Installing Bedrock addons

How to add a behavior pack and resource pack to your Bedrock server from the Files tab, then switch them on for your world so they actually take effect.

4 min read · Updated Sep 24, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

How to add a behavior pack and resource pack to your Bedrock server from the Files tab, then switch them on for your world so they actually take effect.

Addons on Bedrock come in two parts: behavior packs (that change how things work) and resource packs (that change how things look). Most addons include both. Installing one is really two jobs: putting the pack files on the server, and then enabling them on the specific world you want to use them on. Uploading alone does nothing until you enable.

Before you start

• Have the addon files ready. Packs usually download as .mcpack or .mcaddon files, or as plain folders. The server reads folders, not the packed files, so each pack has to end up unpacked in its own folder. A .mcpack is really a .zip, and a .mcaddon is often just several packs bundled together.
• Know your world name. On the server the active world lives in a folder under worlds/, for example worlds/Bedrock level. If you are not sure, open the Files tab and look inside worlds/ for the folder that matches your world.

Where things live on the server

On the Files tab you will see these folders in the server root:

• behavior_packs/ holds every behavior pack that is installed on the server.
• resource_packs/ holds every resource pack.
• worlds/ holds your worlds. Each world folder is what you actually enable packs on.

A pack being present in behavior_packs/ or resource_packs/ just means it is available. It is not switched on until you tell the world to use it.

Step 1: upload the packs

1. Stop the server first with the Stop button at the top of the page. Editing files while it is running can cause the changes to be overwritten or ignored.
2. Open the Files tab.
3. Go into the behavior_packs/ folder. Each pack sits in its own subfolder, and that folder must contain the pack's manifest.json at its top level. The browser uploader takes files, not folders, so:
   • Click New folder and name it after the pack, for example YourPack, then open it.
   • Rename your .mcpack to .zip on your computer (if it came as a folder, zip up its contents so manifest.json is at the top of the zip).
   • Click Upload files, pick the .zip, then press Unpack next to it. The files land in the folder you are in. Delete the .zip afterwards.
4. Go back and into resource_packs/ and do the same for the resource pack, if the addon includes one.

You can also upload whole pack folders over SFTP.

A quick sanity check: behavior_packs/YourPack/manifest.json should exist. If the manifest.json is buried an extra folder deep, the server will not find the pack.

Step 2: enable the packs on your world

Both pack types usually need enabling on the specific world, and they are enabled through two small files inside the world folder:

• world_behavior_packs.json for behavior packs.
• world_resource_packs.json for resource packs.

Each entry links a pack by its ID and version, both of which come from the pack's manifest.json.

1. Open your world folder, for example worlds/Bedrock level.
2. Click world_behavior_packs.json to open it. If it is missing, create it on your computer as a plain text file with that exact name and upload it into the world folder with Upload files, since the Files tab has no button for a new file.
3. Add an entry using the uuid and version from the behavior pack's manifest.json. The format looks like this:

[
  {
    "pack_id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "version": [1, 0, 0]
  }
]

Replace the pack_id with the pack's real UUID and the version with its real version numbers. If the file already has entries, add yours to the list rather than replacing them. 4. Do the same in world_resource_packs.json for the resource pack, using that pack's UUID and version. 5. Press Save in each file, then start the server with the Start button.

When players join, Bedrock will apply the behavior pack straight away, and it will offer or apply the resource pack depending on your server's resource pack settings.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing changed in game. The most common cause is the pack being uploaded but not enabled. Recheck world_behavior_packs.json and world_resource_packs.json and confirm the UUIDs and versions match the manifests exactly.
• Server would not start after editing. A JSON file with a missing comma or bracket will stop the world loading. Paste the file into a JSON validator, fix the syntax, and try again. Keeping a copy of the original before you edit saves a lot of pain here.
• Pack not found. Check that the folder sits directly inside behavior_packs/ or resource_packs/ and that manifest.json is at the top level of that folder, not one folder deeper.
• Version mismatch. The version array in the world JSON must match the version in the pack's manifest.json. If they differ, the game ignores the pack.
• Resource pack not showing for players. Your server's resource pack policy affects whether packs are forced or optional. On Bedrock the setting is texturepack-required in server.properties, shown as Require the world resource pack on the Server properties page under Minecraft tools: turn it on to force the pack, or off to make it optional.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

• bedrock
• addons
• behavior-packs
• resource-packs
• files
• world

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