Is Minecraft PE Bedrock or Java?

While Minecraft Bedrock and Java are the two most prominent versions of the game today, Pocket Edition, or PE, actually predated Bedrock. In fact, the bones of PE would eventually develop into Bedrock Edition, as it's known today. This means Pocket Edition is actually one of the many ports of Bedrock Edition, leaving Java Edition exclusive to PCs.

Since Pocket Edition is a version of Bedrock, it boasts a few version-specific features and quirks that distinguish it from Java. The most pivotal of these differences are explained below.

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Features that Minecraft PE has as a version of Bedrock

The Marketplace and its Pass

The Marketplace's homepage (Image via Mojang)

The largest difference between Bedrock ports like Pocket Edition and Java Edition is the Marketplace. Minecraft's Marketplace is an official 3rd-party content storefront where the community can upload content to purchase. This allows creators a way to directly monetize their creations.

Players must use Minecoins to make purchases at the Marketplace, a premium currency that has to be bought in set packaged increments. Additionally, Mojang just rolled out a subscription service in the Marketplace Pass. This is a monthly service that provides a rotating catalog of community content to try out and play.

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Realms Plus

Realms Plus comes with a server as well as a bunch of community content (Image via Mojang)

Another gameplay feature that PE players get due to also being Bedrock players is Minecraft Realms Plus. This is a slightly more expensive version of the regular Realms subscription. Realms is an official server hosting program that costs $3.99 a month at base for a server with 24/7 uptime and backups.

Realms Plus costs $7.99 a month instead, but it also comes bundled with the previously mentioned Minecraft Marketplace Pass. This gives players an extra catalog of third-party content to play on a realm with friends, another huge benefit for PE players.

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Crossplay

Featured servers are the easiest way to try out crossplay (Image via Mojang)

The final major gameplay feature that Pocket Edition enthusiasts gain access to is crossplay. It simply allows players on different systems to play together, rather than having player pools limited to a single console.

Effectively, this means all players on Bedrock Edition, regardless of platform or console, can connect to the same featured Minecraft servers or private Realms to play multiplayer together. This allows the Bedrock community to foster communities across console lines, which is nearly impossible to do.