A free Minecraft Bedrock gateway built to make custom servers easy to reach from console.
MCGateway is a free community-run Minecraft Bedrock gateway that helps players connect to custom Bedrock servers, especially from Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. Players add an MCGateway access bot as a friend, join the MCGateway Hub through Minecraft's Friends tab, then choose where they want to go.
On Windows and mobile, joining a custom Bedrock server is relatively straightforward. Consoles do not provide the same flexible custom-server workflow. MCGateway bridges that gap by using a fleet of access bots and an in-game Hub as a simple middle point between the player and the destination server.
It started with a broken tool and turned into a public service.
Before MCGateway was public, creator Jaxzen Perez had already been running private access bots for players on his own Minecraft servers. A Minecraft update eventually broke the open-source transfer software those bots relied on, along with many similar transfer services used by other server communities.
Rather than waiting indefinitely for someone else to fix it, Jaxzen learned enough of the software to produce a temporary working update himself. That fix helped hundreds of server operators get their transfer systems working again and pushed him to look much more closely at the wider console-transfer ecosystem.
What he found was the same problem in several forms: paid access, intrusive advertising, fragile systems, or tools that were not reliable enough. MCGateway grew from a straightforward idea: build the software and infrastructure independently, keep access free, avoid obstructive advertising, and make the experience as dependable and easy as possible.
Why it is called MCGateway.
The name came from looking for something that described the service while also being distinct enough that players would not confuse it with unrelated Xbox accounts or existing transfer tools. Many candidate names were already in use. MCGateway was available, easy to understand, and matched the role of the service: a Minecraft gateway between a player and the server they want to reach.
From an idea in June 2026 to a rapidly growing public service.
- The idea takes shape.
Jaxzen begins planning a public console-transfer service built around the bot systems he had already used privately.
- Development starts in earnest.
The first public-minded Hub, bot automation, transfer flow, and service tracking are assembled and tested over roughly one week.
- MCGateway opens publicly.
The first launch video is published through the HavenMCOfficial YouTube channel. The earliest public release uses one access bot and a repurposed Hub originally built years earlier for another project.
- The first partial month passes 1,000 transfers.
Certified MCGateway Warehouse history records 1,308 transfers during MCGateway's first partial month of public operation.
- Growth accelerates.
Certified MCGateway Warehouse history records 93,913 transfers during July alone. Early videos and community sharing, especially support from GabeDala and TheAlienDoctor, helped introduce MCGateway to a much wider audience.
- MCGateway passes 10,000 players.
The project grows from a single access bot into a 16-bot fleet, with the Hub, Warehouse, website, Discord systems, analytics, and reliability tooling expanding around the community.
These totals come from MCGateway's live public statistics rather than being manually written into this page.
From the Minecraft menu to a custom server.
- Open Minecraft Bedrock and choose Play.Use the Friends button in the top-right area of the Play screen, then open the player search.
- Add an MCGateway access bot.Search for the bot recommended on mcgateway.net/bots. You can also add several available MCGateway bots at once. The system automatically sorts duplicate assignments.
- Wait for the automatic friend acceptance.Acceptance normally takes about 20 to 30 seconds for one bot and can take up to 60 seconds. Adding through Minecraft, Xbox/Microsoft friends, or the Xbox app all work.
- Join the world named MCGateway Hub.Once at least one bot has added you back, MCGateway Hub appears as a joinable world in the Friends tab.
- Open the MCGateway menu.Inside the Hub, throw the provided Ender Pearl or walk to the robot and interact with it to open the menu.
- Add your server and transfer.Choose Add Server, enter the Bedrock server IP and port, give it a name, submit it, then use the new server button to connect. If you have a Server Code, you can enter that instead.
If MCGateway does not appear after 60 seconds, the bot may have filled up. Add another available bot. If Minecraft has been open for a while and still does not refresh the Friends list, restart Minecraft and check again.
Built for Bedrock, with consoles as the main reason it exists.
MCGateway works with Minecraft Bedrock on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, mobile devices, and other supported Bedrock platforms. The Minecraft friend-search method works across those devices, while Xbox users can also add an access bot through Microsoft or Xbox friends.
MCGateway does not limit players to a fixed server list. If the destination is a valid Minecraft Bedrock server, or is Bedrock-compatible through software such as Geyser, MCGateway can attempt the connection. Normal Minecraft and server-side rules still apply, including allowlists and server availability.
Players can save servers by IP and port, join with Server Codes, favorite destinations, use recent-server history, configure Auto Join, and adjust Hub preferences such as notifications and Streamer Mode.
A short code can replace an IP and port.
Server Codes are free to set up. A server owner, community member, or other user can open a ticket in the official MCGateway Discord and provide the server IP, port, display name, and requested code. The server does not have to belong to the person requesting the code.
Server owners can also contact MCGateway about partnerships or a Featured Server placement. Featured Server placement is currently $5 per month. That price may change in the future if demand grows enough that the number of featured placements needs to be limited.
No special permission from a server owner is required for a normal MCGateway transfer. The destination's own compatibility, permissions, allowlist, and other server rules remain authoritative.
A 16-bot fleet keeps the Friends-tab route available as the community grows.
MCGateway currently operates 16 Minecraft access bots. Friend requests are detected and accepted automatically. The website monitors capacity and recent successful activity so it can recommend a bot that has room and has recently proven that players can join through it.
