Keeping your Minecraft Bedrock Dedicated Server up to date is essential for performance, stability, and player compatibility. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up a lightweight Bash script that checks for new server versions and installs them, all while preserving your world and configuration files.
Step 1: Install Dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install curl jq unzip rsync wgetStep 2: Create the Update Script
Save the following as ~/update-bedrock.sh.:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
HOME_DIR="$HOME"
INSTALL_DIR="$HOME_DIR/bedrock-server"
TMP_DIR="$HOME_DIR/bedrock-tmp"
API_URL="https://net-secondary.web.minecraft-services.net/api/v1.0/download/links"
ZIP_NAME="bedrock.zip"
command -v jq >/dev/null || { echo "jq is required"; exit 1; }
echo "Fetching version info..."
DATA=$(curl -fsSL "$API_URL")
DOWNLOAD_URL=$(echo "$DATA" | jq -r '.result.links[] | select(.downloadType == "serverBedrockLinux") | .downloadUrl')
VERSION=$(basename "$DOWNLOAD_URL" | grep -o '[0-9.]\+')
[[ -z "$DOWNLOAD_URL" || -z "$VERSION" ]] && { echo "Failed to extract URL/version"; exit 1; }
[[ -f "$INSTALL_DIR/bedrock-server.version" && "$(cat "$INSTALL_DIR/bedrock-server.version")" == "$VERSION" ]] && {
echo "Already up to date"
exit 0
}
mkdir -p "$TMP_DIR"
wget -q -O "$TMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME" "$DOWNLOAD_URL"
unzip -t "$TMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME" >/dev/null || { echo "ZIP test failed"; exit 1; }
unzip -oq "$TMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME" -d "$TMP_DIR/unpacked"
[[ -x "$TMP_DIR/unpacked/bedrock_server" ]] || { echo "Missing server binary"; exit 1; }
rsync -a \
--exclude='autoupdate.sh' \
--exclude='server.properties' \
--exclude='permissions.json' \
--exclude='whitelist.json' \
--exclude='ops.json' \
--exclude='allowlist.json' \
--exclude='valid_known_packs.json' \
--exclude='worlds/' \
"$TMP_DIR/unpacked/" "$INSTALL_DIR/"
echo "$VERSION" > "$INSTALL_DIR/bedrock-server.version"
rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
echo "Updated to version $VERSION"
Step 3: Make It Executable
chmod +x ~/update-bedrock.shStep 4: Automate with Cron (Optional)
Edit your crontab with crontab -e and add this line to check daily at 3 AM:
0 3 * * * ~/update-bedrock.sh >> ~/bedrock-update.log 2>&1Done ✅
You now have a self-maintaining Minecraft Bedrock server that stays updated automatically!