Setting up a Minecraft: Java Edition server

• Rename the file you previously downloaded to ‘server’ (or server.jar if you have file extensions on)
• Open up notepad and paste

    java -Xmx2G -Xms1G -jar server.jar -nogui
    pause
  

  into it, click Save As

• Go to the folder that contains your server, change the filetype to ‘all’ and name the file start.bat There must to be a .bat at the end of the file name,
• Run it, you will see a command prompt window briefly flash. Now, you’ll need to agree to the EULA to continue. If you agreed to it, you can now access the console

• Rename the file you previously downloaded from the Minecraft website to server, or server.jar if file extensions are shown
• Open TextEdit, create a new document, and if you see markdown tools at the top of the text document, press shift-cmd-t to hide them
• Copy and paste the following into the text document:

    #!/bin/bash
    cd '$(dirname '$0')' 
    exec java -Xms1G -Xmx2G -jar server.jar
  

• Press cmd-s, then navigate to your workspace folder. Title the file start.command. Make sure it does not save as start.command.txt.
• Now go to your workspace folder, then double click on the start.command file to run it. You’ll see a terminal window open. After agreeing to the EULA, you can use your server’s console.
  • If a message saying ‘Permission denied’ shows up, open terminal and run chmod +x, then type a space, then drag your start.command file into the terminal window, then press enter and try running it again

You can run commands like /op or /gamemode in it and it will tell you what the server is thinking and/or doing. When executing commands, make sure you do not include the / in front of the command, or it will not work. You may want to run op YOURUSERNAME so you can run commands outside of the console.

You can communicate with in game players from the console using say, and you can private message them with msg, but they won’t be able to reply

Stopping the server

The console will also display information about how the server is running, if it is running too slow, it will show ‘Can’t keep up!’, and it also shows commands that are executed by ops and the game chat

You may have noticed earlier that the start command contains -nogui, this prevents the server’s visual interface from displaying. If you would like to view your server’s GUI, at the expense of some performance, you can remove the -nogui part of the command. The gui displays information about the RAM used in the top left, below that is a list of online players, and on the right is the console. You can type commands into the box at the bottom, and you can see the console information section

If you plan on leaving your server online for long periods of time, you may find it annoying to have your console open constantly. There is a utility called ‘screen’ that can help with this.

• To check if you have screen installed, you can run screen -v in your terminal, if it outputs a version number, that means it’s installed.
  • If screen is not installed, install it with your package manager
• To start your server with screen, type screen -S Minecraft_Server, then a space, then drag your file into the terminal.
• To detach the server and have it run in the background, press cmd-a, then release, then press d. Your terminal should say [detached].
• To access the server’s console later, run screen -r Minecraft_Server.

You can also use this to access a server over SSH.

In order for them to join you, you will need to find your IP. You can think of your IP as a join code or friend code used to access the server)

• Open up command prompt, and in the command prompt type ‘IPconfig’. Press enter and look for something like:
  IPv4 Address.......: XXX.XXX.X.X
  Example Image:
  
  

This is the IP that the person will use to connect to the server. Start up the server and then tell them to click ‘Add a new server’ or ‘Direct Connect’

• For ‘Add a new server’ the name can be anything but the IP needs to be your IPv4 address, so tell them to put that there. Click finish and then double click the server and they have connected

• For ‘Direct connect’ tell them to put your IPv4 into the ip box and click connect

If you want to connect to the server on your own computer then do the above but instead use ‘localhost’ as the IP

Most of the instructions here are for generic routers. They might not work for yours

If you would like router specific instructions, you can use portforward.com, which has instructions for specific routers. Follow along with the guide, and you can use this site to know exactly where each button is There will be ads telling you to download such and such, do not click on them. When ads pop up, either ignore them or press the close button in the top right if they are full screen ads.

Instructions

• You will need to get the IP address of the computer that you’re hosting on as well as your router’s
  

• Open up command prompt, and in the command prompt type ‘IPconfig’, press enter and look for:
  

  IPv4 Address.......: XXX.XXX.X.X
  and
  Default Gateway.....:XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
  Example Image:

• The first one is your local IP address
• The second one is your router’s IP Address

If you have problems during this section, it’s recommended you search how to portforward online or ask your ISP for help. Some ISPs hide the options or don’t allow portforwarding

Open up your web browser and type the IP address for your router and you should get a login box.

• If you were unable to find your router’s IP Address, you can also try visiting these common router IPs:
  • 192.168.0.1
  • 192.168.1.1
  • 10.0.0.1

Look at the back of your router or search for the router online and find the username and password. Admin is a popular default username/password

• Make sure that the ‘Protocol’ or ‘Service Type’ is either ‘TCP/UDP’ or ‘BOTH’.
  • If you do not have this option then do the step twice, one in TCP and one on UDP

Add a service name if required, save, and test your server by connecting with localhost (if you’re hosting on the computer you’re testing it on)

• Sign in and then find something like ‘Port Forwarding’, ‘Firewall’, or ‘Virtual servers’
• Click ‘Add’, then put the IP address you got from earlier in ‘IPv4 Address’ or ‘IP address’ In the ‘Outbound Port’ and ‘Inbound port’ or ‘Start port’ and ‘end port’ put ‘25565’

As the final step to allow people outside your network to join, you will need to give them your public IP address, which you can find here. They can put the IP (which will look like XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX), into the server address box or the direct connection box.

Addresses to connect with:

• If you are hosting and playing on the same device, use localhost
• To connect from inside the network, for instance, if you’re in the same house, use the local IP address
• To connect from outside the network, for instance, with your friend who is not at your house, use your public IP address