Getting Started With Your Minecraft Server

Welcome. This guide is for people who have never run a server before. You do not need to know any code, and you will not have to touch anything technical to get playing.

By the end you will have your server running and your friends connected.

If you get stuck at any point, jump to getting help at the bottom.

First, the Dashboard

Dashboard is the first page you land on. It shows you three things:

• Whether the server is Online or Offline
• How much CPU, memory and disk it is using
• Start, Restart and Stop buttons along the top

A brand new server will say Offline. That is completely normal. It is just switched off until you start it.

Start your server

1. Press Start at the top of the page.
2. Wait one to three minutes.
3. Open Console in the left sidebar to watch it boot.

You will see a lot of text scroll past in the Console. That is normal and it does not mean anything is wrong.

When you see a line saying Done, your server is ready.

Join your server

1. Find your server address on the Dashboard, in the Server Info panel. It looks like 173.214.166.150:25842.
2. Open Minecraft and click Multiplayer.
3. Click Add Server.
4. Give it any name you like, and paste your address into the Server Address box.
5. Click Done, then double click your server to join.

That is it, you are in. Full detail if you need it: how to connect to your server.

What each part of the panel does

You do not need most of these on day one. This is here so you know where things are when you do.

Console

Shows you what the server is doing, live. Player joins and leaves appear here, and so do errors.

If something goes wrong, this is the first place to look. Red text usually explains the problem.

You can type commands here too, but you do not have to. Two useful ones:

stop

Shuts the server down safely.

say Hello everyone

Sends a message to everyone playing.

Files

Every file your server uses. Most people never need to open this.

You would come here to upload a world from your own computer, or to edit a config file for a mod. See how to upload your own world.

Backups

A saved copy of your world you can go back to.

1. Click Backups
2. Click Create Backup
3. Wait for it to finish

Make a backup before installing mods, changing your server version, or resetting anything. It takes a few seconds and it has saved a lot of people's worlds. See how to back up and restore.

Server Properties

The normal Minecraft settings, in a simple editor:

• Game mode (survival or creative)
• Difficulty (peaceful, easy, normal, hard)
• PvP on or off
• How many players can join

Save your changes, then restart the server for them to apply. More on this in difficulty, gamemode and gamerules.

Player Manager

Controls who is allowed on your server. You can give someone admin rights, add people to a whitelist so only invited players can join, or ban someone causing trouble.

See how to give yourself OP and how to whitelist players.

Server Type

Decides what kind of Minecraft server you run:

• Vanilla is plain Minecraft
• Paper or Spigot run faster and support plugins
• Fabric or Forge run mods

Changing this reinstalls the server files and needs a restart. Your Java version is set for you automatically when you change it, so there is nothing else to configure. If you are not sure, leave it alone. See how to change your server version.

Modpack Installer

Installs a ready made modpack like RLCraft or All the Mods in one click.

Your friends need to install the exact same modpack in their own launcher, or they will not be able to join. See how to install a modpack.

Mods Installer

For adding individual mods rather than a whole pack. Works on Fabric and Forge servers. Restart after installing.

Plugin Installer

For adding individual plugins, which do things like land protection, permissions and shops. Works on Paper and Spigot servers. See how to install plugins.

Enable Cross Play

Lets friends on phone, Xbox, PlayStation or Switch join your Java server. One click to install. See how to set up crossplay.

Schedules

Runs things automatically, such as a daily restart. Handy once your server is busy.

Stopping safely

When you are finished:

1. Open Console
2. Press Stop
3. Wait for it to shut down fully

Let it stop properly rather than closing the tab mid save. A server cut off partway through writing can corrupt the world.

If something goes wrong

Work through these in order:

1. Check Console for red error text. It usually names the problem.
2. Restart the server.
3. If it started after you installed something, remove that thing.
4. Restore a Backup if the world itself is damaged.

Still stuck? We are happy to help:

• Discord, linked at the top of our website
• Live chat, the button in the bottom right corner of any page
• A support ticket, through the Support center link in the panel

There is no such thing as a silly question here. Everyone running a server started exactly where you are now.

Have fun.