How to create a new Minecraft Server with DigitalOcean

mc-server-setup.md

Creating a new Minecraft Server

This is a short and simple guide on how to set up a multiplayer server running the latest version of Minecraft.

This guide has been tested on Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04.

Setup

Create a new Ubuntu droplet on DigitalOcean. Make sure it has at least 2GB of RAM, and you provide it with your SSH key.

SSH into the server and install Java, which is required for Minecraft to run.

apt-get update && apt-get install default-jdk
java -version

Additionally, install Screen, which will allow us to run the server in the background.

apt-get install screen

Running the Server

Copy the download link of the latest Minecraft version here.

Create a directory to install the server files and download the server.

mkdir minecraft
wget -O minecraft_server.jar <paste-download-link-here>

Start a new screen session.

screen -S Server

Run the server.

java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar minecraft_server.jar nogui

Exit the screen session.

CTRL + A, D

You might need to update your firewall configuration so that the correct ports are open if you are getting the message "Unable to connect to world".

ufw allow 25565/tcp

Editing Properties

A server.properties file is automatically created when you run the server for the first time. A list of properties can be found here.

vi server.properties

Please note that after you edit the properties, you'll need to restart your server.

Thanks for this!

So simple. Thank you!

can this work for an Ubuntu 18.04 server?

@AlfredoDaAs

can this work for an Ubuntu 18.04 server?

Should be fine, haven't verified though.

@AlfredoDaAs

can this work for an Ubuntu 18.04 server?

Just tested this on 18.04. Works pretty well. 🙂

How can I install Forge on this server?

When I followed this, my 18.04 Digital Ocean Droplet, my server starts fine, but my game says "Unable to connect to world." Do I need to open ports, on the droplet, or what am I missing?

If anyone else is having vincenzofehring's issue above, you need to update ufw:
ufw allow 25565/tcp

Yep can confirm leviable's suggestion. Had the same problem as vincenzofehring but now it works.

Thank you @leviable and @asett0! I've updated the guide accordingly.

Thanks a lot. Simple af.

Hi! I know this is already a year old, but I'm having an issue with the java version. It basically says that ubuntu 18.04's version of java is not compatible with the latest minecraft server edition. should I upgrade my ubuntu server?