8 articles
Running a Minecraft server
Linux and autostart, console commands, operators and the whitelist, RCON, version upgrades, logs and crashes, Docker and moving a server.
- Minecraft server on Linux: a VPS setup with autostartOn an Ubuntu or Debian VPS a Minecraft server takes about half an hour: Java from the Amazon Corretto repository, a dedicated user without root rights, Paper, the console in tmux and a systemd unit that brings the server back after a reboot and shuts it down cleanly with stop.7 min read
- Minecraft server in Docker: the itzg/minecraft-server imageDocker packs the server together with the right Java: one compose file describes the server software, version, memory and port, and the data sits in a plain folder on the host. The most popular image is itzg/minecraft-server: it downloads the Paper version you ask for, keeps RCON for commands and saves the world properly on stop.5 min read
- Minecraft server commands: the admin's cheat sheetIn the server console you type commands without a slash; in game, with one. Each needs its operator level: kick and ban need 3, game rules and teleporting need 2, stopping and saving need 4. Below are the commands an admin uses every day, grouped by task.6 min read
- Operators and the whitelist: who may do what on a serverOP is vanilla's admin right, with levels from 1 to 4; the whitelist is the list of players the server lets in. Both live in JSON files next to the server. Here's what each level grants, how to lock a server with a whitelist, and why moderators are better off with plugin permissions than OP.5 min read
- RCON: a remote Minecraft server console without the riskRCON is the protocol that sends console commands over the network: from backup and restart scripts and from panels. It takes three lines in server.properties, but the connection isn't encrypted, so the RCON port must never be open to the internet — connect from the machine itself or through an SSH tunnel.4 min read
- Server crashing or won't start: reading logs and crash reportsThe cause of almost any server crash is written in logs/latest.log or in the crash-reports folder. What's left is finding the first error rather than the last, working out whose code it is — the server's, a plugin's or Java's — and matching it to the typical cases below.5 min read
- How to update a Minecraft server to a new version safelyA new Minecraft version means a new server build, often a new Java and checking every plugin. The world is converted to the new format along the way, and it doesn't go back: since 26.1 Paper says outright that you can't downgrade. So the order is: backup, test on a copy, stable builds — and only then the live server.5 min read
- Moving a Minecraft server to a new host or VPS without lossesMoving a server is more than copying worlds. You need the plugins with their folders, the configs, the ban and OP files, the plugin databases, the same Java and server build, the right file owner, and a DNS switch that lets players join at the old address. Below is an order of work that keeps the old machine as a fallback until the new one is tested.9 min read
Run the best anticheat for modern Minecraft
DGuard catches all 47 kinds of cheats in our comparison — the closest rival, Intave, has 27. Full protection on every plan, free up to 30 players online.