The Hive Bedrock Server: Games, Joining and Playing with Friends

The Hive is a Minecraft Bedrock minigame network for players who want a ready-made activity: defend a bed with friends, hide as a block, race through traps or build to a theme. You choose a game after joining, without setting up your own server. It is particularly convenient for a group playing on phones, consoles and Windows Bedrock.

Join The Hive on your device

Open Minecraft Bedrock → Play → Servers → The Hive and join from the Featured Servers list. Sign into your Microsoft account if prompted. Supported platforms include Windows Bedrock, mobile, consoles, Chromebook and Fire devices; some consoles require an online multiplayer subscription. Minecraft: Java Edition does not use this joining route.

Where your device offers an Add Server field, the operator's address is geo.hivebedrock.cloud. The featured listing is the normal route on consoles: you do not need to install a connector or download a MineBrush archive to find it.

Use a supported stable Bedrock release. The operator recommends staying up to date, but Preview and Beta builds are not always accepted. If a new release is rejected, compare your exact version with the official supported-version list before reinstalling anything. The dated list does not confirm every newer build, so an update being available in your store is not by itself proof that the server already accepts it.

Choose a game that fits your mood

You do not have to start with PvP. Choose one activity, finish a round and decide whether its objective appeals to you. These first-round plans are MineBrush's suggestions; the linked official game descriptions explain each mode's core rules.

BedWars: protect something together

Defend your bed while trying to remove the other teams. A surviving bed provides the team's respawn safety; once it is gone, the remaining players must stay alive. This suits friends who enjoy splitting jobs and planning an attack.

Start here: agree who watches the bed and who collects supplies. Learn the shop before spending everything, take blocks for a route back, and tell teammates when an opponent approaches. Helping the team keep its bed is a useful first-match goal even without many eliminations.

Something new to try: Season 5, released September 4, 2026, adds a lasso that holds an opponent in place. It can create time for a retreat or a coordinated attack; the Houdini team upgrade shortens the hold. Rocket Boots offer a jump across the map at a health cost, so check your health before treating them as an escape button. Read the season announcement for the other additions.

Hide and Seek: win by noticing the scenery

Hiders disguise themselves as Minecraft blocks; seekers try to find them. A found hider becomes a seeker, so the round changes rather than simply ending for that player.

Start here: look for a place where your block looks believable. Think about the surrounding material and the angle from which someone enters the room. As a seeker, learn what normally belongs in an area; random rushing is less useful than spotting an object that breaks the pattern. This is a good alternative when you want suspense without a full equipment-and-shop routine.

DeathRun: learn a route, then get faster

Runners race through a parkour course while the Death players activate traps. Choose it if timing and movement interest you more than inventory management.

Start here: watch the next hazard before following a crowd. Notice what a trap changes and practise one difficult section each round. A clean, understood route is a better early target than matching an experienced runner's time immediately.

Build Battle: finish one clear idea

Build to the chosen theme and take part in judging the results. Normal, extended and duo queues give you ways to match the activity to your available time or play with a partner.

Start here: choose a recognisable outline and a small block palette. Build the main shape before tiny details. In duos, agree who handles the structure and who handles the surroundings so you do not produce two disconnected projects. Leave time to inspect the view other players will see.

SkyWars: equipment and positioning on islands

Loot chests and mine ores for items, then fight to be the last team alive. The exposed edges make awareness of your position as important as the next attack.

Start here: equip useful items promptly, organise your hotbar and check the neighbouring islands before crossing a gap. Pick a crossing with a return option. If you keep losing immediately, set a smaller goal: leave your starting island with your gear ready and your surroundings checked.

Block Party: a quick movement challenge

Move to the indicated colour before the unsafe floor disappears. Choose it for a simple objective that does not depend on winning a sword fight.

Start here: identify the target colour before chasing another player, and look for a nearby safe tile rather than an ambitious route across the arena. If the music or textures are missing, use the pack repair steps below. For another movement challenge, try Gravity and work out a safe falling path.

Play with friends in the same region

The Hive has North America, Europe and Asia regions and normally chooses one near you. Friends must select the same region before grouping up. Use /region or the region NPC; Australia and India are local zones within Asia, rather than separate main regions.

1. Open /party, or invite someone with /party FriendName.
2. The invited player uses /party accept LeaderName. Replace the example names with the actual players' names.
3. Agree on a mode and team size before the leader queues. The leader can use /party teleport to gather the party.

/pc your message sends a party message. /party chat toggles ongoing party chat; check which channel you are using before sending a public message. Use /party leave to leave.

If your party of three wants a fourth public teammate in BedWars Squads, the leader should review Reserve Team For Parties in /settings. With that option enabled, the remaining space is reserved instead of filled by a random player.

At quieter times, cross-region matchmaking may move a game to another region and display a chat notice. Party members follow their leader. Disabling that option can mean longer waits or unavailable queues; it is a trade-off between location preference and finding a match.

Will phone players meet mouse-and-keyboard players?

The Hive uses input-based groups for several PvP modes, including BedWars and SkyWars. Touch, console and PC players normally have separate matchmaking, but this is not an absolute guarantee: low-population queues may combine them. Changing input devices can also change your group.

A mixed party uses the highest input group represented in it. For example, a phone player joining a Windows player's party can enter the PC queue. Keep that in mind when introducing a friend to PvP; Hide and Seek or Build Battle may be a more comfortable first shared activity. Attempting to bypass the matchmaking system is prohibited.

Make the hub and games comfortable

• Change language: use /language.
• Return to the hub: use /hub. For a familiar activity, /q HIDE queues Hide and Seek and /q DR queues DeathRun.
• Set a small returning goal: /quest lets you choose a quest or inspect its progress. In a game, /locker opens its collected unlocks.
• Reduce hub crowding: /toggleperformance renders fewer hub players, which can help a slower device.
• Save changes: after changing a category in /settings, use its Submit button.

If performance matters more than extra effects, keep other players' capes disabled. Vibrant Visuals needs a compatible device, the appropriate Minecraft graphics mode and the Hive setting; it can reduce frame rate. A smooth picture with delayed actions is a connection issue, not the same problem as low FPS.

For a private activity, /cs opens custom servers and shows your daily limits. Check those limits before organising a long event. A normal party is enough to start trying public games together.

Fix missing textures, music or connection problems

Pink-and-black textures, question-mark blocks or missing Block Party music: leave The Hive, open Minecraft's Settings → Storage → Cached Data, select the Hive resource packs and delete those cached packs. Restart and rejoin so the server can supply fresh copies. Do not delete your worlds or clear unrelated storage.

Temporarily disable third-party packs that change the interface if menus behave incorrectly. Re-enable them one at a time after the Hive interface works, so you can identify the conflict.

The server cannot process your join: check the operator's updates for an incident. On devices that allow manual server entries, support also suggests trying a different region using the addresses in its joining guide. If the issue continues, send Hive Support your exact error and gamertag.

Friends cannot see you or chat seems absent: check Appear Offline, invitation preferences and Show Player Messages in the server settings. If multiplayer itself is unavailable, review the Microsoft account's multiplayer permissions and your console's online access.

Play fairly and find reliable help

Do not cross-team in public matches, sabotage teammates, exploit glitches or use unfair client modifications. Keep chat and builds appropriate, and avoid sharing personal information. The Hive rules also explain skin restrictions; a replaced custom skin does not automatically mean your skin file is broken.

The Hive is operated by Hive Games Limited. Further official guidance: commands, settings, input matchmaking, cross-region queues, resource-pack repair and join failures. The inline images come from the credited official sources; the MineBrush cover is an editorial illustration.