Minecraft server.properties explained: the settings that matter

Minecraft server.properties explained in one line: it is the main settings file of a Java Edition server, a plain text file with one key=value setting per line. It sits in the server’s top folder. To change a setting, stop the server, edit the line, save and start the server again. Nothing changes until that restart. The defaults below are those of Java Edition 26.3, as of October 2026.

Prefer a form? Our server.properties generator writes the file and checks every value.

Where the file is and how to edit it

You need access to the server’s files and a way to stop and start the server. On a home PC that is the server folder and the console window. On a host it is the control panel.

1. Stop the server. Type stop in the console, or use the stop button in your host’s control panel.
2. Open server.properties. It is in the folder the server starts from, next to the server jar and the world folder. On a home PC, open it with a plain text editor such as Notepad. On a host, use the file manager or SFTP, whichever your host offers. If the file is missing, start the server once: it creates the file.
3. Change the value after the = sign. Keep one setting per line and do not add a second copy of a key.
4. Save the file and start the server.

A few lines look like this:

motd=Friends Survival
max-players=10
difficulty=normal
white-list=true
spawn-protection=0

Each time it starts, the server writes the file back out. It keeps your values, fills in any missing key with its default, and replaces a value it cannot read with the default. Lines that start with # are comments, and the rewrite drops them. The Minecraft Wiki’s server.properties page lists every key. Paper uses the same file and documents it in its own reference.

Minecraft server.properties explained, setting by setting

The last column is a starting point for a few friends playing survival, not an official recommendation.

The 59 comes from the Minecraft Wiki: with a longer MOTD, the server list may report a communication error. The MOTD generator counts the characters and adds colors for you.

max-players is a cap you choose, not a measure of what the server can handle. That depends on memory: see how much RAM a Minecraft server needs. On Severoo, the free plan has unlimited player slots and up to 6 GB of RAM, so the plan itself does not cap this number.

Settings people get wrong

View distance and simulation distance

They sound alike and do different jobs.

• view-distance is how much of the world the server sends to each player. A player’s own render distance cannot show more than the server sends.
• simulation-distance is how far from a player mobs and other living entities keep being updated. Past that distance the server stops updating them.

Both cost the server work for every player online. With view-distance=10, the server sends a square of about 441 chunks around each player. With 8 it is about 289, and with 6 about 169. So when the server lags, lower these two first: try 8, then 6. The trade-off for a low simulation-distance is that mobs far from every player are frozen until someone comes closer.

Paper’s documentation gives no official number, so treat ours as a starting point. Our guide to reducing lag on a Minecraft server shows how to measure.

online-mode

With online-mode=true, the default, the server checks every player who connects against Minecraft’s account database. With false, that check is skipped. The server then cannot tell who is really behind a name, so anyone can join under any name, including the name of an op.

Mojang’s usage guidelines say that server access “must only be granted to users who have a genuine paid-for version of Minecraft”. Leave it on true.

If the reason you wanted it off is friends on Bedrock, you do not need to touch it. Floodgate lets Bedrock accounts join while online-mode stays true. See Java and Bedrock crossplay.

white-list and enforce-whitelist

Since Java Edition 26.3, white-list is true by default. It used to be false. On a new server that means nobody can join until you add them, apart from ops, who are always let in.

Add each friend from the console:

whitelist add PlayerName

Whether updating an older server changes the line in an existing file is something we could not confirm. Open the file and look.

enforce-whitelist only matters while white-list is true. With false, a player you remove from the list stays online until they leave. With true, the server kicks online players who are not on the list when the list reloads. For a private server, true is the safer choice. The full steps are in how to whitelist a Minecraft server.

spawn-protection

This one causes the classic complaint: friends can join, but cannot break or place blocks near where they spawn.

The number is not a width. The protected area is a square with sides of 2x+1 blocks, centered on the world spawn, so the default of 16 protects 33 by 33 blocks. Inside it, only ops can build. It is off while the server has no ops at all.

For a server of friends, set spawn-protection=0 to turn it off.

Settings that are no longer in the file

Older guides tell you to set pvp=false or enable-command-block=true. Java Edition 1.21.9 removed both keys, along with allow-nether and spawn-monsters. A current server does not read them. They are game rules now, set from the console:

gamerule pvp false
gamerule command_blocks_work true

Type them without a slash in the console, or with a slash in game as an op. The game rule page on the Minecraft Wiki has the full list, and our Minecraft server commands guide covers the ones you will use most.

How to check your change worked

1. Start the server and open server.properties again. Your value should still be there. If the default is back, the server could not read what you typed: check the spelling and the allowed range.
2. For motd and max-players, refresh the server list in the game, or use the server status checker.
3. For white-list, ask a friend who is not on the list to try to join.

What commonly goes wrong

• You edited while the server was running. The server only reads the file when it starts. Stop it, edit, then start it again.
• You changed level-name and the world looks new. The server made a new world under the new name. The old folder is still there. Set the name back.
• You changed level-seed and nothing happened. The seed only applies when a new world is generated.
• You changed server-port on a host. A host normally assigns the port. Put back the one your host gave you, or players cannot connect.