Server Properties

Introduction

Every Minecraft server has a handful of configuration files that control how it behaves – things like the game mode, difficulty, max players, and whether PvP is on or off. Instead of opening those files by hand and editing raw text, the Server Properties page gives you a visual editor with toggles, dropdowns, and text fields so you can tweak settings quickly and safely.

Your server needs to be running (or to have been started at least once) before its configuration files exist. If you don’t see any properties yet, start your server and come back.

Configuration File Tabs

Depending on which server software you’re running, you may have more than just server.properties to configure. The page automatically detects which config files exist and shows each one as its own tab.

Config File	Server Software
server.properties	All Minecraft Java servers
bukkit.yml	Bukkit, Spigot, Paper
spigot.yml	Spigot, Paper
paper.yml	Paper (legacy, pre-1.19)
paper-global.yml	Paper 1.19+
paper-world-defaults.yml	Paper 1.19+
purpur.yml	Purpur
World Settings	All Minecraft Java servers
serverconfig.txt	Terraria (Vanilla, tModLoader)
config.json	Hytale

Most servers will only ever need to touch server.properties – it covers all the core gameplay and network settings. If you’re running Paper, it’s worth checking the paper-global.yml tab for performance tweaks like async chunk loading and entity tick rates. Spigot users will find similar optimizations in spigot.yml.

The World Settings tab lets you select one of your server’s worlds and jump to its per-world configuration page, where you can adjust settings that apply to that specific world rather than the entire server.

Each tab loads its settings on demand when you click it, so the page stays fast even if you have several config files.

Property Categories

The server.properties tab organizes its settings into logical groups so you don’t have to scroll through a wall of options:

• Essential – The big ones: game mode, difficulty, max players, view distance, whitelist, spawning toggles, and other core settings. Start here.
• Gameplay – Fine-tune game mechanics like flight and force gamemode.
• World – World generation type, level name, seed, generator settings, and data packs.
• Dimensions – Manage access to different dimensions like the Nether.
• Spawning – Control whether monsters, animals, and NPCs spawn, and how many.
• Performance – Simulation distance, entity broadcast range, network compression, tick settings, and world size limits. Helpful if your server feels sluggish.
• Security – Spawn protection, whitelist enforcement, online mode, op permission level, proxy prevention, and secure profiles.
• Networking – Server name, IP, port, status, transfer settings, hidden player counts, and native transport options.
• Remote – RCON, query, JMX monitoring, heartbeat interval, and management server settings for advanced server administration.
• Admin – Command block permissions, function permission level, and broadcast settings.
• Players – Player idle timeout, pause-when-empty, and code of conduct settings.
• Resources – Resource pack URL, ID, SHA1 hash, prompt message, and whether the pack is required.
• Storage – Sync chunk writes and region file compression options.
• Moderation – Text filtering config and version settings.
• Advanced – Debug mode and bug report link. You probably won’t need these often.

Search and Filter

If you know what you’re looking for, the search bar is the fastest way to find it – just start typing a property name or keyword and results filter in real-time. You can also narrow things down by selecting a category from the dropdown.

Keyboard shortcut: Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) to jump straight to the search bar.

Editing Properties

Input Types

Each property uses the input type that makes the most sense for it:

Type	Used For	Examples
Toggle	Boolean on/off settings	PvP, whitelist, hardcore
Dropdown	Predefined options	Gamemode, difficulty
Text	Free-form text values	MOTD, level seed, server name
Number	Numeric values	Max players, view distance, spawn protection

Auto-Save

You don’t need to hit a save button – changes are saved automatically 800 milliseconds after you stop editing. You’ll see a small indicator letting you know the status:

• Saving – a spinner appears while your change is being written
• Saved – a checkmark confirms success (it fades after 3 seconds)
• Error – something went wrong and the save didn’t go through

Special Editors

A few properties have richer editors built in because plain text fields aren’t enough.

MOTD Editor

Your MOTD (Message of the Day) is what players see in the Minecraft server list, so it’s worth making it look good. The dedicated MOTD editor gives you:

• Live preview – see exactly how your MOTD will appear in the server list as you type
• Color buttons – all 16 Minecraft color codes (section-sign 0 through f) at the click of a button
• Formatting buttons – bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, obfuscated, and reset
• Quick templates – pre-made MOTDs for common themes (Welcome, Colorful, Fancy, Gradient, Survival, Creative, Minigames, and Skyblock)
• Multi-line support – Minecraft MOTDs can have up to 2 lines, and the editor supports both

Resource Pack Prompt Editor

When you require a resource pack, Minecraft shows players a prompt asking them to accept or decline. This editor works just like the MOTD editor with color and formatting buttons, plus quick templates for common prompt styles (Friendly, Required, and Optional). The preview shows the prompt with Yes/No buttons exactly as a player would see it.

