7 ways Bedrock Minecraft is more challenging than Java

There are many significant differences between Minecraft's two versions, Java and Bedrock. While many of these differences like the appearance of explosions, don't matter in the long run, there are several parity issues that end up making Bedrock considerably more difficult than Java.

Here are seven ways in which Bedrock is much more difficult than Java Edition, along with an explanation of what exactly about these differences make Bedrock harder.

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7 ways that Minecraft Bedrock is harder than Java

1) The wither is deadlier

The wither is much more difficult on Bedrock than Java (Image via Mojang)

One of the most iconic ways that Bedrock is harder than Java is in the difficulty of Minecraft's wither boss. Java's wither has 150 hearts and is, for the most part, unable to destroy large areas of terrain.

Bedrock's wither, on the other hand, has 300 hearts on hard. It also spawns three wither skeletons when reaching half health. It also dashes toward players, destroying blocks in the process. Their damage is identical, meaning it's really the block destruction and health that makes Bedrock's wither deadlier.

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2) Redstone is worse

Minecraft redstone is its version of electricity that allows for the construction of complex farms and machines. There are several differences in redstone between the game's two versions, such as the lack of quasiconnectivity or Bedrock's less useful observers, that make Bedrock redstone much less complex.

Not being able to make the same efficient farms on Bedrock that Java players have access to ends up making long-term survival both more difficult and frustrating.

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3) The Nether roof isn't buildable

Being able to place blocks on the Nether roof is a huge advantage (Image via Mojang)

A strange aspect that makes Bedrock harder than Java is that Minecraft's Nether build height limit matches up with the dimension's bedrock ceiling. On Java Edition, there's a huge area above the Nether's bedrock roof that players can build in. This makes it easy to set up Nether fast travel hubs as well as hyper-efficient farms.

Bedrock players don't have easy access to either of these things, which makes survival considerably deadlier, as players will instead have to spend much more time actually moving through the Nether itself.

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4) More mobs, closer to you

There tend to be more hostile mobs in smaller areas on Bedrock (Image via Mojang)

There are chances of more mobs spawning near players on Bedrock Edition than Java. This is due to Bedrock's default simulation distance being significantly lower than Java's. This means that dangerous areas, such as Minecraft trial chambers, strongholds, and ravines will be deadlier on Bedrock.

Since many of these structures are quite important to visit, either for their unique loot items or mobs, their fatal nature makes Bedrock more difficult for long-term survival.

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5) No saturation healing

Saturation healing makes Java Edition food much better for healing (Image via Mojang)

A quiet niche, but impressively impactful way that Bedrock is harder than Java is in the lack of saturation healing. This is a Java mechanic that converts saturation leftover after filling the hunger bar into two hearts per second. Being able to quickly heal up several hearts after eating food allows Java Edition players to heal much faster, making it easier to avoid dying.

Bedrock players, on the other hand, are stuck with the slower basic health regeneration, which makes it much easier to get overwhelmed and not be able to heal off damage, leading to quicker death.

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6) No debug screen

Java's debug menu is an invaluable source of information (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's debug screen is one of Java's most powerful features. It allows players instant access to a wide swath of useful information, ranging from what specific biome the player is in, the local difficulty and light level, and even the player's current directional facing and coordinates.

Bedrock, unfortunately, doesn't give players access to much information. There's a toggle in the settings for a world that enables on-screen coordinates and a different toggle for a day counter, but that's mostly it.

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7) Villager trades are harder to reset

Resetting villager trades is one of the most important parts of trading (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft villager trading halls are much easier to set up in Java Edition. If a villager connects to a workstation, that villager tends to connect to the same workstation until the player locks in the trades. This makes it very easy to reset trades for better offers.

Bedrock villagers, by comparison, tend to randomly gain Minecraft professions from workstations. This makes trading halls much more frustrating to set up, as players will need to hunt down the random villager that connects to the workstation each time it's placed to check trades.