MCGateway avoids recommending bots that are nearly full because friend counts can change quickly. Players are free to add more than one available bot, and the backend automatically cleans up duplicate assignments.
To keep space available for active users, players who have been inactive for about one month can be removed from access-bot friend lists. There is normally no need to manually remove and re-add a bot.
The Warehouse is the dedicated backend that keeps the service running.
MCGateway calls its dedicated backend system the MCGateway Warehouse. It runs the access-bot fleet, Discord systems, service monitoring, historical records, and other backend tools that support the Hub and website.
The Warehouse maintains millions of service and analytics records, including the history needed to track transfers, players, server activity, bot availability, and reliability over time. The public website exposes only information intended for players and the community. Internal infrastructure, credentials, private identifiers, and implementation details remain private.
MCGateway is continuously monitored and built to recover safely.
MCGateway's measured service uptime is currently around 99.9%. The Hub, backend systems, access bots, and data pipeline are monitored continuously so problems can be detected and handled quickly.
A destination can still reject a transfer when its address is wrong, it is offline, it is Java-only without Bedrock compatibility, or its own allowlist blocks the player. MCGateway's goal is to make the part it controls as dependable as possible while clearly helping users troubleshoot problems outside the gateway.
Today it is a transfer lobby with more built around it. The long-term goal is much larger.
The Hub is where players arrive before transferring. Alongside server management, it includes systems such as player profiles, Discord linking, statistics, Infinite Parkour, PvP, settings, feedback tools, server history, and other community features.
Auto Join can make repeat visits faster by sending a player toward their preferred server without requiring the full menu flow every time. Discord linking is also designed to be simple. MCGateway never asks for a Microsoft or Discord password. Linking uses a temporary code shown between Minecraft and Discord instead of asking the player to sign in through MCGateway.
The core gateway is free and is intended to stay free.
MCGateway's core transfer service does not require a subscription, paid account, or ad gate. The project has primarily been funded personally by Jaxzen, including hardware, hosting, development costs, and hundreds of hours spent building and maintaining the service.
Donations are accepted but never required. MCGateway may explore optional premium features in the future, and server owners can currently pay for Featured Server placement. Those optional services are separate from basic gateway access.
MCGateway is not designed around forced advertisements, pop-ups, video ads, or ad gates that users must sit through to transfer. If advertising or sponsorship is used in the future, the goal is for it to remain unobtrusive, such as an in-world placement that helps fund the service without getting in the player's way.
Created by Jaxzen Perez, also known as JaxDoesIt.
Jaxzen began MCGateway at 17, halfway through the summer before his senior year of high school. His background combines business, engineering, architectural and structural design, CAD, 3D manufacturing, Minecraft server administration, and software development.
He holds Autodesk certifications in Revit and Fusion 360 and has spent years working with CAD and engineering design. His interest in building businesses started in middle school. During his freshman year, he started Jaxzen3D, a custom 3D-printing and manufacturing business that has produced work for engineering firms, school districts, large companies, and production teams.
Running the private Minecraft building server HavenMC led him deeper into Minecraft automation, access bots, behavior packs, server systems, and eventually general-purpose software development. MCGateway grew directly out of that progression.
“I started this to help a few people. Now I'm helping more than ten thousand, and I have zero plans of stopping. I will not give up on the people who rely on MCGateway.”Jaxzen Perez, creator of MCGateway
MCGateway grew because people tested it, shared it, and kept telling us what to improve.
Many of the earliest testers, builders, and idea contributors came from HavenMC, Jaxzen's long-running private building server community. GabeDala and TheAlienDoctor also helped introduce MCGateway to a larger audience, with GabeDala's early video playing a particularly important role in the project's first major wave of growth.
The official Discord is the main place for support, server-owner tickets, feature suggestions, bug reports, announcements, and community discussion.
MCGateway stays permissive unless behavior is harming the service or its users.
Players are expected not to spam, intentionally advertise inside the Hub, harass others, exploit bugs, attack the service, or attempt to access data they are not entitled to. MCGateway generally avoids banning people for ordinary mistakes or harmless behavior. Severe abuse, hacking, or attempts to steal data can result in stronger action. Repeated spam or promotion may result in a mute.
More information about what MCGateway stores and what it does not ask users for is available on the Privacy page.
The long-term goal is to become the default Bedrock gateway, and eventually more than a gateway.
MCGateway's long-term vision is not limited to transferring players to servers they already know. The goal is to become a place where a Bedrock player can arrive without a destination in mind, find a good experience in the category they want, and still retain the freedom to transfer to any compatible external server.
Current and planned work includes continued website upgrades, an Android app, eventual iOS support, more access bots, expanded Hub systems, a points system, additional game modes, larger standalone game experiences, and continued reliability work. Optional premium features may also be explored in the future, but the core gateway is intended to remain free.
Some future ideas will change as the project grows. MCGateway does not promise perfect uptime or an exact delivery date for unreleased features, but it does intend to keep improving the service for the long term.
Use these links for official information and support.
Discord
Support, server-owner tickets, announcements, feedback, and community discussion.
YouTube
Official MCGateway videos and project updates.
Direct contact for MCGateway-related questions.
Patreon
Optional support for the project and its operating costs.
MCGateway is not an official Mojang Studios or Microsoft service.
MCGateway is an independent community project. It is not affiliated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft. Minecraft and related trademarks belong to their respective owners.