7 features Minecraft Bedrock needs from Java Edition

There has long been a debate about which version of Minecraft is superior. On one side is the original version, Java Edition, known for amazing mods and endless customization, and on the other is Bedrock Edition, known for the curated Minecraft Marketplace and better optimization. However, in recent years, the two versions have become much more similar.

In fact, many recent updates include changes and additions that Mojang has openly stated are to bring the game versions more in line with one another.

That said, there are still a decent number of things that Bedrock could use from Java Edition, as detailed below.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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The 7 parity updates Minecraft Bedrock needs

1) Quasi-connectivity

Quasi-connectivity, or QC for short, is a bug-turned-feature of the Java Edition. It affects dispensers, droppers, and pistons and allows them to become powered by anything that would power the block above them, irrespective of what that block actually is.

The current hypothesis is that this is a remnant of when the items were first introduced, and Mojang based their code on iron doors.

This feature is incredibly useful for expert-level redstone farms and contraptions and is the largest contributing factor to the technical community's preference for Java Edition. Bedrock would just be a deeper, more technical game with QC.

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2) Java boats are better

Trapping endermen in boats is a classic Java Edition trick (Image via Mojang)

Up until some of the most recent experimental Bedrock versions, crafting a boat has required a shovel in addition to the planks. This inherently made them worse than Java Edition's boats, but that was not the only reason they were inferior.

Bedrock boats also could not trap endermen, which is a very useful trick in Java Edition for farming the ender pearls necessary to get to Minecraft's ender dragon boss fight. Java Edition boats also stop any mobs within them from despawning and remove them from counting toward the mob cap. This makes boats super useful for keeping zombie villagers around to convert them back to normal.

To top it all off, Java Edition boats also negate all fall damage to entities within them. Bedrock really should see boats brought up to par with Java, as they are one of that edition's most useful utility items.

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3) Skeletons can shoot tipped arrows

Strays drop one of two kinds of naturally tipped arrows a skeleton could pick up (Image via Mojang)

Skeletons are one of Minecraft's most dangerous mobs, but they are even deadlier on Java Edition. This is due to the fact that if a skeleton can pick up items and walks over a tipped arrow on the ground, it will pick the arrow up and start using it to attack the player.

This makes Java Edition skeletons much deadlier, as they can use the dropped arrows of slowness and poison from strays and bogged, respectively, since all three skeleton variants will be found in the upcoming Minecraft trial chambers. Good use of a shield will be highly recommended for taking on these undead archer hordes.

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4) Bone meal drops from fish

Living fish are a great way to farm early bone meal (Image via Mojang)

Bone meal is among the most useful items in the game. When used on grass, it will spawn grass tufts and flowers, but when used on growing crops and saplings, they will skip stages of growth. This means that an infinite supply of bone meal, not unreasonable to get from a Minecraft skeleton spawner farm, can be turned into infinite food, wood, and flowers.

This makes the Java Edition fish drop bone meal a very handy feature when dying. Players with seaside Minecraft survival bases can spend their early days on the water, hunting for shipwrecks and fish to eat before returning home and using the collected bone meal to grow crops and trees.

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5) Endermen can make golems on Java

One of the rarest natural phenomena in the Java Edition of the game is a naturally formed Minecraft iron golem or snow golem. These entities are formed when an enderman places a carved pumpkin atop the body of a golem. Since endermen can also move snow blocks, given enough time, they could accidentally summon one of these creatures.

An iron golem would require slight player input, as there are no places in the world where the body of an iron golem is generated, and endermen are unable to move blocks of iron. However, if a player were to build the body of a golem and then forget to finish it, an endermen could technically do the job.

While unlikely, it would be cool if Bedrock had the same chance, if only for the one-in-a-million playthroughs that might see it happen.

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6) Mob heads reduce detection damage

Mob heads are one of the hardest items to obtain in the game, as they require a mob to be slain by the rare charged variant of Minecraft's iconic creeper. These do not spawn naturally and, instead, require a creeper to be struck by lightning, either randomly or due to a channeling trident.

Mob heads are a great decorative item, but they are also useful in Java as they reduce the detection range of the associated mob by 50%. This stacks with the invisibility Minecraft status effect and crouching, which both do the same thing. This change in utility should be brought over to Bedrock across all the different mob heads.

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7) Farmland is harder to destroy

Farmland on Java is much safer than it is on Bedrock (Image via Mojang)

Farmland on Java Edition is harder to destroy than its Bedrock counterpart. On Java, any mobs smaller than 0.512 cubic blocks will not destroy farmland when trampling it. Bedrock has no such limitations, meaning the list of potential threats to an aesthetic Minecraft crop farm is much higher.

The list of mobs that cannot trample farmland on Java includes parrots, rabbits, the ever-useful Minecraft chicken, bats, ocelots, wolves, cave spiders, endermites, and silverfish. Some of these, such as silverfish and endermites, are not much of a risk to a farm, but being immune to damage from rabbits, chickens, and wolves is certainly a help.