boot up, and the server should display the following text when it is ready to be connected to.

[INFO] Preparing level "world"
[INFO] Starting GS4 status listener
[INFO] Setting query port to 19132
[INFO] Query is running on 0.0.0.0:19132
[INFO] Default game type: Survival Mode
[INFO] Done (3.109s)! For help, type "help" or "?"

While you can now begin to play on your server, you might want first to configure it, so it is set up more to your liking. To do this, first, kill the process by pressing CTRL + C.

13. Two configuration files come with Nukkit, and one controls Nukkit’s own options such as being able to change the number of chunks it loads in, the other controls the actual Minecraft options such as what game mode you want the server to be using.

You can read up on the “server.properties” file and see what changes you can make to it by going to the Minecraft server properties page.

Run the following command to edit Nukkit’s configuration file.

nano nukkit.yml

Alternatively, run the following command to edit the Minecraft server configuration.

nano server.properties

Once you have finished making your changes to the configuration files, make sure you save them by pressing CTRL + X then pressing Y and then ENTER.

Afterwards, you can immediately proceed to start up Nukkit again by typing in the following command:

java -jar nukkit.jar

Connecting to your Minecraft Bedrock Server

If you’re on a local network, then it will be easy to connect to the Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock server. To test out our recently setup server, we will need to do the following.

1. Now load up Minecraft on a Mobile Phone, a Windows PC, or console that is located on the same local network as the Raspberry Pi.

2. Go to the friend’s tab and then your server should pop up at the bottom under LAN Games. If it doesn’t simply go to direct connect and enter the IP we got earlier on the Pi using the hostname command “hostname -I“.

We have highlighted the direct connect button in our screenshot below.

Raspberry Pi Minecraft PE Server Connect Buttons

If you want to allow access to the Minecraft Bedrock server via the internet, then you will need to setup port forwarding.

You will need to port forward the port 19132 (Unless you change it in the server properties) to the local IP address of your Raspberry Pi. Keep in mind opening ports always increases the security risk from outside sources.

For more information check out our port forwarding guide for the Raspberry Pi.

Updating your Minecraft Bedrock Server

1. To update your Raspberry Pi powered Minecraft Bedrock Server you will first have to make sure you are in the correct directory by running the following change directory command.

cd ~/nukkit

2. Within this directory, all we need to do is redownload the latest available Nukkit binary from their build servers.

Run the following command to download the latest build of Nukkit to your Raspberry Pi.

wget -O nukkit.jar https://go.pimylifeup.com/3xsPQA/nukkit

3. Once the download has finished you should now have the latest available build of Nukkit, and you can now start your server up again by running the following command.

java -jar nukkit.jar

Start the Bedrock Server at Boot

1. To be able to get our Bedrock server to start at startup, we will need to go ahead and create a service for it.

Let’s begin writing this service by running the command below.

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/minecraftbedrockserver.service

2. Within this file add the following text. This text defines the service and tells the service manager what file to run.

Ensure that you replace “<USERNAME>” with your username. For example, if your username is “pi” you would replace the text with that.

[Unit]
Description=Minecraft Bedrock Server

[Service]
User=<USERNAME>
Group=<USERNAME>
Restart=on-abort
WorkingDirectory=/home/<USERNAME>/nukkit
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -jar /home/<USERNAME>/nukkit/nukkit.jar

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Once you have entered in all the data, you can save the file by pressing CTRL + X then Y followed by ENTER.

3. Now that we have created our new service we need to go ahead and enable it by running the following command.

sudo systemctl enable minecraftbedrockserver.service

4. Let’s go ahead and now start up our Pi’s Minecraft Bedrock server with the command below.

This command will tell the service manager to start up our newly created service.

sudo systemctl start minecraftbedrockserver.service

5. If you want to check the status of the Bedrock servers service, then you can with the command below.

sudo systemctl status minecraftbedrockserver.service

Conclusion

Hopefully, by now you should have a fully operational Raspberry Pi Minecraft Bedrock Server.

If you come across any issues or have some feedback related to this tutorial, then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

If you liked this tutorial, be sure to check out our many other Raspberry Pi projects.

