Server basics: server.properties, whitelist, and ops
The handful of settings and commands every Minecraft server owner should know — gamemode and difficulty, locking your server with a whitelist, and giving yourself admin.
Every Minecraft server is configured by one file — server.properties — plus a couple of admin commands. You don't need to learn all of it, but a handful of settings and two commands cover almost everything a new owner wants to do.
Editing server.properties
- Open your server and click File Manager.
- Open
server.propertiesin the root folder. - Change a value, Save, then restart from the Console tab — changes only apply on restart.
Each setting is one key=value line. Here are the ones that actually matter.
The settings you'll actually change
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
motd=A Minecraft Server |
The description shown in the multiplayer server list. |
gamemode=survival |
Default mode: survival, creative, adventure, spectator. |
difficulty=easy |
peaceful, easy, normal, hard. peaceful disables hostile mobs. |
max-players=20 |
Player cap. Keep it sane for your plan's RAM. |
pvp=true |
Whether players can damage each other. |
online-mode=true |
Leave this true. It verifies players against Mojang. Only set false for a cracked/offline server (not recommended, and required off for some proxy setups). |
white-list=false |
Turn on to restrict who can join (see below). |
view-distance=10 |
How far the server sends chunks. Lower it to reduce lag. |
level-seed= |
Seed for a fresh world. Only used when the world is first generated. |
spawn-protection=16 |
Radius of blocks only ops can build in around spawn. Set 0 to disable. |
Renaming/regenerating the world: to start a fresh world, either change
level-name=to a new folder name, or delete/rename the existingworldfolder, then restart. Back up first if you want to keep the old one.
Lock your server with a whitelist
A whitelist means only approved players can join — the simplest protection for a private or friends-only server.
Run these in the Console (or in-game as an op):
whitelist on
whitelist add PlayerName
whitelist add AnotherPlayer
whitelist remove SomeName
whitelist list
whitelist on takes effect immediately, no restart needed. You can also set white-list=true in server.properties to have it on from boot.
Give yourself admin (op)
"Op" (operator) grants full admin command access. The safest way is from the Console, where you're already trusted:
op YourMinecraftName
You can now use /gamemode, /give, /tp, /time set day, and every other admin command in-game. To remove admin: deop YourMinecraftName.
Be careful who you op. An op can do anything, including granting op to others. For staff who need only some powers, use a permissions plugin like LuckPerms instead — see How to install plugins.
Common questions
- "Changed a setting but nothing happened": you didn't restart, or you edited the wrong copy — there's only one
server.properties, in the root folder. - "Can't join — Failed to authenticate": usually a temporary Mojang/Microsoft auth hiccup, or
online-modemismatch on a proxy. Wait and retry. - "Players can't build near spawn": that's
spawn-protection— lower it or set it to0.