Windows instructions
Verify that Java is installed
To start, you must verify that Java is installed on the system that you choose to run the server from, if you're able to run the game, then you probably already have it installed and can skip these steps.
To do so, follow the following steps:
- Hold your Windows key, then press 'R'; and in the prompt, type "cmd" and press OK.
- In Command Prompt, execute the command:
java -version - If the first line that it returned did not say
java version "???", then you do not have a valid install of Java on your system; and should install the appropriate version from here.
Start the Minecraft server
If you have not already done so, create a dedicated folder somewhere on your computer where you can run the server.
This means that you cannot run the server directly from a place like your Desktop.
Afterwards, you can drag the server file you downloaded to the new folder, and simply double click on it.
And that's it; you have successfully got yourself a working Minecraft server.
Now, to let others join it, you must use a method called #Port forwarding, assuming you have a router (You probably do!).
Otherwise, see #Connecting to your server.
Advanced starting your server
Optionally, you can open the server Command Line; if you really know what you are doing or just want to launch the server with certain parameters.
After you have done that, Shift-Right click on an empty space of the folder, and you should get the option to "Open Command Window Here".
Press it, and in the Command Prompt window, use the following commands:
Using the .EXE version: echo java -jar minecraft_server.exe > run.bat && echo PAUSE >> run.bat
Using the .JAR version: echo java -jar minecraft_server.jar > run.bat && echo PAUSE >> run.bat
Once you have done that, a new file should appear in your folder, called "run.bat", just double click it.
Then the server should boot up just how it normally would.
Adding more RAM
If you have't read the above, please see it.
Simply right click "run.bat", and press Edit.
Once you have that, find the amount of RAM that you want to allocate to the server.
Here's a conversion table you can use for adding more RAM; please keep in mind that if you are on a 32-bit OS or Java installation, you will be unable to allocate more than 1500MB RAM.
| RAM | JVM Argument |
|---|---|
| 1 Gigabyte | -XMX1G |
| 1.5 Gigabyte | -XMX1500MB |
| 2 Gigabyte | -XMX2G |
| 3 Gigabyte | -XMX3G |
| 4 Gigabyte | -XMX4G |
| 5 Gigabyte | -XMX5G |
| 6 Gigabyte | -XMX6G |
You should never need to allocate more than 6GB to the server.
Once you have the JVM Argument, go back to the notepad file, and at the end of the first line, that should start with "java -jar", replace it with
Once you have the JVM Argument, add it to the line, so replace java -jar with java [JVM Argument] -jar.
For example, you could use java -XMX3G minecraft_server.(exe|jar) to launch the server with 3 Gigabytes of RAM.