How to Set Up Your Own Minecraft Server – Updated

A Minecraft server can be best described as a player or business-owned game server that lets multiple players participate in the 2009 Mojang Studios video game Minecraft. You can set up your own Minecraft server through special software rolled out by Mojang or using a hosting provider. Hypixel is considered the most popular Minecraft server as of now.

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If you play World of Warcraft, then you are connected to the server run by Blizzard, and if you are playing Fortnite, you are connecting to servers run by Epic. However, Minecraft has a different approach, letting anyone and everyone start their version of the game. Isn’t it amazing for little tech-savvy kids?

That’s why we have focused this blog on helping you create your first-ever own Minecraft server with little or no help at all. So, let’s get started. 

Steps to Setup Your Own Minecraft Server

Here are seven steps to setting up a basic Minecraft server using Mojang’s software. 

STEP 1: INSTALL/ UPDATE MINECRAFT

Download the Minecraft launcher through their official website.

This has to be followed by running MinecraftInstaller.exe on Windows or Minecraft.dmg on MacOS. All the required files will get downloaded, and you will be notified to start the launcher. Log in to the same Microsoft account that was used to purchase Minecraft.

Check the left side column and check that you use MINECRAFT: JAVA EDITION to launch the latest version.

Then click PLAY.

STEP 2: INSTALL JAVA

Setting up Minecraft requires a specific Java version. You can check the version like this:

WINDOWS

Open the command prompt window, type “Java-version,” and hit enter. You will see the Java version installed.

MacOS

Open Finder, and click Applications > Utilities > Terminal. Then type Java-Version and press the enter key. 

You need to have Java build 19.X.X or higher to set up your own Minecraft server.

If the command prompt shows a message saying the Java Runtime Environment is something other than 19 or “java” is an unrecognized command, you need to install the correct version of Java.

Then, run the Java installer and go by the instructions. You may also need to delete an older version, if any.

Once done, click on Close.

STEP 3: DOWNLOAD THE SERVER .JAR FILE

Go to the official Minecraft website and download the server file. The server version and the Minecraft version must be the same. 

STEP 4: MAKE A NEW MINECRAFT SERVER FOLDER ON YOUR DEVICE

Create a new folder on your device. Creating it on the desktop is recommended for easy access and spotting. You will use this folder to save all the Minecraft server-related files.

Next, drag the server.jar (that you downloaded in step 3) to this folder. 

STEP 5: FIRST-TIME STARTUP

Open the command prompt on Windows or Terminal on MacOS. Now, you must change the directory command by entering “cd” followed by the path to your Minecraft server folder. Updating the file location ensures that the command prompt looks for the server.jar file in the correct location. 

To initiate the server, enter this command- java -jar server.jar –nogui

The command will produce all required files, but you can’t launch the server without accepting the End User License Agreement. Stop the server by using the /stop command within the prompt. Then, enter the Minecraft Server folder, look for the eula.txt file, and open it.

You will see eula=false at the bottom. Simply change it to eula=true. Ensure no space between the characters, and everything else remains the same. Lastly, save and close the file.

STEP 6: RESTART THE SERVER

Relaunch the server by entering java -jar server.jar.

Next, a graphical user interface or GUI window will open up that will show the list of active players and technical statistics like memory usage. 

You have successfully created your server; it should be up and running. Give it a try by selecting Multiplayer, then Direct Connection. In the server address box, type in “localhost,” then click Join Server.

Now that you are connected to the server, you can see your username under the “Players” tab.

STEP 7: CREATE AN AUTOMATIC SCRIPT

If you want to skip opening the Windows command prompt or MacOS Terminal every time, then follow the below-mentioned steps to program an easy command file to make it an automatic process. 

WINDOWS: BATCH FILE

Use batch files to automate commands-

Open your Minecraft Server folder, right-click, move your pointer to New, and select Text File. A New Text Document.txt will be created.

Now replace the file’s name (including the .txt extension) with “start.bat,” then hit enter. You will get a Windows warning which is fine. So, hit Yes.

Then right-click on “start.bat” and choose Edit. 

Enter java -Xms1G -Xmx1G -jar server.jar in the notepad document that will open and save the file. 

MacOS: SHELL SCRIPT

Shell script files work the same as the Microsoft batch files. Go to the Minecraft Server folder, create a new text file within it, name it ‘start.sh’, and type the following command-

#!/bin/sh

cd “$(dirname “$0″)”

exec java -Xms1G -Xmx1G -jar server.jar

Save it and open Terminal. Use the same change directory command mentioned in step 5 and run this command-

chmod a+x start.sh

This will make the ‘start.sh’ file an executable.

Now you have automated the process. All you have to do is double-click on it to start Minecraft Server automatically. 

And You’re Done..!!

Wasn’t it easy and exciting to create your first-ever Minecraft Server? It just sounds like a complicated gig, but a little patience and perseverance go a long way.

Be careful to use the same version of the server and Minecraft while also ensuring that you’re using Java version 19 or higher for Minecraft 1.19.2. 

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