The server.properties file controls many of the basic settings for a Minecraft Java server, including the game mode, difficulty, player limit, view distance, whitelist behavior, world settings, and more.
This guide explains the most commonly used server.properties settings on a Down Side Hosting Minecraft Java server.
Before making changes:
Important: Some settings, especially networking settings, may be managed by Down Side Hosting. Do not change your assigned server port unless you have a specific reason or Down Side Hosting support instructs you to do so.
Open the Files section of your Down Side Hosting server panel.
The file is normally located in the main Minecraft server directory:
server.properties
Click the file to open it in the panel's editor.
Before changing the file, stop the server from the Down Side Hosting panel.
If Minecraft is running while you edit server.properties, some changes may not apply correctly and the server may overwrite settings when it shuts down.
After saving your changes, start the server again.
A server.properties file may contain settings similar to:
gamemode=survival difficulty=easy max-players=20 pvp=true white-list=false view-distance=10 simulation-distance=10 spawn-protection=16 enable-command-block=false online-mode=true level-name=world motd=A Minecraft Server
Your file may contain additional settings depending on the Minecraft version.
The setting:
server-port=25565
controls which network port Minecraft listens on.
Down Side Hosting customers should normally leave the server port assigned by the hosting panel unchanged.
Your public server address is normally:
dsh.network:YOUR_PORT
Replace YOUR_PORT with the port assigned to your server.
Changing server-port to a random value can prevent players from reaching the server.
See:
How to Connect to Your Down Side Hosting Minecraft Java Server
You may see:
server-ip=
In most hosted Minecraft configurations, this should normally be left blank unless the hosting environment specifically requires another value.
Do not enter:
dsh.network
into server-ip.
The public hostname players use to connect is not normally what belongs in this field.
The Message of the Day is controlled by:
motd=A Minecraft Server
This is the description players see for the server in their Minecraft Multiplayer list.
For example:
motd=Welcome to My Survival Server!
You can use this to display your community or server name.
The maximum number of players is controlled by:
max-players=20
For example:
max-players=10
allows up to 10 players to be connected at the same time.
Setting a high player limit does not mean the server automatically has enough CPU, RAM, or other resources to support that many active players.
The default game mode is controlled by:
gamemode=survival
Common values include:
survival creative adventure spectator
For a normal survival server:
gamemode=survival
The setting:
force-gamemode=false
controls whether players are forced into the server's default game mode when joining.
With:
force-gamemode=true
players will be placed into the game mode configured by gamemode when they connect.
The server difficulty is controlled by:
difficulty=easy
Common values are:
peaceful easy normal hard
For example:
difficulty=hard
Hardcore mode is controlled by:
hardcore=false
To enable Hardcore:
hardcore=true
Hardcore changes normal survival behavior and can have major consequences for players, so make sure this is what you intend before enabling it.
Player-versus-player combat is controlled by:
pvp=true
To disable PvP:
pvp=false
The server whitelist is controlled by:
white-list=false
To require players to be on the whitelist:
white-list=true
You can then add a player with:
whitelist add PLAYERNAME
For example:
whitelist add Steve
To see the current whitelist:
whitelist list
You may also see:
enforce-whitelist=false
When enabled:
enforce-whitelist=true
players who are no longer allowed by the whitelist can be prevented from remaining connected.
If you are running a private server, using the whitelist is a good way to control access.
The setting:
online-mode=true
controls normal Minecraft account authentication.
For a standard public Minecraft Java server, this should normally remain:
online-mode=true
Do not disable online mode simply to troubleshoot a connection problem.
Changing authentication behavior can have security and identity implications for the server.
The setting:
view-distance=10
controls approximately how far from each player the server sends world chunks.
A higher value can increase:
For a busy or modded server, reducing view distance can sometimes help performance.
Do not assume the highest possible value is the best setting.
The setting:
simulation-distance=10
controls the distance around players where many game systems continue to actively simulate.
This can affect:
Reducing simulation distance can lower server workload, but it also changes gameplay behavior.
The setting:
spawn-protection=16
protects an area around the world's spawn from normal player modification.
To disable spawn protection:
spawn-protection=0
This may be useful when a plugin or another protection system manages your spawn area instead.
Command blocks are controlled by:
enable-command-block=false
To enable them:
enable-command-block=true
Only enable command blocks when your server or map requires them.
You may see:
allow-flight=false
This setting can affect how Minecraft handles players who appear to be flying.
