Server.properties

"whitelist" redirects here. For the command, see Commands/whitelist.

The default server.properties file for Java Edition.

server.properties is the file stores all the settings for a multiplayer (Minecraft or Minecraft Classic) server.

When editing server.properties it is important that the same structure as the original is used, although the order of the lines is arbitrary. The text before the equal sign is the key, which should not be changed. The text after the equal sign is the property's value, which can be edited. Lines that begin with # are comments – altering or removing these lines has no effect on the game.

After changes are made to the server.properties file, the server must be restarted for them to take effect. Another option is to use the /reload command in the server console, which will also allow changes to be made.

If the server.properties file does not list all properties (such as if a new version of the server adds new properties, or if the file does not exist), then on startup, the server rewrites the server.properties file with the new properties listed and set them to their default values.

File location

Java Edition

This file is automatically generated upon the first start of the server (if it doesn't exist).

OS	File Location	Notes
Windows	Same directory as server.jar
Linux Unix Unix/Mac	Path of Working Directory (pwd)	If the player starts it from their home directory (/home/name) the server files are created in /home/name. Follow these guidelines for ensuring that the server files are generated where the player would expect them. Set aside an entire directory for all of the server files. (Things could get messy if the player doesn't). The player's server.jar should be placed here. Use this script as a guideline for setting up a startup script for the Minecraft server. It should be in the player's executable $PATH Be sure to add the execution permission to the startup script (chmod +x file_name, or use a folder manager) minecraft_server.sh

Bedrock Edition

This file is downloaded with bedrock_server.exe.

OS	File Location
Windows	Same directory as bedrock_server.exe
Linux	Same directory as bedrock_server

server.properties

These are the default settings for a newly installed Minecraft server:

Java Edition

#Minecraft server properties
#(File Modification Datestamp)
broadcast-rcon-to-ops=true
view-distance=10
max-build-height=256
server-ip=
level-seed=
rcon.port=25575
gamemode=survival
server-port=25565
allow-nether=true
enable-command-block=false
enable-rcon=false
enable-query=false
op-permission-level=4
prevent-proxy-connections=false
generator-settings=
resource-pack=
level-name=world
rcon.password=
player-idle-timeout=0
motd=A Minecraft Server
query.port=25565
force-gamemode=false
hardcore=false
white-list=false
broadcast-console-to-ops=true
pvp=true
spawn-npcs=true
generate-structures=true
spawn-animals=true
snooper-enabled=true
difficulty=easy
function-permission-level=2
network-compression-threshold=256
level-type=default
spawn-monsters=true
max-tick-time=60000
enforce-whitelist=false
use-native-transport=true
max-players=20
resource-pack-sha1=
spawn-protection=16
online-mode=true
allow-flight=false
max-world-size=29999984

Bedrock Edition

server-name=Dedicated Server
gamemode=survival
difficulty=easy
allow-cheats=false
max-players=10
online-mode=true
white-list=false
server-port=19132
server-portv6=19133
view-distance=32
tick-distance=4
player-idle-timeout=30
max-threads=8
level-name=Bedrock level
level-seed=
default-player-permission-level=member
texturepack-required=false

