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Java and Bedrock names: two different systems
Minecraft comes in two main editions, Java and Bedrock, and they do not name players the same way. A name that is taken on one can be free on the other, and the rules for choosing and changing it are not the same. Everything on 37 Days is about Java Edition names; this article explains why the Bedrock side works differently.
Java Edition: a Minecraft username
On Java Edition your name is a Minecraft username that belongs to the Java profile of your account. It has 3 to 16 characters, uses only letters, digits and the underscore, and is unique worldwide: only one Java account can have it. You change it on minecraft.net, for free, once every 30 days, and the old name drops 37 days later. All of this is covered in the username rules and how to change your name.
Bedrock Edition: your Xbox gamertag
Bedrock Edition, the version on consoles, phones, tablets and Windows, shows your Xbox gamertag. That gamertag is part of your Microsoft account's Xbox profile, follows Xbox rules and is changed on the Xbox side, not on minecraft.net. Gamertags can contain spaces, and when the gamertag you want is taken, Xbox can add a number to tell you apart. Xbox usually lets you change it once for free; later changes are usually paid.
No link between them
The two names live in separate systems, even when they belong to the same Microsoft account. Changing one does not change the other, and nothing stops a Java username from being taken by one person while the same word is a gamertag of someone else. That is why a name you see on Bedrock tells you nothing about Java, and why checking a gamertag here would not make sense: the checker only answers for Java usernames.
Owning both editions
Since 2022 the PC version of Minecraft includes both Java and Bedrock. If you have it, you have both names: your Java username and your gamertag. They can be the same word if both happen to be free, but they are still two names, kept and changed separately.
Servers that join both
Some servers let Java and Bedrock players play together through a bridge. Since a gamertag may look like a Java name, those servers usually add a mark, such as a prefix, to Bedrock players' names so the two cannot be confused. That mark comes from the server, not from Minecraft, and it does not take any Java name.
What it means for name hunters
- Drops, the 37-day rule and the 30-day wait are Java Edition things. Gamertags do not drop the same way.
- Rare short names are a Java Edition matter: that is where 3-letter names and OG names are counted and chased.
- If you play only Bedrock, the name you see in the game is your gamertag, and its rules are the ones of Xbox.
