Setting up a server

This page is part of the official Bukkit Documentation This page has been accepted and included in the official Bukkit Documentation. You can discuss discrepancies, issues, or errors in the article on its Talk page.

Preliminary notes

Note: In this guide we refer to the server file as craftbukkit.jar but the file you download may be named differently. The file name used in your start script must match the name of the file you download.

Note: Unless you have a multi-homed machine and know what this means/requires, server-ip= in server.properties MUST remain unchanged from default and be blank.

Note: When running a server for the first time, errors will show up. Do not worry as this is normal; the server is generating files and folders needed to run as they do not exist yet.

Note: The Bukkit server is intended as a complete replacement for the official Minecraft Server downloaded from Minecraft.net and is not normally ran at the same time on a single computer. It is possible however, to copy your 'World' data files previously created within a Minecraft Server into your Bukkit folders to continue use of your previous game. As always, backup your data and configuration prior to migrating to Bukkit.

Windows

1. Get CraftBukkit's latest recommended build: CraftBukkit - Where can I get it?

2. Put the .jar file in the directory you'd like the server to run from

3. Open a text editor such as Notepad and type:

java -jar craftbukkit.jar
PAUSE

4. Save the document as run.bat (not as a .txt) in the same directory as craftbukkit.jar.

Note: With some programs such as Notepad, it may try saving as run.bat.txt. When saving to a file name, put the name in quotes: "run.bat"

5. Double click run.bat and you're away!

6. To shut down, issue the "stop" command in console.

If you see "'Java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file." then you need to reinstall Java. Still get this error? Follow this guide to adding Java to your system path.

Linux

1. Get CraftBukkit's latest build: CraftBukkit - Where can I get it?

2. Put the .jar in a folder, for this example we'll use a generic one: ~/craftbukkit

3. Move to the above directory in terminal with 'cd ~/craftbukkit'

4. Create a new file in the minecraft folder and name it craftbukkit.sh

5. Edit the file and paste this into it:

#!/bin/sh
 BINDIR=$(dirname "$(readlink -fn "$0")")
 cd "$BINDIR"
 java -jar craftbukkit.jar

6. Make the file executable, either by running "chmod +x ~/craftbukkit/craftbukkit.sh" in a terminal, or by changing the permissions in the file's properties.

7. Then, in terminal, type '~/craftbukkit/craftbukkit.sh' to run to start the server. 

8. When you're done playing around, issue the "stop" command in console.

If you plan to run the server more permanently an init script like this one (recommended) [1]

If you want to run your server with screen, you can use a script like this one (recommended) ABM

Mac OS X

1. Install Java

   Since OS X 10.7 Java does not come packaged with OS X. You will need to install java from the Apple's website http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1421

2. Obtaining the Server Files

   To run a server you will need the server jars, i.e. the server files. We will need a place to put the files.

   1. Create a New Folder

      Open up finder, and create a new folder in your Home folder named CraftBukkit

   2. Download the File

      Download the server files. You can download the latest builds from the front page of the wiki.

      Note: Download the stable build if you are not chasing the cutting edge in the development build

   3. Move the File

      Move the file from the Downloads folder to the CraftBukkit folder you created.

3. Obtaining startup script

   To easily start the server you will need a startup script. The following is a basic server script to start your server.

   1. Open up TextEdit set it to plain text mode under format and paste the following in

      #!/bin/bash
      cd "$( dirname "$0" )"
      java -Xmx1024M -jar craftbukkit.jar -o true

   2. Save the file

      Save it in your CraftBukkit folder as start_server.command

   3. Allow the script to run
      1. Open up Terminal.app
      2. Type into Terminal.app

         chmod a+x

         Warning:

         Do not hit return

      3. drag the start_server.command into Terminal.app
      4. hit return
4. Starting the server

   From this point on you can start the server by double-clicking start_server.command.

   You will need to run the server once for it to generate some configuration files.

   Warning:

   To stop the server, do not close the terminal/command prompt window. Instead, type 'stop' into the console. Closing the terminal window without stopping the server could lead to corruption of the save files.

ALTERNATE METHOD [Only for Advanced Users]:

Open Terminal (Found in Application/Utilities) and paste:

cd ~/Desktop/
mkdir BukkitServer
cd BukkitServer/
curl -LO http://cbukk.it/craftbukkit.jar
echo "cd ~/Desktop/BukkitServer/" >> start.command
echo " java -Xmx1024M -jar craftbukkit.jar -o true" >> start.command
chmod +x start.command

The server is installed on your Desktop, in "Bukkit Server". To start it double click "LaunchServer.command".

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Community Guides

Ubuntu Server x64 Setup.