Minecraft server properties

Java Edition

Key	Type	Default Value	Description
allow-flight	boolean	false	Allows users to use flight on the server while in Survival mode, if they have a mod that provides flight installed. With allow-flight enabled, griefers may become more common, because it makes their work easier. In Creative mode, this has no effect. false - Flight is not allowed (players in air for at least 5 seconds get kicked). true - Flight is allowed, and used if the player has a fly mod installed.
allow-nether	boolean	true	Allows players to travel to the Nether. false - Nether portals do not work. true - The server allows portals to send players to the Nether.
difficulty	string	easy	Defines the difficulty (such as damage dealt by mobs and the way hunger and poison affects players) of the server. If a legacy difficulty number is specified, it is silently converted to a difficulty name. peaceful (0) easy (1) normal (2) hard (3)
enable-command-block	boolean	false	Enables command blocks
enable-query	boolean	false	Enables GameSpy4 protocol server listener. Used to get information about server.
enable-rcon	boolean	false	Enables remote access to the server console.
force-gamemode	boolean	false	Force players to join in the default game mode. false - Players join in the gamemode they left in. true - Players always join in the default gamemode.
function-permission-level	integer (1-4)	2	Sets the default permission level for functions. See #op-permission-level for the details on the 4 levels.
gamemode	string	survival	Defines the mode of gameplay. If a legacy gamemode number is specified, it is silently converted to a gamemode name. survival (0) creative (1) adventure (2) spectator (3)
generate-structures	boolean	true	Defines whether structures (such as villages) can be generated. false - Structures are not generated in new chunks. true - Structures are generated in new chunks. Note: Dungeons still generate if this is set to false.
generator-settings	string	blank	The settings used to customize world generation. See Superflat and Customized for possible settings and examples.
hardcore	boolean	false	If set to true, server difficulty is ignored and set to hard and players are set to spectator mode if they die.
level-name	string	world	The "level-name" value is used as the world name and its folder name. The player may also copy their saved game folder here, and change the name to the same as that folder's to load it instead. Characters such as ' (apostrophe) may need to be escaped by adding a backslash before them.
level-seed	string	blank	Add a seed for the player's world, as in Singleplayer. Some examples are: minecraft, 404, 1a2b3c.
level-type	string	default	Determines the type of map that is generated. default - Standard world with hills, valleys, water, etc. flat - A flat world with no features, can be modified with generator-settings. largebiomes - Same as default but all biomes are larger. amplified - Same as default but world-generation height limit is increased. buffet - Same as default unless generator-settings is set to a preset.
max-build-height	integer	256	The maximum height allowed for building. Terrain may still naturally generate above a low height limit.
max-players	integer (0-2147483647)	20	The maximum number of players that can play on the server at the same time. Note that more players on the server consume more resources. Note also, op player connections are not supposed to count against the max players, but ops currently cannot join a full server. However, this can be changed by going to the file called ops.json in the player's server directory, opening it, finding the op that the player wants to change, and changing the setting called bypassesPlayerLimit to true (the default is false). This means that that op does not have to wait for a player to leave in order to join. Extremely large values for this field result in the client-side user list being broken.
max-tick-time	integer (0–(2^63 - 1))	60000	The maximum number of milliseconds a single tick may take before the server watchdog stops the server with the message, A single server tick took 60.00 seconds (should be max 0.05); Considering it to be crashed, server will forcibly shutdown. Once this criterion is met, it calls System.exit(1). -1 - disable watchdog entirely (this disable option was added in 14w32a)
max-world-size	integer (1-29999984)	29999984	This sets the maximum possible size in blocks, expressed as a radius, that the world border can obtain. Setting the world border bigger causes the commands to complete successfully but the actual border does not move past this block limit. Setting the max-world-size higher than the default doesn't appear to do anything. Examples: Setting max-world-size to 1000 allows the player to have a 2000×2000 world border. Setting max-world-size to 4000 gives the player an 8000×8000 world border.
motd	string	A Minecraft Server	This is the message that is displayed in the server list of the client, below the name. The MOTD supports color and formatting codes. The MOTD supports special characters, such as "♥". However, such characters must be converted to escaped Unicode form. An online converter can be found here. If the MOTD is over 59 characters, the server list may report a communication error.
network-compression-threshold	integer	256	By default it allows packets that are n-1 bytes big to go normally, but a packet of n bytes or more gets compressed down. So, a lower number means more compression but compressing small amounts of bytes might actually end up with a larger result than what went in. -1 - disable compression entirely 0 - compress everything Note: The Ethernet spec requires that packets less than 64 bytes become padded to 64 bytes. Thus, setting a value lower than 64 may not be beneficial. It is also not recommended to exceed the MTU, typically 1500 bytes.
online-mode	boolean	true	Server checks connecting players against Minecraft account database. Set this to false only if the player's server is not connected to the Internet. Hackers with fake accounts can connect if this is set to false! If minecraft.net is down or inaccessible, no players can connect if this is set to true. Setting this variable to off purposely is called "cracking" a server, and servers that are present with online mode off are called "cracked" servers, allowing players with unlicensed copies of Minecraft to join. true - Enabled. The server assumes it has an Internet connection and checks every connecting player. false - Disabled. The server does not attempt to check connecting players.
op-permission-level	integer (1-4)	4	Sets the default permission level for ops when using Template:Cmd. All levels inherit abilities and commands from levels before them. 1 - Ops can bypass spawn protection. 2 - Ops can use all singleplayer cheats commands (except Template:Cmd, as it is not on servers; along with Template:Cmd) and use command blocks. Command blocks, along with Realms owners/operators, have the same permissions as this level. 3 - Ops can use most multiplayer-exclusive commands, including Template:Cmd, and commands that manage players (Template:Cmd, Template:Cmd, etc). 4 - Ops can use all commands including Template:Cmd, Template:Cmd, Template:Cmd, and Template:Cmd.
player-idle-timeout	integer	0	If non-zero, players are kicked from the server if they are idle for more than that many minutes. Note: Idle time is reset when the server receives one of the following packets: Click Window Enchant Item Update Sign Player Digging Player Block Placement Held Item Change Animation (swing arm) Entity Action Client Status Chat Message Use Entity
prevent-proxy-connections	boolean	false	If the ISP/AS sent from the server is different from the one from Mojang's authentication server, the player is kicked true - Enabled. Server prevents users from using vpns or proxies. false - Disabled. The server doesn't prevent users from using vpns or proxies.
pvp	boolean	true	Enable PvP on the server. Players shooting themselves with arrows receive damage only if PvP is enabled. true - Players can kill each other. false - Players cannot kill other players (also known as Player versus Environment (PvE)). Note: Indirect damage sources spawned by players (such as lava, fire, TNT and to some extent water, sand and gravel) still deal damage to other players.
query.port	integer (1-65534)	25565	Sets the port for the query server (see enable-query).
rcon.password	string	blank	Sets the password for RCON: a remote console protocol that can allow other applications to connect and interact with a Minecraft server over the internet.
rcon.port	integer (1-65534)	25575	Sets the RCON network port.
resource-pack	string	blank	Optional URI to a resource pack. The player may choose to use it. Note that (in some versions before 1.15.2), the ":" and "=" characters need to be escaped with a backslash (\), e.g. http\://somedomain.com/somepack.zip?someparam\=somevalue The resource pack may not have a larger file size than 50 MiB (≈ 50.4 MB). Note that download success or failure is logged by the client, and not by the server.
resource-pack-sha1	string	blank	Optional SHA-1 digest of the resource pack, in lowercase hexadecimal. It is recommended to specify this, because it is used to verify the integrity of the resource pack. Note: If the resource pack is any different, a yellow message "Invalid sha1 for resource-pack-sha1" appears in the console when the server starts. Due to the nature of hash functions, errors have a tiny probability of occurring, so this consequence has no effect.
server-ip	string	blank	The player should set this if they want the server to bind to a particular IP. It is strongly recommended that the player leaves server-ip blank. Set to blank, or the IP the player want their server to run (listen) on.
server-port	integer (1-65534)	25565	Changes the port the server is hosting (listening) on. This port must be forwarded if the server is hosted in a network using NAT (if the player has a home router/firewall).
snooper-enabled	boolean	true	Sets whether the server sends snoop data regularly to http://snoop.minecraft.net. false - disable snooping. true - enable snooping.
spawn-animals	boolean	true	Determines if animals can spawn. true - Animals spawn as normal. false - Animals immediately vanish. If the player has major lag, it is recommended to turn this off/set to false.
spawn-monsters	boolean	true	Determines if monsters can spawn. true - Enabled. Monsters appear at night and in the dark. false - Disabled. No monsters. This setting has no effect if difficulty = 0 (peaceful). If difficulty is not = 0, a monster can still spawn from a spawner. If the player has major lag, it is recommended to turn this off/set to false.
spawn-npcs	boolean	true	Determines whether villagers can spawn. true - Enabled. Villagers spawn. false - Disabled. No villagers.
spawn-protection	integer	16	Determines the side length of the square spawn protection area as 2x+1. Setting this to 0 does not disable spawn protection, but protects the single block at the spawn point. A value of 1 protects a 3×3 square centered on the spawn point. 2 protects 5×5, 3 protects 7×7, etc. This option is not generated on the first server start and appears when the first player joins. If there are no ops set on the server, the spawn protection is disabled automatically.
use-native-transport	boolean	true	Linux server performance improvements: optimized packet sending/receiving on Linux true - Enabled. Enable Linux packet sending/receiving optimization false - Disabled. Disable Linux packet sending/receiving optimization
view-distance	integer (3-32)	10	Sets the amount of world data the server sends the client, measured in chunks in each direction of the player (radius, not diameter). It determines the server-side viewing distance. 10 is the default/recommended. If the player has major lag, this value is recommended to be reduced. Note: A value less than 9 has a big impact on mob spawning on the server, as noted in bug Template:Bug.
white-list	boolean	false	Enables a whitelist on the server. With a whitelist enabled, users not on the whitelist cannot connect. Intended for private servers, such as those for real-life friends or strangers carefully selected via an application process, for example. false - No white list is used. true - The file whitelist.json is used to generate the white list. Note: Ops are automatically whitelisted, and there is no need to add them to the whitelist.
enforce-whitelist	boolean	false	Enforces the whitelist on the server. When this option is enabled, users who are not present on the whitelist (if it's enabled) get kicked from the server after the server reloads the whitelist file. false - No user gets kicked if not on the whitelist. true - Online users not on the whitelist get kicked.

