How to Install Mods on a Bedrock Dedicated Server in 2026

How to Install Mods on a Bedrock Dedicated Server in 2026

One of the most common questions from players setting up Bedrock dedicated servers is how to install mods. The answer is more nuanced than Java Edition because Bedrock handles modifications differently.

Here is a clear guide to getting additional content running on your Bedrock server.

Bedrock Does Not Support Java-Style Mods

The first thing to understand is that Bedrock Edition does not support Forge, Fabric, or NeoForge. Those mod loaders are exclusively for Java Edition. You cannot take a Java mod and drop it onto a Bedrock server.

What Bedrock does support is add-ons, which are Mojang's official way to extend the game.

Bedrock Add-ons: What They Are

Add-ons are made up of two components:

Behavior Packs: Change how entities, blocks, and game mechanics behave. This is where most gameplay modifications live.

Resource Packs: Change textures, sounds, and visual appearance without altering gameplay mechanics.

These are installed by placing the pack folders into the correct directories on your BDS (Bedrock Dedicated Server).

Installing Add-ons on a BDS

1. Extract your behavior pack to the behavior_packs folder in your BDS directory
2. Extract your resource pack to the resource_packs folder
3. Edit worlds/[your-world]/world_behavior_packs.json to reference your behavior pack's UUID
4. Edit worlds/[your-world]/world_resource_packs.json for resource packs
5. Restart the server

The UUID and version numbers are found inside the manifest.json file within each pack.

Alternative: PocketMine-MP for Plugin Support

If you want full plugin support similar to Java's Spigot ecosystem, consider running PocketMine-MP instead of the official BDS. PocketMine-MP is a PHP-based Bedrock server implementation that supports its own plugin API.

Popular PocketMine plugins include economy plugins, permissions managers, and anti-grief tools.

Installing Better MC on Bedrock

Better MC is a Java modpack and is not directly installable on Bedrock. However, you can run Better MC on a Java server and use GeyserMC to allow Bedrock players to join, giving mobile and console players access to a Java modded experience.

Space-Node supports both native Bedrock dedicated server hosting and Java Edition servers with GeyserMC pre-configured. Check the Minecraft hosting plans to get started.