# How to Change Difficulty on Your Minecraft Bedrock Server (/docs/minecraft-bedrock/set-difficulty)



import { Tab, Tabs } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs';
import { Step, Steps } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/steps';

Difficulty controls hostile mob behavior, hunger drain, and damage dealt to players. You can change it without regenerating the world.

Change Difficulty [#change-difficulty]

<Tabs items={['Via Startup', 'Via server.properties', 'Via Console']}>
  <Tab value="Via Startup">
    <Steps>
      <Step>
        Open Startup [#open-startup]

        In the [XGamingServer Panel](https://panel.xgamingserver.com), click **Startup** in the sidebar.
      </Step>

      <Step>
        Select difficulty [#select-difficulty]

        Find the **Difficulty** variable and choose from the dropdown: `peaceful`, `easy`, `normal`, or `hard`.

        {/* Screenshot needed: Startup tab with difficulty dropdown */}
      </Step>

      <Step>
        Restart the server [#restart-the-server]

        Restart from **Console** for the change to take effect.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab value="Via server.properties">
    In **Files**, open `server.properties` and change:

    ```properties
    difficulty=hard
    ```

    Save and restart.
  </Tab>

  <Tab value="Via Console">
    If cheats are enabled, change difficulty instantly without restarting:

    ```
    difficulty hard
    ```

    This takes effect immediately for all players.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

What Each Difficulty Does [#what-each-difficulty-does]

| Difficulty   | Hostile Mobs                                 | Hunger                                                   | Damage               | Special Effects                                                                                            |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Peaceful** | No hostile mobs spawn. Existing ones despawn | Hunger bar never depletes. Health regenerates constantly | None from mobs       | Caves of spiders and skeletons are safe. Wither cannot be summoned                                         |
| **Easy**     | Spawn normally                               | Hunger depletes slowly. Cannot starve below 5 hearts     | Low damage from mobs | Zombies cannot break doors. Vindicators deal less damage                                                   |
| **Normal**   | Spawn normally                               | Standard depletion. Starvation stops at half a heart     | Standard damage      | Zombies have a chance to break wooden doors                                                                |
| **Hard**     | Spawn more frequently                        | Hunger depletes faster. **Starvation can kill**          | Maximum damage       | Zombies can break doors. Spiders can spawn with potion effects. Villagers killed by zombies always convert |

Hardcore Mode [#hardcore-mode]

Bedrock Edition **does not have a true Hardcore mode** like Java Edition. However, you can simulate it:

1. Set `difficulty=hard`
2. Enable the `/gamerule` for `doimmediaterespawn false`
3. Use a behavior pack or addon to ban players on death

Related Guides [#related-guides]

* [Server Properties Reference](/docs/minecraft-bedrock/server-properties)
* [Game Rules](/docs/minecraft-bedrock/game-rules)