A simple bash script for starting a minecraft server. Allows passing a couple command line arguments for memory and game type.

start.sh

#!/bin/bash

###
##  A simple bash script for starting a minecraft server
##  
## Options:
##  -g : Sets the game mode.  0|1 (default 0)
##  -m : Sets the amount of memory to start with.  (default 756)
##  -t : Sets the memory type.  (default M)
##
###

# The directory where the minecraft server data is.  If this script is in the same directory just set it to `.`
MINECRAFT_DIRECTORY=mc_data
# The name of the .jar file for the server
MINECRAFT_SERVER_FILE=minecraft_server.jar


# Read options
while getopts g:m:t: option
do
	case "${option}"
	in
		g) GAME=${OPTARG};;
		m) MEMORY=${OPTARG};;
		t) MEMORYTYPE=${OPTARG};;
	esac
done

# Check for a game type
if [[ -z "$GAME" ]]
then
	GAME=0
fi
# Check for the amount of memory
if [[ -z "$MEMORY" ]]
then
	MEMORY=756
fi
# Check for memory type
if [[ -z "$MEMORYTYPE" ]]
then
	MEMORYTYPE="M"
fi


cd $MINECRAFT_DIRECTORY
echo "Setting game mode..."

# Set Game Mode 
PROP=""
while read line           
do
	if [[ $line == gamemode=* ]]
	then
		MODE="gamemode=$GAME"
		PROP="$PROP$MODE\n"
	else
		PROP="$PROP$line\n"
	fi
done < server.properties
echo -e $PROP > server.properties

# Start the server
echo "Starting server..."
java -Xmx$MEMORY$MEMORYTYPE -Xms$MEMORY$MEMORYTYPE -jar $MINECRAFT_SERVER_FILE nogui