Creating your own Minecraft server on Scaleway

Reviewed on 16 September 2024 • Published on 15 November 2019

Minecraft
gaming
ubuntu

In 2011, the gaming world changed forever with the release of Minecraft.

Developed by the Swedish company Mojang, this iconic title has since soared to staggering heights, boasting over 176 million sales and a devoted community of over 112 million monthly active players.

One of the key appeals of Minecraft lies in its endless customization options. By hosting your own Minecraft instance, you unlock a realm of creative freedom, allowing you to tailor the gameplay to suit your preferences in every detail.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a video game that allows players to build a 3-dimensional world using various blocks. It is a task that requires creativity from the players who can design and build their virtual world. Users can mine and break down nearly every block in Minecraft by drilling and then collecting them. These broken-down pieces can then be collected and assembled to create new items.

The currently available Java Edition allows players to customize the game with mods to their preferences, creating new gameplay mechanics, items, textures, and assets.

As there is no specific goal to accomplish, there is no given way to play Minecraft. Players can achieve anything they want by themselves.

However, some pre-defined game modes are available:

Creative Mode, which allows players to build whatever they can imagine from the limitless resources given to them.
Survival Mode, where players have to gather natural resources such as wood and stone by exploring the world. Players also need to build a house to protect themselves against enemies and source food to survive.

The game supports Multiplayer mode, enabling multiple players to interact and communicate in a single world. Players can either connect to one of the publicly known worlds or build their world with their friends by using a private Minecraft server.

Why should I run my own Minecraft server?

By setting up your own Minecraft server, you can set the game’s rules and invite all your friends to play with you. You can install all the mods you want and customize your world with elements that were not initially available when the game was programmed.

The Minecraft server is a Java application and runs perfectly on Scaleway Instances, allowing you to deploy your own Minecraft Instance in just a few minutes.

How can I create my own Minecraft server maker?

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

A Scaleway account logged into the console
Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
An SSH key
An Instance running on Ubuntu Bionic Beaver (18.04) or later
sudo privileges or access to the root user
A copy of the Minecraft game client for your local computer

Deploying your own Minecraft server can be done in a few easy steps on a Scaleway Development Instance. In case you do not have an Instance yet, start by deploying your first Instance.

Tip

We recommend you follow this tutorial using a Cost-Optimized Instance.

Connect to your Instance using SSH.

Update the apt package cache and upgrade the software already installed on the Instance:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Install the latest version of OpenJDK, an open-source implementation of the Java Platform and the GNU Screen package.
```
apt install -y openjdk-17-jre-headless screen
```
Tip
Search for the latest version of OpenJDK by running the following command:
```
apt-cache search openjdk.*.jdk.*.headless
```

Create a new minecraft user under which the Minecraft server application will run:

adduser minecraft

Enter the user’s new password, the password confirmation, and the user details when prompted.

Switch into the minecraft user account:

su minecraft

Change into the user’s home directory:

cd

Download the Minecraft server maker application by using wget. The link for the latest version of the application is available directly on the Minecraft Server website:
```
wget https://launcher.mojang.com/v1/objects/3dc3d84a581f14691199cf6831b71ed1296a9fdf/server.jar
```

Run the Minecraft server application with the following command:

java -Xms1024M -Xmx2048M -jar server.jar nogui

Important

The flags -Xms and -Xmx define the minimum and maximum amount of RAM that the Minecraft server application can use. You may adjust these values to your needs. For best performance, it is recommended to leave the minimum value at 1024M.

During the first run, the application creates a file eula.txt. Open the file in a text editor (for example nano) and change the value of eula from false to true:

nano eula.txt

#By changing the setting below to TRUE you are indicating your agreement to our$
#Fri Nov 15 14:47:37 GMT 2019
eula=true

Then save the file by pressing CTRL+O and exit nano by pressing CTRL+X.

Take ownership of the current shell to avoid issues with the screen command:

script /dev/null

Create a new screen to run the Minecraft application in:

screen -S minecraft

Re-run the Minecraft server maker application:

java -Xms1024M -Xmx2048M -jar server.jar nogui

The following output informs you that the Minecraft server application is running:

...
[14:53:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Starting minecraft server version 1.14.4
[14:53:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Loading properties
[14:53:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Default game type: SURVIVAL
[14:53:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Generating keypair
[14:53:38] [Server thread/INFO]: Starting Minecraft server on *:25565
[14:53:39] [Server thread/INFO]: Using epoll channel type
[14:53:39] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing level "world"
[14:53:39] [Server thread/INFO]: Reloading ResourceManager: Default
...
[14:54:18] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 83%
[14:54:19] [Server-Worker-2/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 85%
[14:54:19] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 88%
[14:54:20] [Server-Worker-2/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 90%
[14:54:20] [Server-Worker-2/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 95%
[14:54:21] [Server thread/INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 97%
[14:54:21] [Server thread/INFO]: Time elapsed: 14775 ms
[14:54:21] [Server thread/INFO]: Done (42.088s)! For help, type "help"

Once the application is running, move the screen in the background by pressing CTRL+a followed by d. The session is being moved to the background. To resume the running session use the command screen -r.
You can now log off your Instance and start configuring your Minecraft client.

Note
The Minecraft server created above uses the standard settings. If you want to create a new world, modify the level-name directive in the server.properties file as well as other settings accordingly. For more information refer to the official documentation.

How can I connect to my own Minecraft server maker?

When your server is up and running, connect it to the Minecraft game client.

Download and launch the Minecraft client on your local computer.
After logging into your Minecraft account, click the Multiplayer button.
Click Add Server and enter a name for your server and the public IP address of your Instance.
Your server is now listed in the servers list. Click the server and then Join Server to connect to it.
Congratulations! You are now connected to your own Minecraft server: