---
title: "Minecraft server.properties Explained"
description: "What the main Minecraft server.properties settings do, like difficulty, gamemode, allow-flight and spawn-protection, with values and how to change them."
url: https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained
---
# Minecraft server.properties explained

`server.properties` is the main settings file of a Minecraft Java server. Every line is one setting, written as `name=value`. This guide shows how to edit the file in the panel and explains the settings server owners change most.

## How to edit server.properties

1. Open your browser and go to [https://panel.fps.ms](https://panel.fps.ms).
2. Click **Manage** on your server.
3. Click **Files**.
4. Click `server.properties` to open it.

![The Files page with server.properties highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained/01-open-server-properties-5e7c0444.webp)

5. Find the line you want to change and edit the value after the `=`. For example, change `difficulty=easy` to `difficulty=normal`.

![The server.properties editor with the difficulty line changed to normal](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained/02-edit-difficulty-line-c495951c.webp)

6. Click **Save content**.

![The file editor with the Save content button highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained/03-click-save-content-8da2a9c2.webp)

7. Click **Console**, then click **Restart**.

![The Console page with the Restart button highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained/04-restart-server-4cc710f0.webp)

!!! info "Restart after every change" "The server only reads server.properties when it starts. Every setting on this page needs a restart, except the game rules at the end."

!!! tip "Write values exactly"
  Use lowercase, and put no spaces around the `=`. If the server cannot read a value, it puts the default value back when it starts.

!!! warning "Leave these lines as they are"
  The panel sets these lines when your server starts.

  On every server: `server-ip` and `server-port`. On Pro servers also `query.port`. On free servers also `online-mode` and `enable-query`.

## Game rules

### difficulty

How hard the game is: how much damage mobs do and how hunger works.

- Values: `peaceful`, `easy`, `normal`, `hard`
- Default: `easy`
- Example: `difficulty=hard`

### gamemode

The game mode players get on your server.

- Values: `survival`, `creative`, `adventure`, `spectator`
- Default: `survival`
- Example: `gamemode=creative`

Players who have joined before keep the game mode they left in. To put everyone in the new game mode when they join, also set `force-gamemode=true`.

### hardcore

Turns on hardcore mode for worlds the server creates. Set it before your world is made.

- Values: `true`, `false`
- Default: `false`
- Example: `hardcore=true`

### allow-flight

Whether players in Survival may fly, for example with a mod. When it is `false`, the server kicks players who stay in the air too long. Set it to `true` if players get kicked for flying. This setting does not give anyone flight. Players in Creative mode can always fly.

- Values: `true`, `false`
- Default: `false`
- Example: `allow-flight=true`

## Players and spawn

### max-players

How many players can be online at the same time. More players use more of your server's memory and CPU.

- Values: a whole number
- Default: `20`
- Example: `max-players=10`

### spawn-protection

Protects the blocks around the world spawn: players cannot place or break blocks there. Operators can still build, see [How to give yourself OP on your Minecraft server](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/how-to-give-yourself-op.md). The number is how far the area reaches from the spawn point, so `16` protects a square of 33 by 33 blocks.

- Values: a whole number, `0` turns it off
- Default: `16`
- Example: `spawn-protection=0`

If your server has no operators at all, spawn protection does not apply.

## Performance

### view-distance

How far the server sends the world to players, in chunks in every direction. A lower number means less work for the server and less lag.

- Values: `3` to `32`
- Default: `10`
- Example: `view-distance=8`

### simulation-distance

How far from players mobs and animals keep moving, in chunks in every direction. Further away they stop until a player comes closer. Lower it if your server lags.

- Values: `3` to `32`
- Default: `10`
- Example: `simulation-distance=6`

## World

### level-name

The name of your world and of the folder it is saved in. If a folder with this name exists, the server loads that world. If it does not exist, the server creates a new world in a new folder. Your old world stays in its own folder, so you can switch back by putting the old name back.

- Values: a folder name
- Default: `world`
- Example: `level-name=world`

To find your world's seed or start a world from a seed, see [How to find and change your Minecraft server seed](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/finding-and-changing-your-world-seed.md).

## Settings that are now game rules

In Minecraft 1.21.9 and newer, four settings are no longer in server.properties. They became game rules. You change a game rule by typing a command in the **Console**, and it works at once, without a restart. On 1.21.8 and older they are still lines in server.properties.

Each setting below shows the old server.properties line with its default value, then the game rule name. Versions 1.21.9 and 1.21.10 used a different name for three of them.

- **PvP**: players can hurt each other. Old line: `pvp=true`. Game rule: `pvp`.
- **Nether**: Nether portals take players to the Nether. Old line: `allow-nether=true`. Game rule: `allow_entering_nether_using_portals` (1.21.9 and 1.21.10: `allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals`).
- **Monsters**: monsters spawn. Old line: `spawn-monsters=true`. Game rule: `spawn_monsters` (1.21.9 and 1.21.10: `spawnMonsters`).
- **Command blocks**: command blocks work. Old line: `enable-command-block=false`. Game rule: `command_blocks_work` (1.21.9 and 1.21.10: `commandBlocksEnabled`).

As game rules, all four are `true` by default, so command blocks are on.

To change a game rule:

1. Click **Console**.
2. Type `gamerule`, the rule name and `true` or `false`, then press Enter. For example, `gamerule pvp false` turns off PvP.

Not sure which one you need? Open `server.properties`. If it has a `pvp=` line, change the settings there. If not, use the game rule names above. They work on 1.21.11 and every newer version, including the versions numbered 26.1 and up. If the Console answers with an error, use the 1.21.9 and 1.21.10 name. To see or change your version, see [How to change your Minecraft server version](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/changing-your-minecraft-version.md).

## Other settings

- To change the message players see in the server list, see [How to change MOTD](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/how-to-change-motd.md).
- To make a flat or amplified world, see [How to Change World Type](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/how-to-change-world-type.md).
- To let only the players you choose join, see [How to whitelist players on your Minecraft server](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/how-to-whitelist-players.md).

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