Complete Guide: How to Configure the server.properties file
After installing your Minecraft server, you will notice a file named server.properties in the main folder. It is the heart of your world's settings. Editing this file allows you to do everything from changing the welcome message to adjusting performance to avoid the dreaded "lag."
In this guide, we will explore the most important options and how they impact your server on Windows.
How to edit the file?
The server.properties is a simple text file. You can open it with Notepad or, preferably, with Notepad++ for a more organized view. Remember: whenever you change something, you need to restart the server for the changes to take effect.
1. Identity and Connection Settings
- motd: This is the message that appears below the server name in the multiplayer list. You can use color codes to customize it.
- server-port: The default port is
25565. Only change this if you know what you are doing or if you are running two servers on the same PC. - online-mode: If set to
true, only official Mojang/Microsoft accounts can join. If changed tofalse, the server will accept non-official versions (use with care for security).
2. Performance Settings (The most important ones!)
If your server is lagging or has "low TPS," adjust these options:
- view-distance: Defines how many blocks away the server sends to the player. The default is 10. For home servers, lowering this to 6 or 8 can drastically improve performance without significantly affecting vision.
- simulation-distance: Introduced in recent versions, this defines the distance at which entities (mobs) and crops process. Keeping it at 5 or 6 greatly helps save CPU.
- max-players: How many people can join simultaneously. Do not set an exaggerated number; for a home PC, 10 to 20 players is ideal.
3. Customizing the Experience
| Property | What does it do? |
|---|---|
| difficulty | Defines the difficulty: peaceful, easy, normal, hard. |
| gamemode | Default game mode: survival, creative, adventure, spectator. |
| pvp | If false, players cannot hurt each other. |
| spawn-protection | Protects the radius of blocks around the spawn for non-OP players. |
Pro Tip: Optimizing the World
If you want a "cleaner" server, look for the allow-flight line. If you plan to use mods or plugins that allow flying, change it to true to prevent the server from unfairly kicking players for "cheating."
Another essential option is level-name. If you want to start a brand new world without deleting anything, just change this name (e.g., world_season_2) and the server will create a new folder with that name upon startup.
Conclusion
Mastering server.properties is the first step to becoming a great server administrator. Adjusting these small details ensures your friends have a smooth experience without connection errors.