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File:Server properties.jpg

A server.properties file open in notepad

Server.properties is the file which stores all the settings for a multiplayer server.

If you are going to edit server.properties it is important that you use the same structure as the original uses. The text before the equal sign is the key, which you shouldn't change. The text after the equal sign is the key's value, which you can edit. Lines that begin with # are comments.

You need to restart your server if you change the settings file for the new changes to take effect.

Default Settings

As of 17th Sep 2010, these are the default settings for a newly installed minecraft server:

#Minecraft server properties
#Fri Sep 17 12:14:10 EST 2010
online-mode=true
monsters=false
server-ip=
server-port=25565
max-players=20
level-name=world 

Keys

admin-slot

Allow op's to join even if the server is full.

Valid values:

  • true or false, defaults to false.

grow-trees

Whether or not the server will allow planted saplings to grow into trees.

Valid values:

  • true - the server will allow saplings to grow into trees.
  • false - the server will not allow saplings to grow into trees.

level-name

The folder to save the Alpha format Map in. It's best to keep this the default to avoid confusion.

Valid values:

  • A single line of text. Characters such as ' (apostrophe) may need to be escaped by adding a backslash before them.

max-connections

The max number of connections the server will accept from the same IP.

Valid values:

  • A number between 1 and 3. If you try to set it higher than 3 it will be changed back to 3.

max-players

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 will use more resources. Note also, admin connections are not counted against the max players.

Valid values:

  • A number between 0 and 256.

monsters

Set true if you want monsters to be spawned at night, false if you don't.

Valid values:

  • true - Enabled. Monsters will appear at night
  • false - Disabled. No monsters :)

motd

MOTD is short for Message of the day, though you do not need to change it every day. The MOTD is displayed when people join the server.

Valid values:

  • Any text

online-mode

Only set this to true if your server is not connected to the Internet. Believe this governs whether users are looked up against minecraft's central database/possibly stats collection.

Valid values:

  • true - Enabled. The server will assume it has an Internet connection
  • false - Disabled. The server will not attempt to talk "back to base"

port

Changes the port the server is hosting on. This port must be forwarded if the server is going through a router. This forum post explains very well how to forward a port easily. The default port number is 25565.

Valid values:

  • A number between 1 and 65535, though it should be greater than or equal to 1024 as lower values are reserved for well-known services.

public

Whenever or not the server should be displayed in the server list.

  • true - The server will be displayed in the server list - anyone can see it.
  • false - Only people with the URL which can be found in externalurl.txt and people who know the IP and port can join the server

server-ip

Set this if you want the server to bind to a particular IP. If unset, defaults to binding to wildcard (this is probably the behaviour you want).

Valid values:

  • Blank, or the IP you want your server to run on.

server-name

The name of the server. This is displayed in the server list and when someone is joining the server

Valid values:

  • A single line of text. Characters such as ' (apostrophe) may need to be escaped by adding a backslash before them.

server-port

Set this to specify an alternate port to run the server on. Leave as default (25565) to make things easier for your players to connect.

Valid values:

  • Any valid port number (typically 1025..65535)

verify-names

If enabled the server will make sure that the client is logged in with the same IP 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 will see the local IP 127.0.0.1) while Minecraft.net will see the external IP. It is recommended that this is enabled unless you want to play n your server from the same computer you are hosting it on

Valid values:

  • true - Enabled. The server will check all names with Minecraft.net
  • false - Disabled. The server will make sure the IP matches
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