Minecraft Forums

Quote from raycrs »

So we have to buy portforward to create our own servers?

Quote from Matt1557

Some people are having problems setting up their own Minecraft servers, so here's a step-by-step guide.


SETTING UP YOUR SERVER

1. Download the .zip file at http://www.minecraft.net/minecraft-server.zip and extract it to your desktop (or a different location if you like)

2. Go to that location and open the minecraft-server folder

3. Now you'll see a bunch of files. There should be 2 files called server. Open one of them. If you can't open the file, select 'Notepad' from the window that pops up. If this file is blank, open the other server file.

4. Find the line that says port=xxx, by default this is 25565. Go to http://www.portforward.com and find your router model for a step-by-step guide to forward the port. If you do not forward the port, others will not be able to join your server.

Customization
To name your server, change the name after server-name=. This is what will appear on the public server list.
To change the Message of the Day, change the text after motd=. This is what will appear when players connect to your server.
To change the amount of players allowed, change the number after max-players=. This number is how many players (including you) can be in the server at one time.

6. Save and close the server file. Now open the admins file. Add your in-game name to this file, as well as any other people that you want to be an admin, or op. Skip a line for each name. Names are not case-sensitive, but must be exact. Save and close the admins file.

7. If you want to add players from the Ban List at the Minecraft Wiki, copy and paste the list into the banned file. If you want to ban any IP addresses, copy and paste them into the banned-ip file. Banned IPs must have a / before each entry. For both banlists, each name or IP must be on its own line. Save and close the banned and banned-ip files.

8. Aaaaannnnd... you're done! Click start server to launch the server. A black command window should pop up, and soon it should display information such as the external URL. Once it shows the external URL, you can join your server through the URL in the command window (or the externalurl file) or by clicking it in the public server list.

9. To close your server, simply exit out of the black command window. The map is saved automatically, so you don't need to use the save button in the in-game menu.


UPDATING YOUR SERVER

After an update, you should update your server to the latest version. This can be done by downloading the .zip file at http://www.minecraft.net/minecraft-server.zip and opening it once it's downloaded. Now drag and drop the following files to your minecraft-server folder: minecraft-server, server (the one with your server info, not the chat log), and start server. You'll have to rewrite the server info (name, motd, etc).


If you're having trouble joining your own server, or any other problems, read through Grif's thread or Thi3f's thread.

To load a level you downloaded onto your server, replace the server_level.dat file with the new map. Save the old map somewhere else so you can load it again if you change your mind.

THE END