Dedicated servers

INFO

Since Release 1.2.5 / Snapshot 1.3 you can run a dedicated server for Minecraft: Java Edition.

Earlier versions worked too, but Mojang no longer hosts direct downloads. You can find archived JARs on Betacraft, but file integrity isn't guaranteed.

Setup

1. Download the Server Jar for your target version from Xyrios.

   • Check the required Java version. You can't run, for example, a Java 21 server with Java 8.

   The download URL points back to Mojang's official server.

2. Grab the matching Java runtime from Adoptium. Filter by OS (e.g. Windows), architecture (e.g. x64), and version (e.g. 21). Pick the JRE (or JDK) in the .zip / .tar.gz extractable format so nothing gets installed system-wide.

3. Create a folder for your server. Put server.jar inside it, then extract the Java archive into the same folder.

   • Rename the extracted Java folder to something short. This guide uses java_folder.

4. Open a terminal in that folder (or cd to it) and start the server:

   java_folder/bin/java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui

   On Linux / macOS you may need to make server.jar executable first: chmod +x server.jar (or 755).

5. The first run creates an eula.txt file. Open it in any text editor and change eula=false to eula=true to accept the Minecraft EULA.

6. (Optional) Edit server.properties to taste. Pay particular attention to enforce-secure-profile and online-mode.

   • After changes, restart the server (run stop, then re-run the command from step 4).

7. Set up port forwarding so external players can connect:

   1. Open your router's admin page (typically 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).
   2. Find port forwarding settings (sometimes under Advanced, Security, or Gaming).
   3. Forward TCP port 25565 to your computer's local IP. The port matches server-port in server.properties.
   4. Share your public IP (search "what is my IP") with people you want to let in.

WARNING

Only share your public IP with trusted friends. For public-facing servers, consider a dedicated hosting provider instead of self-hosting from home.