Start a Minecraft SMP server with friends

An SMP (survival multiplayer) server is one shared survival world that a group of friends builds in over weeks or months. The setup is short, and most of it is deciding who gets in, how the world is protected and how people find it. This guide goes through those in the order they matter, using your panel.

Pick the server software first

On a new server, open JAR Manager under More and press Start setup, beside "New server? Set it up in a few steps". The wizard's starting points include Vanilla survival, which it describes as good for a small group of friends, and Community server, which is Paper tuned for a growing server.

Choose Vanilla if you only want Mojang's game. Choose Paper if you may want plugins later, such as grief logging, permissions or a web map. JAR Manager describes Paper as the most popular plugin server. You can switch afterwards, but a switch reinstalls the server with the new jar. Your world is kept, though configuration files may be reset, so it is easier to decide now.

Players need a client version the server accepts. On Paper, a player on an older version is turned away with Outdated client! Please use and the server's version, such as 26.3, and a player on a newer version is told Outdated server! I'm still on and the same version. Both messages can be changed in spigot.yml. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader covers moving the server to the version your friends run.

Set the survival rules

Open Config Editor under Content. The settings that matter for a friends' world:

• Default game mode in Gameplay: Survival. Difficulty starts on Easy in the game's own defaults, and the Vanilla survival template sets Normal.
• PvP in Gameplay is on by default, so friends can hurt each other. Switch it off if you do not want that (Turn off PvP on your server).
• Player slots in Players defaults to 20. The panel notes that your RAM limits the real number, not your plan.
• Spawn protection (blocks) in World defaults to 16, a radius around spawn where only operators can build. Set it to 0 so every friend can build near spawn. The Vanilla survival template does the same.
• World seed only applies when a world is first generated, so set it before the first start if you care about it.

Press Save changes, then restart from the Console tab so the new values load.

Decide who can join

Open Players under Essentials, go to the Whitelist tab, press Add, type a Minecraft username and press Add to whitelist. Add yourself first. If you turn the whitelist on with nobody on it, the panel warns that it locks everyone out, you included. Then press Turn whitelist on.

Only make operators of people you trust, because an operator can run every command. Whitelist players and set operators covers both lists.

Give helpers panel access, not your login

Friends who only play need no panel account, just the server address. For someone who helps you run the server, open Team under More and press Invite someone. The presets are:

• Player (friend or family): console, power controls, backups, plugins and the activity log, with no File Manager.
• Moderator: console commands, restarts and the activity log.
• Co-admin: everything except Settings.

Give friends access to your server walks through the invite.

Protect the world

Backups do not run by themselves unless you set a schedule. Open Backups and press Create backup before any big change. Open Schedules, press New Task and choose Create a backup to make it repeat. In the Backups tab, Overwrite oldest when full keeps new backups possible once you reach your limit. Create and restore backups has the details.

In Schedules, the Nightly restart with warnings card has an Enable button. It restarts the server daily at the time you pick, with a five minute in-game warning, and is set to 4:00am until you change it. Schedule automatic restarts explains it.

Share the address

The left rail shows Server address with a copy button. You can also claim a free name under Settings, so your friends type a name instead of numbers. Connect to your server for the first time and Claim a free server address cover both.