63 Comments

Mark on August 5, 2024 at 12:49 pm

This looks like a great tutorial. Before I jump in on my Pi5 and build this, can you tell me if the server saves its configuration, or does every “restart” create a blank world. My nieces will kill me if I build them a server that wipes all their work after a power failure 🙂 Cheers Mark !

Reply
1. Emmet on August 5, 2024 at 1:56 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Mark,
  
  From memory the server automatically saves every so often, I can’t remember how often it occurs though. You can always verify this by hopping in a world, deleting a few obvious blocks and then simulating a power failure.
  
  You could always use something like the PiPower UPS if you wanted to help prevent data loss due to a power failure.
  
  Kind regards,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
julian on January 7, 2024 at 2:18 am

Start the Bedrock Server at Boot, step 2: It’s important to include here that the user, group and paths need to be relevant to the user. It may not necessarily be “pi”. I found this out the hard way. (n00b to linux)

Reply
1. Emmet on January 7, 2024 at 10:39 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Julian,
  
  Apologies for that and thank you for letting me know. I have updated the tutorial to reference the need to put in your own username.
  
  Kind regards,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
Ryan McKay on September 19, 2023 at 1:55 am

What is the best way to uninstall this server from my pi4? I would like to start over and have a clean install.

Reply
1. Emmet on September 20, 2023 at 12:13 am
  
  Editor
  Hi Ryan,
  
  Uninstalling the Minecraft Bedrock server from your Raspberry Pi should be as simple as using the following commands.
  
  First you will want to disable the bedrock server service.
  
  sudo systemctl disable minecraftbedrockserver.service
  
  Next, ensure that the server is stopped by using the following command.
  
  sudo systemctl stop minecraftbedrockserver.service
  
  We can now remove the service file to return your Pi back to when the service wasn’t created.
  
  sudo rm /lib/systemd/system/minecraftbedrockserver.service
  
  Finally, all you need to do is delete the Nukkit directory by using the command below.
  
  rm -r -f ~/nukkit
  
  Let me know if this works for you.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
Iain on March 1, 2023 at 8:39 pm
Hi

I can not update my server using the link
```
wget -O nukkit.jar https://go.pimylifeup.com/3xsPQA/nukkit
```
Can the update link changed?

Thanks!

Reply
1. Emmet on March 1, 2023 at 9:38 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Iain,
  
  Thank you for bringing up this issue.
  
  I have updated the link so that it will now point to latest version of Nukkit.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
Sebastian on December 12, 2021 at 10:17 pm

hello I did everything exactly as in the instructions but when I enter https://ci.opencollab.dev/job/NukkitX/job/Nukkit/job/master/lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/target/nukkit-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar always comes error 404 not found

Reply
1. Emmet on December 13, 2021 at 3:21 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Sebastian,
  
  It looks like the NukkitX team has changed where the latest snapshots are stored. I’ve updated the download link so it should work again.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
VojvasCZ on August 16, 2021 at 11:40 pm

Can I put the existing world to server? Thanks

Reply
1. Emmet on August 17, 2021 at 10:40 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi VojazCZ,
  
  Sadly not. From what I understand, the server software we are using uses its own saving format for the world.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
Edwin Bates on July 12, 2021 at 10:25 pm

tried loads of different server tutorials and none worked except this one but realised it was a nukkit server and wouldn’t have any mobs i have found a mob plugin but how do i install plugins?

Reply
EDWARD ASHFORD on May 16, 2021 at 6:22 am

Hi it’s running well on an RPi4 8GB, except I spawned in a deep cavern and had to dig a stair with my hands in the dark!

One oddity, I can’t seem to crsft a torch with charcoal, the mini craft and the crafting table want coal. Is this so, or just me?

Reply
Keri Page on December 27, 2020 at 4:16 am

Hi,
When will the Nukkit server be updates to 1.16.201?

The kids are nagging me to get it done.

