Minecraft Server Properties Guide: Every Setting Explained
Configure your Minecraft Java server with the complete server.properties reference — game mode, difficulty, view distance, and whitelist.
Open the Server Properties File
Navigate to your Minecraft Java server in the MANAfuel dashboard and open the File Manager tab. Click on server.properties in the root directory. The file opens in an inline editor where you can change any setting and save directly. Every line follows the format key=value — no quotes, no brackets, just the property name and its value separated by an equals sign.
Set Game Mode and Difficulty
The two settings players notice first are gamemode and difficulty. Set gamemode to survival, creative, adventure, or spectator. Set difficulty to peaceful, easy, normal, or hard. These apply as defaults for new players joining the server. You can override individual players with the /gamemode command in-game or from the RCON Console. For hardcore servers, set hardcore=true — players switch to spectator mode on death.
Configure World Generation
Control how your world generates with level-seed (a specific seed number or leave blank for random), level-type (default, flat, largeBiomes, amplified, or custom data packs), and generate-structures (true or false for villages, temples, and strongholds). These settings only affect new chunks — changing them on an existing world creates a visible boundary where the new generation begins. For a clean start, delete the world folder and restart.
Adjust Performance Settings
Three settings directly impact server performance: view-distance controls how many chunks each player loads (default 10, lower to 6 to 8 for large player counts), simulation-distance controls how many chunks around each player are actively simulated (default 10, lower to 4 to 6 for better tick rates), and max-players sets the cap. On a Gamer plan with 4 GB, a view distance of 8 and simulation distance of 6 handles 20 to 30 players comfortably.
Enable Whitelist and Security
Set white-list=true to restrict access to approved players only. Manage the whitelist from the RCON Console with /whitelist add PlayerName and /whitelist remove PlayerName. Enable enforce-secure-profile=true to require signed chat messages (recommended for public servers). Set online-mode=true to verify player accounts against Mojang — never disable this on public servers as it allows cracked clients.
Configure Multiplayer Behavior
Fine-tune the multiplayer experience with pvp (true or false), allow-flight (set true if using mods that add flight), spawn-protection (radius in blocks around spawn where non-ops cannot build — set to 0 to disable), and motd (the message shown in the server browser — supports color codes with the section symbol). After changing any property, save the file in the File Manager and restart your server for changes to take effect.