Line between Minecraft Bedrock and Java is thinning with every update

One of Mojang Studios' major focuses with Minecraft over the last few years has been parity updates. This is a term that refers to two things being equal or the same. This means the idea is to eventually have both versions of the game function identically rather than each having unique features and interactions. Every version usually includes at least a few parity changes, with some updates focusing heavily on them.

Detailed below are some of the biggest examples of parity updates that imply a future where there is only a single version of Minecraft.

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Minecraft parity gets closer with each update

Addons

A dragon from the DragonFire addon (Image via Mojang Studios)

Addons are a new Minecraft Marketplace feature. They are individual pieces of content or content packs that can be purchased and combined in whichever way the player wants when creating a new world.

Addons are a huge deal for Minecraft Bedrock. They are the closest thing to Java Edition mods that Bedrock has had, featuring a nearly unprecedented ability to combine custom content. Addons should shake up the Bedrock modding scene in a major way and will hopefully allow some of Minecraft's best modpacks to make their way to this version of the game.

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Boat recipe

The boat recipe without a shovel (Image via Mojang Studios)

Boats received a parity update in Bedrock Edition, making them more similar to their Java Edition counterparts. This change was having the shovel removed from their crafting recipes, meaning that Bedrock players can now craft a boat with only five pieces of wood.

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Recipe unlocking

Update 1.20.10 has brought to Bedrock Edition the recipe-unlocking system that Java players have had for a long time. This means that as players break items and collect resources, new crafting recipes will be unlocked within the crafting book found in the inventory interface. This change also came with an option in the settings menu to change how long the recipe notification is displayed for.

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New parity updates

The hardcore death screen, with no respawn option (Image via Mojang Studios)

Parity updates are not simply a thing of the past. There is no guarantee it will be included in the already feature-filled Minecraft 1.21, but popular YouTuber Ibxtoycat has potentially confirmed that hardcore is coming to Bedrock soon.

Hardcore is the tougher version of the game, where death is permanent. It has been missing from Bedrock for many years now, much to the annoyance of console players.

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Major version differences

Strongholds are one of the major differences between the two Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

While Mojang is nearly always updating the game to bring the two versions closer together, they still have some very stark differences. Some of the biggest differences are Bedrock Edition's moveable tile entities. This allows for Minecraft's best farms to push things like barrels and chests around, making automation systems much more advanced.

Java, on the other hand, has better redstone in general. Java Edition redstone has features such as quasi-connectivity, which is a driving force behind many of the game's best farms. In fact, many Bedrock players wish for quasi-connectivity to be added to their version, while Java players crave moveable entities.

Another large example of the differences between the two is how strongholds generate. On Bedrock, strongholds generate randomly, with three guaranteed to be underneath villages near spawn. There is no cap to the number a world can have.

Java, on the other hand, has a limit of 128 strongholds in each world, separated into rings until about 25 thousand blocks from spawn.

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Comment byu/BunnyHopThrowaway from discussion inMinecraft

There are probably hundreds of minor differences and discrepancies between the two versions of the game, though this number shrinks with each update. That said, the community seems relieved that both versions are becoming more alike with each passing snapshot.