Thanks

Reply
1. Emmet on December 28, 2020 at 4:33 pm
  
  Editor
  Hi Keri,
  
  You can try the following experimental build instead which is meant to have support for 1.16.200 however it is apparently buggy and users may run in to random disconnects.
  
  wget -O nukkit.jar https://ci.opencollab.dev/job/NukkitX/job/Nukkit/job/master/lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/target/nukkit-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
BLUE TANUJ YT on March 7, 2020 at 6:36 am

Hi, i am from india and i have succesfully made a mcpe server on an orange pi pc using this guide…….. I am thankful also, but i had a small problem here……..when the electricity is suspended several times, the “level.dat” file in the world folder gets automatically converted into an empty text document……
Here are my specs :-
1.orange pi pc 1 gb ddr3 ram , 1.6ghz quad-core allwinner H-3 processor.

2.terabyte usb wifi adapter (the cheap ₹300 one…..)

Pls do reply soon, and thanks for this guide works in 2020 as well!!

Keep up,
BLUE TANUJ YT

Reply
1. Emmet on March 13, 2020 at 10:12 am
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Blue,
  
  Sadly there is not a lot you can do about this, the sudden power off will likely be causing the data to be corrupted.
  
  The only solution would be to purchase a UPS and have your Raspberry Pi be connected to that. However that is not a cheap option.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
2. Obvius1 on April 11, 2020 at 6:18 am
  
  I want to expand on Emmet’s comment
  
  A UPS for a Raspberry Pi can be very inexpensive as you can just use a battery powerbank, but it needs to have the feature that it can charge and supply power at the same time. Usually one that has this feature, will have it on the box.
  
  Another option is to use something like the PiJuice, which has a battery in it, and has other features like letting your raspberry pi know that it’s battery will run out so the raspberry pi can shut down safely. This is a more elegant solution, but it wil probably cost a little more.
  
  Reply
Graham on March 6, 2020 at 9:32 pm

Thanks for the tutorial – that’s worked brilliantly. We’ve noticed a few quirks when playing on the server. Some items can’t be placed – you can have them in your inventory but when you try and place them, they just pop straight back into your hand. So far we’ve found it to be a problem with wooden signs, barrels and looms, but there are probably others. Could that be related to plugins? I’ve only added the MobPlugin so far, so we’d have mobs and animals. Might it need something else added? Also we seem to have stopped having nights in the game – it’s permanently daytime. We got nights to start with but they’ve stopped. I’ve tried rebooting, and restarting the Nukkit server, but made no difference. Last oddity is that I’m never getting hungry! Other players do need to eat, but my food is permanently full. Any ideas on any of those? Thanks!

Reply
1. Emmet on March 13, 2020 at 10:15 am
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Graham.
  
  Sadly this may be a problem with Nukkit itself.
  
  I am considering rewriting this tutorial to use an alternative solution that seems to be more actively developed. I just need to test how the performance is on a Raspberry Pi.
  
  Cheers,
  Emmet
  
  Reply
2. BLUE TANUJ YT on April 7, 2020 at 5:01 pm
  
  Hi there Graham,
  Seems like its due to the wrong gamerules……
  
  Here is what u can try:-
  1. Firstly, get yourself the operator permission by either from the terminal on your picture or get the “op password” plugin from nukkitx…
  
  2.type and change the following to true:-
  
  1. /gamerule dodaylightcycle true
  2. For Hunger I don’t know what is the command called but type “/gamerule” and you will get a lot many commands just check which one works out for you….
  
  Hopefully this should help you
  
  CIA,
  BLUE TANUJ YT
  
  Reply
Scott on March 3, 2020 at 9:15 am

When I type java -jar nukkit.jar into the console, it says the jarfile nukkit.jar can’t be accessed. What should I do?

Reply
1. Emmet on March 3, 2020 at 1:18 pm
  
  Editor
  Hi Scott,
  
  That seems odd. I just tested the guide then and everything seems to be wokring as intended.
  
  Are you sure you have downloaded the file using step 11 of the tutorial? That error message is typically shown when the file doesn’t exist or tyhe user doesn’t have permission to access it.
  
  Using the following command you should be able to see if the file exists within the nukkit directory we create during the guide.
  
  ls -l ~/nukkit
  
  Reply
2. help on March 20, 2020 at 1:42 pm
  
  do “cd nukket” first
  
  Reply