What Is PocketMine-MP

By Biraj Rai August 15, 2025

PocketMine-MP is server software for Minecraft Bedrock Edition. It is open source and written in PHP. If you want to run a server for Pocket Edition / Bedrock players, this is the main option.

What it does

A Minecraft server lets multiple players join the same world. PocketMine handles player connections, world physics, gameplay logic, and plugin management. It supports the latest Bedrock versions and gets regular updates.

You can download it from pmmp.io. The installation guide is on their docs site.

Plugins

Plugins extend what your server can do. Want Skywars? Install a plugin. Want teleportation commands? Install a plugin. Want custom items? There is probably a plugin for that.

The official plugin repository is Poggit. You can browse plugins by category, see ratings, and download directly.

Plugins are written in PHP. Here is a simple one that announces when a player joins:

<?php

use pocketmine\event\player\PlayerJoinEvent;
use pocketmine\event\Listener;
use pocketmine\plugin\PluginBase;

class JoinAnnounce extends PluginBase implements Listener {

    public function onEnable(): void {
        $this->getServer()->getPluginManager()->registerEvents($this, $this);
    }

    public function onJoin(PlayerJoinEvent $event) {
        $player = $event->getPlayer();
        $event->setJoinMessage("Welcome " . $player->getName() . " to the server!");
    }
}

Running it

PocketMine runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. You need PHP installed. The server starts with a single command:

./start.sh

You can configure the server in server.properties. Port forwarding is needed if you want players outside your network to join.

Who should use it

If you play Bedrock Edition and want your own server, PocketMine is the best free option. It is well documented, has an active community, and supports a wide range of plugins.

For more on how I got into development through PocketMine, read my story.