Setting Up a Minecraft Server
Complete guide to configuring your Minecraft server — server.properties, whitelisting, operator permissions, and performance tuning.
Minecraft Server Setup
Your DustBowl.Games Minecraft server is ready to connect out of the box. Here's how to make it yours.
Key Configuration: server.properties
Open File Manager in your WISP panel and edit server.properties in the server root. Key settings:
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
motd |
Message shown in the server browser | — |
max-players |
Maximum concurrent players | 20 |
gamemode |
survival, creative, adventure, spectator | survival |
difficulty |
peaceful, easy, normal, hard | normal |
pvp |
Enable player vs player | true |
white-list |
Only allow whitelisted players | false |
view-distance |
Render distance in chunks (lower = faster) | 10 |
simulation-distance |
How far mobs tick and crops grow | 10 |
Save the file and restart the server from the WISP panel console.
You can also use our server.properties Generator to build a clean config with a tooltip for every setting.
Whitelisting
To lock your server to invited players only:
- Set
white-list=truein server.properties and restart - In the WISP Console tab, run:
whitelist add <playername> - Repeat for each player you want to allow
To remove someone: whitelist remove <playername>
Adding Operators (Admins)
In the WISP Console tab, run: op <playername>
This grants full admin commands. Run deop <playername> to remove it. Ops are stored in ops.json — edit that file directly to bulk-manage permissions.
Performance Tips
- Set
view-distanceto 8 andsimulation-distanceto 6–8 for the biggest single-setting gains - Run Paper or Purpur instead of Vanilla — same world, dramatically better TPS
- Pre-generate your world with Chunky before players explore new terrain
- Modded servers need more RAM — 6–10 GB for light modpacks, 10+ GB for heavy ones
For a full performance deep-dive, see Troubleshoot and Fix Minecraft Server Performance.