In versions prior to Java Edition 1.12, the announce-player-achievements boolean property (default true) was used to toggle whether achievements were broadcasted to all players. This property no longer exists, but if it is set, the announceAdvancements gamerule is automatically updated to match, and the property is removed.

Bedrock Edition

Option name	Possible values	Default value	When is it used	Use	Notes
gamemode	survival (0), creative (1), adventure (2)	survival	Always or only for new players	Sets the game mode for new players.
difficulty	peaceful (0), easy (1), normal (2), hard (3)	easy	Always	Sets the difficulty of the world.
level-type	FLAT, LEGACY, DEFAULT	DEFAULT	World creation	Determines the type of map that is generated.
server-name	Any string	Dedicated Server	Always	Used as the server name	This is the server name shown in the in-game server list.
max-players	Positive integer	10	Always	The maximum number of players that can play on the server.	The maximum numbers of players that should be able to play on the server. Higher values have performance impact.
server-port	Any integer	19132	Always	Which IPv4 port the server should listen to.
server-portv6	Any integer	19133	Always	Which IPv6 port the server should listen to.
level-name	Any string	level	Always	The "level-name" value is used as the world name and its folder name. The player may also copy their saved game folder here, and change the name to the same as that folder's to load it instead.	The name of level to be used/generated. Each level has its own folder in /worlds.
level-seed	Any string	Defaults to empty (th34f1ju34facjn5f871df312h)	World creation	Use to randomize the world	The seed to be used for randomizing the world. If left empty, a seed is chosen at random.
online-mode	true, false	true	Always	If true then all connected players must be authenticated to Xbox Live.	If true then all connected players must be authenticated to Xbox Live.
white-list	true, false	false	Always	If true then all connected players must be listed in the separate whitelist.json file.	If true then all connected players must be listed in the separate whitelist.json file.
allow-cheats	true, false	false	Always	If true then cheats like commands can be used.
view-distance	Any integer	10	Always	The maximum allowed view distance in number of chunks.	The maximum allowed view distance. Higher values have performance impact.
player-idle-timeout	Any integer	30	Always	After a player has idled for this many minutes they get kicked.	After a player has idled for this many minutes they get kicked.
max-threads	Any integer	8	Always	Maximum number of threads the server tries to use. If set to 0 or removed then it uses as many as possible.	Maximum number of threads the server tries to use.
tick-distance	An integer in the range [4, 12]	4	Always	The world is ticked this many chunks away from any player.	The world is ticked this many chunks away from any player. Higher values have performance impact.
default-player-permission-level	visitor, member, operator	member	Always	Permission level for new players joining for the first time.	Permission level that new players have when they join for the first time.
texturepack-required	true, false	false	Always	Force clients to use texture packs in the current world	If the world uses any specific texture packs then this setting forces the client to use it.

Minecraft Classic server properties

Key	Type	Default Value	Description
verify-names	boolean	true	If enabled, the server ensures that the client is logged in with the same IP address seen on Minecraft.net. This has caused problems for people trying to play on the same computer they are hosting the server on as the server sees the local IP (127.0.0.1) while Minecraft.net sees the external IP. It is recommended that this is enabled unless the player want to play on the player's server from the same computer the player is hosting it on. true - Enabled. The server checks all names with Minecraft.net false - Disabled. The server makes sure the IP matches
admin-slot	boolean	false	Allow ops to join even if the server is full.
public	boolean		Whether the server should be displayed in the server list, or not. true - The server appears in the server list - anyone can see it. false - Only people with the URL that can be found in externalurl.txt and people who know the IP and port can join the server
server-name	string		The name of the server. This is displayed in the server list and when someone is joining the server A single line of text. Characters such as ' (apostrophe) may need to be escaped by adding a backslash before them.
max-players	integer (0-256)		The max numbers of players that can play on the server at the same time. Note that if more players are on the server it uses more resources. Note also, admin connections are not counted against the max players.
max-connections	integer (1-3)		The max number of connections the server accepts from the same IP. Note: If set higher than 3, it is changed back to 3.
motd	string		MOTD is short for Message of the day, though the player does not need to change it every day. The MOTD is displayed when people join the server.
grow-trees	boolean		Whether or not the server allows planted saplings to grow into trees. true - the server allows saplings to grow into trees. false - the server does not allow saplings to grow into trees.

History

Template:Needs update youarecrazyright youarecrazyright youarecrazyright