Some mods, plugins, or gameplay features may require:
allow-flight=true
If a legitimate server feature allows players to fly and players are being incorrectly kicked, check whether this setting is relevant.
The main world folder is controlled by:
level-name=world
If you upload a world named:
survival
you can set:
level-name=survival
The folder name and level-name need to match.
For help moving worlds, see:
How to Upload a Minecraft World to Your Down Side Hosting Server
The world seed can be set with:
level-seed=
For a new world, you can enter a seed before the world is generated.
For example:
level-seed=123456789
Leaving the setting blank allows Minecraft to generate a seed automatically.
Changing level-seed after a world has already been generated does not simply replace the existing world.
The setting:
generate-structures=true
controls generation of normal Minecraft structures when creating new terrain.
Disabling it can change the way newly generated areas of the world are created.
You may see:
allow-nether=true
This controls whether the Nether is available on server software that uses this setting.
For most normal survival servers, leave it enabled.
The setting:
spawn-animals=true
controls normal animal spawning.
To disable it:
spawn-animals=false
The setting:
spawn-monsters=true
controls hostile mob spawning.
Keep in mind that the server's difficulty setting can also affect hostile mobs.
The setting:
spawn-npcs=true
controls certain NPC spawning behavior, including villagers.
The setting may look like:
player-idle-timeout=0
A value of:
0
normally disables automatic idle kicking.
A nonzero value can be used to disconnect players after they remain inactive for the configured period.
You may see:
enable-status=true
This allows Minecraft clients to query basic server information for the Multiplayer server list.
For a normal publicly reachable Minecraft server, this is usually left enabled.
Some Minecraft versions include:
hide-online-players=false
When enabled, the normal status response may hide the player sample/list from server-list queries.
A server can offer players a resource pack with:
resource-pack=
This normally requires a direct URL to the resource-pack file.
You may also see related settings for:
Make sure the resource pack is hosted somewhere players can access directly.
On supported Minecraft versions, you may have:
require-resource-pack=false
Setting:
require-resource-pack=true
can require players to accept the server resource pack before joining normally.
You may see:
enable-rcon=false
RCON provides remote console access.
Do not enable RCON unless you specifically need it and understand how to secure it.
The Down Side Hosting panel already provides console access, so most customers will not need to enable RCON.
You may see:
enable-query=false
The Minecraft query protocol is used by certain external tools to request server information.
Most normal players do not need this enabled.
You may see:
network-compression-threshold=256
This is a more advanced networking setting.
For most servers, leave it at the default unless you have a specific reason and understand the effect of changing it.
Some server versions include:
max-tick-time=60000
This controls watchdog behavior when a server tick becomes stuck for too long.
Do not disable or dramatically change watchdog behavior simply to hide server freezes.
If the server is repeatedly triggering watchdog crashes, identify the underlying performance problem.
After editing server.properties:
If the server fails to start after editing the file, check for an invalid value or accidental formatting change.
If a setting appears to revert:
server.properties file.Check:
level-name=
If your world folder is:
survival
you normally want:
level-name=survival
Make sure the actual world files are directly inside the expected folder.
See:
If players could connect before the change, check whether you modified:
server-port server-ip online-mode
Down Side Hosting servers normally use the port assigned through the hosting environment.
Your public address should look like:
dsh.network:YOUR_PORT
If you changed the networking settings and are unsure what they should be, stop the server and contact Down Side Hosting support.
Settings such as:
view-distance simulation-distance max-players
can affect server workload.
However, lag can also be caused by:
Do not change dozens of settings at once.
Make one or a few changes, restart, and test the result.
Normally, no.
Down Side Hosting assigns your Minecraft server a port.
Use the port provided for your server rather than choosing a random port in server.properties.
No.
The hostname players use to reach the server is not normally entered into server-ip.
Leave server-ip blank unless your hosting configuration specifically requires another value.
There is no single best value for every server.
A smaller server may be able to use a higher view distance, while a busy or heavily modded server may benefit from a lower setting.
Choose a value that balances gameplay and server performance.
No.
max-players only controls the number of simultaneous players Minecraft permits.
It does not add RAM, CPU power, or network capacity.
For a normal authenticated Minecraft Java server, leave:
online-mode=true
Do not disable account authentication as a general troubleshooting step.
If you are unsure about a setting, include the setting name, your Minecraft version, and what you are trying to accomplish when contacting support.
Down Side Hosting provides Minecraft Java hosting with server panel access, file management, console controls, backups, and configuration access.
Minecraft Java hosting starts at $2/month.
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