server.properties: every Minecraft server setting explained

The server.properties file controls the basic behavior of every Minecraft server: difficulty, player count, whitelist, view distance, the description in the server list and remote management. We'll go through every setting in the same order as in the customer area and, for each one, explain what it does, what to set and when to change it.

How the file works#

server.properties is a plain text file in the server's main folder. Each line has the form key=value; lines starting with # are comments:

#Minecraft server properties
motd=Muj server
max-players=20
difficulty=normal
white-list=true

• Values come in three kinds: switches (true = on, false = off), whole numbers and text.
• The server only reads the file on startup. Every change takes effect only after a server restart.
• The server rewrites the file itself on startup. It adds missing keys with their default value. Keys its version doesn't know stay in the file, but they're not used. That's why a key that no longer does anything can remain in the file after an update (see keys moved to game rules).
• Accented characters in text (MOTD) work. When you save, the customer area converts them to the \u00E1 notation (for á), which Minecraft understands in every version.

Where to change the settings#

In the customer area, open My services, click your Minecraft server and go to the Server properties tab.

1. Choose the editing mode at the top:

   • Form – settings split into the Game, Players, World, Network and RCON and Advanced groups, with value checks.
   • Text – the whole file as text. Useful for keys the form doesn't know.

2. Change the values. At the top you'll see a counter such as Unsaved changes: 3.

3. Click Save and restart. The server restarts and the changes take effect right away.

   If you click only Save, you'll see the message Saved. Changes take effect after a server restart. and the change applies on the next start.

Other buttons and messages:

On your own VPS, edit the file with a text editor, for example nano server.properties in the server folder, and then restart the server.

Game group#

Players group#

You manage the whitelist and operators with commands, covered in detail in Whitelist, operators and bans.

World group#

Network and RCON group#

How to turn on RCON#

1. Open the Network tab and, under Additional ports, click Add port. Note the number of the new port.

2. Open the Server properties tab, Form mode, Network and RCON group.

3. Turn on Remote console (RCON).

4. Enter the new port number in RCON port. A port that doesn't belong to the server won't be saved and you'll see the message Use one of the server's ports: ….

5. Paste a long random password into RCON password.

6. Click Save and restart.

   After startup, the console shows a line RCON running on … with the address and your port. If you see No rcon password set in server.properties, rcon disabled! instead, the password is missing.

Only the service owner and members with the Secrets permission can turn on RCON, change it and see its password. Everyone else sees the password as ********, and saving doesn't change it.

Advanced group#

Other keys (text mode only)#

The form doesn't know these keys. Edit them in Text mode. If they're missing from the file, the server adds them with their default value on startup.

Keys moved to game rules#

In version 1.21.9, Mojang moved several keys from server.properties to game rules (gamerules). On a server running 1.21.9 or newer, these keys have no effect. A newly created file no longer contains them. If they're left in the file from an earlier version, the server ignores them – and changing them in the form does nothing. You set them with the gamerule command in the console (without a slash), and they're saved in the world.

• gamerule – the command for reading and changing a game rule.
• The second word is the rule name, the third the new value (true/false or a number). Without a value, the command prints the current setting.

In versions 1.21.9 and 1.21.10 the rules still had their old names (allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals, spawnMonsters, commandBlocksEnabled, pvp). In version 1.21.11 all rules got new names with underscores. The spawn-animals and spawn-npcs keys were already removed in version 1.21.2 with no replacement.

You'll find a list of other rules in Console and commands.

Colors and formatting in the MOTD#

You set color and style with the § character and a code. A code applies to all text after it until you change it or reset it with §r.

Example:

motd=§6§lStormCraft §r§7| §aSurvival §7| §fEnglish

Result: a bold gold name, gray separators, the word Survival in green and the word English in white.

• Write the style after the color (§6§l). A new color resets the style.
• Copy the § character from this page. On Windows you can also type it by holding Alt and entering 0167 on the numeric keypad.
• Second line: both the form and text mode in the Server properties tab replace line breaks with a space. To get a two-line MOTD, write it directly in the file: stop the server, open server.properties in the Files tab and put \n between the lines, for example motd=§6First line\n§7Second line. Save (Ctrl+S) and start the server.

Server icon#

The icon in the server list comes from the server-icon.png image in the server's main folder. It must be a PNG of exactly 64 × 64 pixels. Upload it in the Files tab and restart the server.

Resource pack step by step#

1. Prepare the resource pack as a .zip. The pack.mcmeta file must be directly in the root of the archive, not in a subfolder.
2. Upload the archive to storage that offers a direct download link. The link must point straight to the .zip file, not to a page with a “Download” button. The pack can be at most 250 MiB.
3. Calculate the archive's SHA-⁠1 checksum:

Replace <FILE> with the archive name without the extension and without the angle brackets – so <FILE>.zip becomes, for example, textures.zip. The result is 40 characters made of digits and the letters a–f.

4. In the Server properties tab, open the Advanced group.
5. Paste the direct link into Resource pack. It must start with http:// or https:// (we recommend https://).
6. Paste the calculated checksum into Resource pack SHA-⁠1.
7. If the game isn't playable without the pack, turn on Require resource pack.
8. Click Save and restart.

When players join, they'll be offered the pack to download. Every time you change the pack, calculate a new checksum and save it, otherwise players will stay on the old cached version.

Verify it works#

1. After saving, wait for the restart and for the Done (…)! For help, type "help" line in the Console.
2. In the Server properties tab, click Reload and check that the values stayed.
3. In the game, open the server list and refresh it (Refresh). You'll see the new MOTD and slot count.
4. For game rules, type the rule name without a value in the console, for example gamerule pvp, and check the output.

Troubleshooting#

The file changed in the meantime (the server rewrites it on start).#

Between opening the form and saving, the server rewrote the file (typically on startup). Click Reload and make your changes again. The safest way is to edit the settings while the server is stopped, or to use Save and restart straight away.

The change didn't take effect#

• The server only reads the file on startup. Restart it.
• The value may have been invalid and the server replaced it with the default on startup. Check for typos, true/false in lowercase and numbers without spaces.
• level-seed, level-type and generate-structures only apply to a new world. They have no effect on an existing world.

Changing pvp, allow-nether or spawn-monsters did nothing (or the key is missing from the form)#

The server runs version 1.21.9 or newer, where these keys don't work. Set a game rule instead, see Keys moved to game rules.

You are not white-listed on this server!#

The whitelist is on (from version 26.3 also on a new server). Add the player with whitelist add <NICK> in the console, or turn the whitelist off (white-list=false). Details are in Whitelist, operators and bans.

Locked keys were restored to their original value: server-port.#

You tried to change the server's address or port. We set those automatically. You can see the server port in the Network tab; add more ports with the Add port button.

Use one of the server's ports: …#

The RCON (or Server Management Protocol) port must belong to the server. Add a port in the Network tab and enter it.

Players get disconnected after joining because of the resource pack#

• The link doesn't point directly to a .zip. Open it in a private browser window – the file should start downloading right away.
• The SHA-⁠1 doesn't match the pack (you changed the pack but not the checksum). Calculate it again.
• The pack is larger than 250 MiB.

Flying is not enabled on this server#

The player is flying (plugin, mod; an elytra with fireworks doesn't count) and allow-flight is false. Turn on Allow flight.

Further reading#

• server.properties on the Minecraft Wiki (opens in a new window)
• Game rules on the Minecraft Wiki (opens in a new window)
• server.properties in the Paper documentation (opens in a new window)
• Permission levels on the Minecraft Wiki (opens in a new window)