Resource Pack Upload

Instead of hosting your resource pack somewhere else and copying URLs around, you can upload a .zip file (up to 100 MB) directly through this page. The system handles everything for you:

• Uploads the file to the CDN
• Generates the download URL
• Calculates the SHA1 hash
• Fills in both the resource-pack and resource-pack-sha1 fields automatically

Server Icon Upload

You can upload an image (up to 5 MB) to use as your server icon. It will be automatically resized to the required 64x64 pixels, and you’ll see a preview before confirming the upload.

Presets

Don’t want to tweak every setting by hand? Presets let you apply a batch of settings at once for common play styles. When you apply a preset, you’ll see a confirmation dialog listing exactly which properties will change, and the affected settings get briefly highlighted so you can spot them.

• Gameplay
• Performance
• World
• Server Size

• Preset	Description
  Vanilla	Standard Minecraft settings
  Creative	Creative mode, peaceful, no PvP
  Hardcore	Hard difficulty, hardcore mode
  PvP	No spawn protection
  Peaceful	No monsters, no PvP
  Skyblock	No structures, reduced view distance, normal difficulty
  Adventure	Adventure mode, no flight
  Minigames	Command blocks enabled, adventure mode
  Roleplay	Adventure mode, NPCs enabled
  Factions	Hard difficulty, PvP
  UltraHardcore	Extreme hardcore settings

• Preset	Description
  Low End	Reduced view/simulation distance, 50% entity broadcast
  Balanced	Default balanced settings
  High End	16 view distance, 12 simulation distance

• Preset	Description
  Super Flat	Flat world generation
  Amplified	Extreme terrain
  Large Biomes	Larger biome sizes

• Preset	Description
  Small Server	10 players, whitelist enabled
  Large Server	100 players, idle timeout, rate limiting

Presets are a great starting point, but you can always adjust individual settings afterward. They won’t lock you into anything.

Notable Properties

Online Mode (Cracked Mode)

This is one of the most important settings to understand. When online mode is enabled, your server checks every player’s account against Mojang/Microsoft’s authentication servers. Only players who own a legitimate copy of Minecraft can join.

Disabling online mode (sometimes called “cracked mode”) lets players without a paid account connect. While this opens the server to more players, it comes with serious risks:

• Inventory and data wipes – player data is tied to UUIDs, and cracked accounts get different UUIDs, which can cause data loss when switching between modes
• Account impersonation – anyone can join using any username, including yours, and gain access to that player’s inventory and permissions
• Griefing – with no account verification, it’s much harder to ban bad actors since they can rejoin with a different name

A warning dialog will appear when you toggle this setting to make sure you understand the trade-offs.

The toggle is labeled “Cracked Mode” for clarity, but it works in reverse: enabling Cracked Mode sets online-mode to false in the actual config file.

Hardcore Mode

Enabling hardcore mode sets the difficulty to hard and gives players only one life – when you die, you’re put into spectator mode. A warning banner appears when you flip this toggle because once a world is created in hardcore mode, you can’t revert it to normal through properties alone. You’d need to edit the level.dat file or reset the world.

RCON

RCON (Remote Console) lets you send commands to your server from external tools. It’s powerful but opens a network port that attackers could target, so a security warning appears when you enable it. Make sure you set a strong RCON password if you turn this on.

Management Server (1.21+)

Minecraft 1.21 introduced a built-in REST API management server that lets you control the server remotely. The properties page exposes all the related settings:

• Management Server Enabled – turn the API on or off
• Management Server Host – the host address (defaults to localhost)
• Management Server Port – the port the API listens on
• Management Allowed Origins – allowed origins for CORS requests
• Management TLS Enabled – enable HTTPS for the management API
• Management Server Secret – the authentication key for API requests
• Management TLS Keystore – path to the TLS keystore file
• Management Keystore Password – password for the keystore

The secret and keystore password are sensitive values. Keep them private and never share them.

Player Idle Timeout

This setting kicks players who have been idle for a set number of minutes, freeing up server slots for active players.

Player idle timeout is a premium feature.

YAML Configuration Editors

If you’re running Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, or Purpur, you’ll see additional tabs for their respective YAML config files. These editors work just like the main server.properties editor:

• Settings are organized by their top-level key categories
• You get the same input types (toggles, dropdowns, text and number fields)
• Changes auto-save with a 2-second delay
• Each tab has its own independent search and category filter

The YAML editors use a slightly longer auto-save delay (2 seconds vs. 800 milliseconds) because YAML files tend to be larger and more complex.

Mobile Features

On mobile devices, a bottom navigation bar keeps everything accessible:

• Search – opens a search sheet
• Filter – opens a category selector
• Config – lets you switch between configuration file tabs