⚙️ Minecraft server.properties File Explained (and How to Edit It)

🧠 What is `server.properties`?

The server.properties file is the main configuration file for your Minecraft server. It controls core settings like your server name, game mode, difficulty, world generation, and connection options.

Whenever you make changes here, you must restart your server for the changes to take effect.

🛠️ How to Edit server.properties

Log into the Control Panel.

Click 'Manage' next to your server.



Navigate to your server files.



Find and open the server.properties file.



Edit the settings you want.

Press the 'Save File' button.

Restart your server to apply the changes.

📋 Common Settings You Might Want to Change

Setting	What it Does	Example
motd	Sets the server's message shown in the multiplayer list.	motd=Amazing Survival Server
gamemode	Sets the default gamemode (0=Survival, 1=Creative, 2=Adventure, 3=Spectator).	gamemode=0
difficulty	Controls game difficulty (peaceful, easy, normal, hard).	difficulty=normal
allow-flight	Allows flying if true (needed for mods or plugins).	allow-flight=true
white-list	If true, only players added to the whitelist can join.	white-list=true
pvp	Enable or disable Player vs Player combat.	pvp=true
level-name	The folder name of your world.	level-name=world
max-players	Sets the maximum number of players allowed.	max-players=20
view-distance	How much of the world is loaded around players. Higher values need more memory.	view-distance=10
online-mode	Whether players must be authenticated through Mojang. (Should be true unless using Geyser/Floodgate.)	online-mode=true

🌎 Important Notes

- Always restart your server after editing server.properties.
- Make a backup before making big changes — especially if you change world generation settings.
- Some settings (like level-seed) only take effect after creating a new world.

Updated on: 25/04/2025