server.properties Generator
Set up your Minecraft server's server.properties with every common setting explained in plain English, then copy or download the file. Already have one? Paste it into the server.properties checker.
General
The message under your server's name in the multiplayer list.
Use & codes for colour. For two lines, gradients and a preview, use the MOTD generator.
The port players connect on. 25565 lets them join without typing a port.
How many players can be online at once.
Checks every player owns a real Minecraft account. Only turn this off on servers behind a proxy (Velocity or BungeeCord) that does the check instead.
Only players on the whitelist can join.
Kicks players who aren't on the whitelist when it's turned on or reloaded.
Gameplay
Players can hurt each other. On the newest versions this may be controlled by the pvp game rule instead.
The game mode new players start in.
Puts players back in the default game mode every time they join.
How hard mobs hit and whether hunger can kill you.
Hard difficulty, and players are put in spectator mode when they die.
Stops the server kicking players for flying. Turn on if you use fly plugins or mods like jetpacks.
Radius (in blocks) around spawn that only operators can build in. 0 turns it off. Only works once at least one operator exists.
Kicks players who do nothing for this many minutes. 0 never kicks.
World
The folder the world is saved in. Change it to start a new world or load a different one.
Seed for a new world. Leave empty for a random one. Has no effect once the world exists.
The kind of world to generate. Has no effect once the world exists.
Villages, temples, strongholds and so on appear in new chunks.
How far the world border reaches from the centre, in blocks.
Performance
How many chunks around each player are sent to them. The biggest single setting for performance.
How many chunks around each player keep ticking (mobs, crops, redstone). Lowering it helps a lot.
How far away players can see entities, as a percentage of the normal distance.
Packets bigger than this many bytes are compressed. -1 turns compression off (only sensible behind a proxy on the same machine).
Saves chunks immediately, which is safer in a crash but slower.
Pauses the world this many seconds after everyone leaves (1.21.2+). Farms and redstone stop while paused. 0 never pauses.
Advanced
Lets command blocks run.
What operators can do: 1 bypass spawn protection, 2 cheat commands, 3 player management, 4 everything.
Hides who's online from the server list.
Answers server-list pings. Turning it off makes the server look offline to everyone.
Requires signed chat messages (1.19+).
Leave empty unless your host tells you to set it. A wrong value stops the server starting.
Remote console access. Gives full control of the server to anyone with the password.
Port for remote console access.
Password for remote console access. Use a long random one.
Lets tools fetch detailed server info (GameSpy4 protocol).
Port for query requests.
Direct download link to a resource pack players are offered when joining.
Checksum of the pack, so players only re-download it when it changes.
Kicks players who decline the resource pack.
Message shown when players are asked to download the pack.
Writes players' IP addresses to the server log.
Lets other servers send players here with the /transfer command (1.20.5+).
Worth knowing
server.properties
Stop the server, replace the file, then start it again. Settings not listed here keep their defaults.