Minecraft Server Quickstart

Your Minecraft server comes up in a few minutes with a Java Edition server ready to join. This quickstart covers the first things every owner does: connect, pick the server software and version, whitelist friends, hand out operator rights, and add plugins or mods without breaking anything. Panel basics are in Access Your Game Server Panel.

Connect#

Players add a server in Multiplayer with the address IP:port from the panel's Network tab (25565 is the Java default; if yours differs, the port must be included). To hide the port behind a name, create a DNS SRV record _minecraft._tcp.play.example.com pointing at your IP and port, or an A record if the port is 25565. See Point a Domain at Your VPS.

Software and version#

The Startup tab exposes the version and, depending on server type, the software: Paper (or Purpur) for plugins and performance, Vanilla for purity, Fabric or Forge for mods. Match the Docker image to the Java the version needs: 1.17 to 1.20.4 want Java 17, 1.20.5 and newer want Java 21, 1.16 and older run on Java 8 or 11. Change the version, restart, watch the console download it.

The settings that matter#

Edit server.properties in the file manager (stop the server first, restart after):

motd=A NoBull Networks server
max-players=20
difficulty=normal
gamemode=survival
white-list=true
enforce-whitelist=true
online-mode=true          # keep true: verifies accounts and stops impersonation
view-distance=10
level-seed=
spawn-protection=16

Whitelist and operators#

From the panel Console:

whitelist add Notch
whitelist on
op Notch
deop Notch
kick Herobrine Behave
ban Herobrine
save-all

Operators can run every command in-game and in console; hand it out sparingly and use a permissions plugin (LuckPerms) for finer roles.

Plugins and mods#

• Plugins (Paper/Spigot/Purpur): drop the .jar into plugins/ and restart. Players need nothing. Good first three: LuckPerms, EssentialsX, CoreProtect. Some want a MySQL database.
• Mods (Fabric/Forge): drop into mods/; every player must run the same loader and mods. Publish a modpack so nobody guesses.
• Bedrock players on a Java server: the Geyser and Floodgate plugins on Paper let Bedrock clients join; Geyser listens on a UDP port, so it needs its own allocation.

Worlds and backups#

The world lives in world/, world_nether/, and world_the_end/. Upload an existing world by placing its folder and setting level-name; reset by deleting them. Schedule nightly backups and a restart with a say warning; keep a downloaded copy of a world you love.

Lag?#

Lower view-distance and simulation-distance, pre-generate chunks with a plugin (Chunky), watch entity farms, and check the panel graphs. If CPU is pinned with a modest player count, a bigger plan is a prorated upgrade.