Configuration
29 editable fields, each with what it actually does
Edit the fields that matter; everything else stays at the vanilla default.
Server-list line shown in the multiplayer browser.
TCP port the server listens on.
Hard cap on simultaneous players.
Chunks rendered around each player. Lower = less RAM/CPU.
Chunks where mobs/redstone tick. Drop this before view-distance to save CPU.
Mob spawn behavior + damage.
Default mode for new joins.
True = require valid Mojang/Microsoft auth. False = cracked-allowed (insecure).
Only listed players can join (use /whitelist add).
Block radius around world spawn that non-ops can't break.
Allow player-vs-player combat.
One life per player (banned on death).
Stops 'flying is not enabled' kicks (needed for elytra/creative).
Override per-player gamemode on join.
Folder name of the world to load.
World generation seed. Empty = random.
World preset.
Allow hostile mob spawns.
Allow passive mob spawns.
Allow villager spawns.
Required for command-block-driven datapacks/maps.
Remote console (panel integration).
Required if rcon enabled. Use a strong random string.
TCP port for rcon.
UDP port for GameSpy4 query (server lists).
Expose query protocol (server-list scrapers use this).
Packet size before compression. -1 disables (LAN). 64-128 for low-bandwidth servers.
Watchdog kill threshold in ms. Set to -1 to disable on slow hosts.
Linux epoll (faster). Disable only if you see bind errors.
Output
The file itself, ready to drop next to your server jar
motd=A Minecraft Server server-port=25565 max-players=20 view-distance=10 simulation-distance=10 difficulty=easy gamemode=survival online-mode=true white-list=false spawn-protection=16 pvp=true hardcore=false allow-flight=false force-gamemode=false level-name=world level-seed= level-type=minecraft:normal spawn-monsters=true spawn-animals=true spawn-npcs=true enable-command-block=false enable-rcon=false rcon.password= rcon.port=25575 query.port=25565 enable-query=false network-compression-threshold=256 max-tick-time=60000 use-native-transport=true
Property reference
Every key the vanilla server reads, explained
More server tools
The rest of the set, for the parts of the server this one doesn't touch
Frequently asked questions
Ports, whitelists, view distance and the fields people get wrong
What is server.properties? +
server.properties is a plain-text key=value file in the root of every Minecraft server installation. It controls everything that doesn't belong to a world or plugin: port, difficulty, gamemode, MOTD, view distance, RCON, and dozens of toggles. The Minecraft server reads it once at startup, so changes require a server restart.
How do I change Minecraft server difficulty permanently? +
Edit the difficulty=easy line in server.properties to peaceful, easy, normal, or hard, then restart the server. Note that vanilla Minecraft also persists a per-world difficulty inside level.dat — if a world was last saved on a different setting, the runtime /difficulty command may need to be issued once to sync it.
What's the difference between gamemode and force-gamemode? +
gamemode sets the default mode that fresh joiners spawn into (survival, creative, adventure, or spectator). force-gamemode, if true, also overwrites returning players' last-known gamemode on every join — so they always come back in the default mode. With force-gamemode=false, returning players keep whatever mode they logged out in.
Where is server.properties located? +
server.properties lives in the working directory the server JAR is launched from — typically the same folder as server.jar, world/, and the eula.txt file. On managed hosts (BisectHosting, Apex, Aternos, etc.) it is exposed via the control panel's File Manager and usually has its own dedicated configuration UI as well.
Last verified for Minecraft 26.2