Running Mindustry Server as a Linux systemd Service

Running Mindustry as a systemd Service

systemd gives you automatic restarts on crash, clean log management, and start-on-boot — all without screen or tmux sessions.

Step 1 — Create a Dedicated User

Run the server as a non-root user:

sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash mindustry

Place the server JAR and config/ directory under /home/mindustry/server/:

sudo mkdir -p /home/mindustry/server
sudo chown -R mindustry:mindustry /home/mindustry/server

Copy or download server-release.jar there:

sudo -u mindustry wget -O /home/mindustry/server/server-release.jar \
  https://github.com/Anuken/Mindustry/releases/latest/download/server-release.jar

Step 2 — Create the systemd Unit File

Create /etc/systemd/system/mindustry.service:

[Unit]
Description=Mindustry Dedicated Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=mindustry
WorkingDirectory=/home/mindustry/server
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -jar server-release.jar
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=mindustry

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Note: The server's config/ directory is created relative to WorkingDirectory. Make sure WorkingDirectory is set to the folder containing server-release.jar.

Step 3 — Configure Auto-Start Map

Before enabling the service, set the server to automatically host a map on startup:

Start the server manually once as the mindustry user:

sudo -u mindustry bash -c "cd /home/mindustry/server && java -jar server-release.jar"

In the server console:

config startCommands "host Serpulo survival"

Then type exit or Ctrl+C. The setting is now saved to config/settings.bin.

Step 4 — Enable and Start the Service

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable mindustry
sudo systemctl start mindustry
sudo systemctl status mindustry

Managing the Service

Updating the Server

sudo systemctl stop mindustry
sudo -u mindustry wget -O /home/mindustry/server/server-release.jar \
  https://github.com/Anuken/Mindustry/releases/latest/download/server-release.jar
sudo systemctl start mindustry

Automatic Updates (autoUpdate)

Alternatively, enable the autoUpdate config option in the server console before setting up systemd:

config autoUpdate true

When a new Mindustry version is released, the server exits cleanly. Pair this with a systemd ExecStartPre that downloads the latest JAR so the update happens automatically on restart.