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Knowledgebase Minecraft Bedrock Edition How to Connect to Your Bedrock Server

How to Connect to Your Bedrock Server

Minecraft Bedrock Edition · 2 min read · ThundraNode Support

Open your Dashboard and look at the Server Info panel. The Hostname field shows one combined address like 173.214.166.150:25842. Bedrock needs it split into two boxes: the IP goes in Server Address on its own, and the number after the colon goes in Port.

The address format

Your Dashboard shows the address as one string. Split it across the two boxes:

Server Address:  173.214.166.150
Port:            25842

No colon in the first box. Just the IP.

Most failed Bedrock connections are this: the whole IP:PORT pasted into Server Address, with a different number typed into Port. It will never connect.

Symptoms

  • "Server address not correctly formatted" error on join
  • Friend's game says the server is unreachable or times out
  • Password doesn't match even though you're sure it's correct
  • Connection worked before but stopped after a reinstall or reset

Why this happens

Most Bedrock connection failures come down to one of a handful of causes: using the wrong launcher (Java client instead of Bedrock, or vice versa), typing the address into a saved-server slot instead of Direct Connection mode, an outdated port after the server was reinstalled or reset, a whitelist/allowlist blocking new players, or a password that doesn't exactly match what's set in Startup. Consoles add an extra wrinkle. Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch can't enter an IP manually at all, so they need a bridging app.

How to fix it

  1. Open your Dashboard and read the Hostname in the Server Info panel. Do not reuse an old saved address, because the port can change after a reinstall.
  2. On Windows or mobile, open Minecraft, go to Servers, then Add Server. Put the IP in Server Address and the port in Port, as two separate values.
  3. On console, install the BedrockConnect app and add your server there: see our guide to joining from Xbox, PS5, or Switch.
  4. If you get a formatting error, confirm you're in the correct launcher (Bedrock, not Java) and that IP and port are entered as separate fields, not combined with extra punctuation.
  5. If a friend can't join, check whether whitelist/allowlist is enabled under Server Properties: usernames with spaces can sometimes cause issues, so temporarily disable it to confirm.
  6. If it's a password issue, go to Startup and copy the server password exactly rather than retyping it: watch for accidental extra characters.

Always pull the connection address fresh from the Dashboard's Server Info panel, saved addresses go stale the moment a server is reinstalled or its port changes.

Still stuck?

If the address is correct, whitelist is off, and the password matches but the connection still fails, open a ticket with your Node ID and Server ID from the Dashboard so support can check for a network-level issue. For crossplay-specific join failures, see Fix Geyser Crossplay Not Working or find/change your server address.

Did this solve it?

If you are still stuck, our team can look at your server directly.

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