How To Set Up A Minecraft Server

You love Minecraft but don't want your friends to play it with you. It's okay. A friend can be more comfortable telling a stranger to "eff-off". Hosting your own server on your PC is the easiest way to do this. Here's how.

First, you must determine if it is possible to host it. Although it appears to be a simple task, it will require a decent computer and lots of bandwidth. The Can I host Minecraft site will let you know if it's possible. Multiplay has a package to suit your needs if you don't have the right one. That said, even a Raspberry Pi can run a modest Minecraft server, albeit with various features turned off. It all depends on the demands that you place upon your machine.

For the most basic setup of a server on your computer, you will need Hamaachi and server software. Head to the Minecraft downloads page and grab the windows .exe file. Drop it into its own folder on a hard-drive with a lot of free space. Grab Hamachi from the website and leave it alone for now.

The exe file will display the GUI. It'll also create files in the folder and start the server. Once it's done, you'll be able to run a Minecraft world, but no one will be there. Apart from raising philosophical questions, such as "If the Creeper explodes somewhere in the woods and nobody is there to hear it," it also means that you can modify the world without making any difference to anyone else. "server.properties" will have the greatest impact on how you create the world. Games This file should be opened in Notepad and used to play around with. Shut down the GUI and open the "server.properties” document. There are many lines. Most of them are self-explanatory, with "true", "false" states. It creates a server that mirrors offline games. I would not recommend it. However, it is possible to change the "pvp=true” to read "pvp=false". Set "online-mode=true" to "false". You now need to populate the server with people.

Hamachi is here to help. It creates a Virtual Private Network between your friend and you. This avoids you from having to mess with your router's port forwarding settings, which can sometimes feel like a dark art. You and whoever you want to connect to your game needs to download the client and create a log-in. Hamachi will give you an IP address. Right click it and grab the "ip4" adress. Now open up server properties and paste it into the "server-ip= xxxx" line.

With that done, if you run your Minecraft server anyone that connects to your Hamachi network will be able to join your Minecraft server. Although it is a bit complicated, it will allow anyone connected to your Hamachi network to access your Minecraft server. If you do, you'll probably want to invest in a proper dedicated server. Games