Running a Minecraft Server

Consider a game panel instead

This guide covers running Minecraft directly on your VPS by hand. If you'd rather manage it through a game panel instead, you can purchase a Minecraft service and follow our Minecraft getting started guide.

Install Java

Minecraft requires Java. Install a recent version (check your target Minecraft version's requirements first):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jre-headless -y

mkdir ~/minecraft && cd ~/minecraft

Download the server jar for your chosen version/software (Vanilla from minecraft.net, or Paper from papermc.io) into this folder.

Run the server once to generate its files:

java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui

It'll create eula.txt and stop. Open it and change eula=false to eula=true.

Allow Minecraft's default port through your firewall:

sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp

Running the java command directly stops when you disconnect. Use screen (or a systemd service) to keep it running in the background:

screen -S minecraft
java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui

Press Ctrl+A then D to detach, leaving the server running. Reattach anytime with screen -r minecraft.

Connect using your VPS's IP address and port.