Let Friends on Different Minecraft Versions Join (ViaVersion)

Install ViaVersion

1. Your world needs Paper or Purpur (Village or Kingdom). Check the Software page.
2. Open Mods and pick the Plugins tab.
3. Search for ViaVersion, or paste its Modrinth or CurseForge link, and add it.
4. Click Apply to server. The server restarts once to download it, which takes about 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Commands below are typed in game as an operator, or in Console without the leading slash.

Which one you need

1. Players newer than the server: ViaVersion.
2. Players older than the server: ViaVersion and ViaBackwards.
3. Install both and restart once.

Crossplay worlds

On worlds with Bedrock crossplay, Chunkly may already have added ViaVersion to keep Bedrock players working. Check the plugins folder in Files before adding it again.

Limits

This only works on Paper and Purpur. On modded servers every player must match the server version exactly. Blocks and items that do not exist in a player's version show as something close.