We all own Minecraft, but one friend can't join our Java world. What should we check before spending more?

My friend sent a photo of Minecraft running on his console and asked where to enter our Java server address. I'd told him, "We all have Minecraft, so come build with us." I hadn't asked which edition he used.

The three of us on computers already have a small Java world. He wants to join from the console he owns, not buy a computer for one evening. [Minecraft's official edition guide explains that Java and Bedrock use different multiplayer servers and don't natively play together](https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/java-or-bedrock-edition). Owning a game with the same name didn't settle the invitation.

One friend suggested we start a separate Bedrock world. Another wants to keep the Java world because that's where our builds are. I don't want to promise that we can carry those builds over or that everyone already has the needed access; we haven't checked.

What would be a sensible first check and a fair group choice? I invited him without understanding the setup, so "sorry, wrong version" feels too easy an ending. That doesn't mean somebody should make a new purchase before we know what we'd actually play.