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Minecraft server.properties Explained (Every Setting and Default)

· 4 min read

server.properties is the main config of a Java Edition server. Every setting is one key=value line, read at startup, so changes need a restart. Paper, Fabric and Forge use the same file and keep their extra options elsewhere. This page covers 1.20 and newer.

To edit it, stop the server in the Crunchy.Host panel, open /home/container/server.properties in Files, save, and start again. Only change values, never keys.

Settings most people change

Key Default What it does
motd A Minecraft Server Text under your server name in the multiplayer list. Supports § color codes.
max-players 20 Maximum number of players online at once.
gamemode survival Default game mode for new players: survival, creative, adventure or spectator.
difficulty easy peaceful, easy, normal or hard.
hardcore false Hardcore mode. Locks difficulty to hard and puts players in spectator after death.
white-list false Only players in whitelist.json can join. Very new versions ship with true.
view-distance 10 How many chunks around each player the server sends. The biggest single factor for RAM and CPU.
simulation-distance 10 How many chunks around each player are ticked (mobs move, crops grow, redstone runs).
spawn-protection 16 Radius around spawn that non-operators cannot build in. 0 turns it off.
level-seed empty World seed. Empty means random. Only used when a new world is generated.
online-mode true Checks every player against Microsoft's authentication servers.

If the server struggles, lower simulation-distance to 6–8 first. It saves a lot of CPU, and players barely notice because they still see terrain out to view-distance.

World and generation

Key Default What it does
level-name world Name of the world folder. Change it to load a different world folder.
level-type minecraft:normal World preset: minecraft:normal, minecraft:flat, minecraft:large_biomes, minecraft:amplified, minecraft:single_biome_surface.
generator-settings {} JSON options for flat and single biome worlds.
generate-structures true Whether villages, temples and other structures generate.
max-world-size 29999984 Maximum distance from the center in blocks, effectively the world border radius limit.
initial-enabled-packs vanilla Data packs enabled when a new world is created.
initial-disabled-packs empty Data packs that stay disabled when a new world is created.
region-file-compression deflate Chunk compression on disk: deflate, lz4 or none.

Seed, type and structure settings only affect chunks that haven't been generated yet. To apply them everywhere, start a new world. Colons appear escaped in the file (minecraft\:normal), which is normal.

Players and permissions

Key Default What it does
force-gamemode false Puts players into the default gamemode every time they join.
enforce-whitelist false Kicks online players who are not on the whitelist when it is reloaded.
op-permission-level 4 Permission level given by /op, from 0 to 4.
function-permission-level 2 Permission level for data pack functions.
player-idle-timeout 0 Minutes before idle players are kicked. 0 disables it.
allow-flight false Lets players fly in survival without being kicked. Turn on if you use flight plugins or mods.
hide-online-players false Hides the player list from the server list hover.
pause-when-empty-seconds 60 Seconds after the last player leaves before the server pauses ticking (1.21.2+).

Network and security

Key Default What it does
enforce-secure-profile true Only allows players with a signed chat key. Set to false if players see "missing profile public key".
prevent-proxy-connections false Kicks players whose connection does not match their authentication, which catches some VPNs. Can cause false kicks.
enable-status true Answers server list pings. With false the server looks offline but players can still join.
rate-limit 0 Maximum packets per second per player before a kick. 0 disables it.
network-compression-threshold 256 Packets larger than this many bytes are compressed. -1 disables compression.
use-native-transport true Linux networking optimizations. Leave it on.
accepts-transfers false Allows players to be transferred here from another server with /transfer.
log-ips true Writes player IP addresses to the log.

Before turning off online-mode, read Failed to verify username: offline mode needs a login plugin or a proxy.

Query and RCON

Key Default What it does
enable-query false Enables the GameSpy4 query protocol used by server list sites and status bots.
query.port 25565 UDP port for query.
enable-rcon false Enables remote console access.
rcon.port 25575 TCP port for RCON.
rcon.password empty RCON password.

RCON is unencrypted, and the panel console already covers everyday use. If a tool needs it, add a port in Network, set rcon.port to it, and use a long random password.

Resource packs

Key Default What it does
resource-pack empty Direct download URL of a .zip resource pack.
resource-pack-sha1 empty SHA-1 hash of the pack, used to verify and cache it.
resource-pack-id empty UUID that identifies the pack (1.20.3+).
resource-pack-prompt empty Custom message shown when the pack is offered.
require-resource-pack false Disconnects players who decline the pack.

Setup steps: Add a resource pack.

Performance and stability

Key Default What it does
entity-broadcast-range-percentage 100 How far away entities are sent to players, as a percentage. Lowering it reduces network and CPU load.
sync-chunk-writes true Writes chunks to disk synchronously. Safer on crashes, slightly slower.
max-tick-time 60000 If a single tick takes longer than this many milliseconds, the watchdog stops the server. -1 disables it.
max-chained-neighbor-updates 1000000 Limit on chained block updates, which protects against huge redstone or lag machines.

Setting max-tick-time=-1 hides the crash, not the cause. If the watchdog fires, find what stalls the server.

Removed and moved settings

Older guides mention keys that no longer exist. Unknown keys are silently ignored.

  • spawn-animals and spawn-npcs: removed in 1.21.2.
  • pvp, allow-nether, spawn-monsters, enable-command-block: game rules since 1.21.9. Use /gamerule.
  • max-build-height: removed in 1.17.

Example: survival with friends

motd=§6Survival §7with friends
max-players=10
difficulty=normal
white-list=true
simulation-distance=8
spawn-protection=0

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