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Minecraft is a very popular sandbox for many reasons. It's very easy to pick up and learn, gives you the flexibility to do whatever you want in the game, is essentially endless, and lets you build anything you want, provided you have the creativity. Minecraft's popularity is due to the fact that it allows you to play with others. This is not to be confused with online games like Call of Duty where you and your friends play pre-loaded levels together. Online Minecraft lets you and your friends create a world from scratch with no limitations. In order to play online with your friends, however, you need to set up a server that you can both connect to. Please note that we recommend asking your parent for permission before you set up a server. Parts of this tutorial can cause security risks, you should you have a parent with you and do not download anything extra. What is a Minecraft Server? Things to Consider Before Hosting a Minecraft Server Steps for Creating a Minecraft Server Enjoy Your Multiplayer Minecraft Server What is a Minecraft Server? A Minecraft server allows multiple people to play together in the same Minecraft world. This can be done in different ways so make sure you fully understand your options. A third-party such as Apex Hosting and Hostinger allows you to rent a server. You pay a monthly fee to use it. However, it does almost everything for you. Depending on the service, this can be as low $5 as $5. You can manage a server yourself. This allows you to save money and gives you full control over how your server works. This article focuses on making your own Minecraft server without using a third-party. Minecraft also offers personal multiplayer servers called Realms that you can use with your friends. A Realm makes your Minecraft world online and accessible even when you log off. Recommended: Free Coding Programs for Kids Things to Consider Before Hosting a Minecraft Server Benefits of Using Hosting Your Own Minecraft Server - You have full control of the entire server at all time. If you want something done, you can make it happen as quickly as you can do it yourself. There is no need to rely on someone else doing things for you. - You can upgrade your computer in any way you wish to improve its performance. Although server hosting companies charge higher prices for higher specs, if your server has the latest generation processor, the most ram, and the largest and most powerful graphics card, it can be one the most powerful servers on the market. It can be fun and rewarding to learn how to set up and configure network. You will learn about different network features that are not available elsewhere. It will only cost you what it takes to operate your computer. Hosting costs money. However, hosting your own server means that you only pay the cost of keeping your computer running. Hosting your own Minecraft server can be very rewarding, but it does have a few drawbacks you should understand before attempting it yourself. To run your server, you will need the appropriate hardware. This includes either a Windows 7 running system or a Mac running MacOS 10.4 or higher. Although hosting your own server on a Chromebook may be possible, it is beyond the scope of this tutorial. You will also need an active internet connection to access your router. Your computer specs will depend on the server you use and how many players there are at any given point. A server with many players will require more RAM and a faster processor. The same goes for adding mods to your server. You can get away with a few gigs of ram if you only play Vanilla (meaning no mods! However, once you start adding mods to your server, you'll need to double, triple or even quadruple your RAM. - Since you will have to run the server from a computer, you'll want a decent internet connection that is hardwired to your PC that can handle everyone playing simultaneously. No one wants to log onto a Minecraft server only to lag and get booted every 15 minutes for a modem restart. You will need a computer to run the server. However, your friends can still play on the server from any device as long as they have the same Minecraft edition as you. For example, if you are running a server on Minecraft Java Edition 1.16.4, then your friends will need to have Minecraft Java Edition 1.16.4 installed on their device. - It's completely your responsibility on how this server is run. It's your responsibility to fix any problems that may arise. You can rely on players to fix any bugs or issues they have. If there are disputes among players, you will often be the one to handle them. - It takes more than just downloading a program and turning on your computer. You will have to configure your network and router, learn about port-forwarding, and you may need to use the command-line to edit configuration files. Cyber attacks on your computer or private information can result from following the above requirements. Your network may be exposed to security threats such as DDoS attacks. If your IP address is stolen, someone could access sensitive data such as your address. This is why you should be cautious and make sure you follow these steps. If you're looking to set up your own server, but don’t want to host it, read our article about Apex server hosting. Java Classes for Teens Steps for Creating a Minecraft Server 1. Getting Started: Download the Latest Version of Java Are you still here? Great! Let's begin making our own Minecraft server. Start by creating a folder to store all our downloads. You can put this anywhere you'd like, but I find it easiest to create a new folder on your desktop. In our examples, we will be placing everything inside a folder called "My Awesome Server" directly on the desktop. Click on any empty space on your desktop to create a folder. The folder can be renamed to suit your needs. Once you have created your folder, it is time to download the files needed to host your server. Let's begin by making sure you have the most recent version of Java installed on your computer. You can do that by clicking here or going to https://www.java.com/en/download/. This link will take you to the correct download, regardless of whether you are using a Mac computer or a PC. Add the installer to the folder we created in the previous step. Once you download the installer, double-click it and follow along with the prompts. 2. Download the Server.jar File Once Java is installed, you will need the server.jar files. You may notice a different version number when you follow the tutorial images/gifs. That's fine, the steps should be identical. Your computer may warn you that this file could be dangerous. This is a common warning for any.jar files. These warnings should be ignored if you don’t know where the file is coming from. That being said, I think we can trust Minecraft on this one.MINECRAFT Save this file to your "My Awesome Server" directory if you are given the option. You can copy and paste the file or drag it into the folder after it is done. 3. Create Your Server Configuration files Once you have your server.jar folder in your "My Awesome Server", double-click or right-click it to open it and create your configuration files. There is a EULA agreement (End User License Agreement) that you will need to accept to prevent your server from immediately crashing. Open up the EULA file (it may say eula.txt depending on your machine) and change eula=false to eula=true. Next, go to File > Save or press CTRL+S to save the document. 4. Run Your Server Double-click the server.jar file. This will create a few new files and allow your server to start. If your goal was to make your own Minecraft server to play with friends on the same internet connection as you then you have reached the end. Congratulations! For friends who are connected via the same internet, log onto Minecraft. Click the Multiplayer tab to find the server you created. You both must use the same version Minecraft. We still have work to do if you want to play with friends who use a different internet connection (such as one from your home). For this reason, we recommend ..... 5. Set Up Port Forwarding Warning: This tutorial section is the most difficult and can pose security risk. You should always have a parent accompany you to this step. Port forwarding is necessary if you want friends to connect to your server from another internet connection than you have. Unfortunately, this step will be different depending on which router you are using. I will outline the steps required to set up my Xfinity router for port forwarding. However, you will need to look into your router and follow its instructions. The first step for me is navigating to the Port Forwarding section on Xfinity's website. I found this information by searching "How to Port Forward Xfinity Router", so I suggest a search similar to mine, but with the name of your router. The next step for me had common configurations to use, including Minecraft, so I went ahead and chose that. If you don't have this option, the important thing to know is to use port number 25565 for Minecraft. Any other port number will not work. You will need to block my IP address. This is the part you want to protect from people you don't know or trust. Depending on your router's settings, they may reserve a unique IP address for you (Xfinity did it for me). If this is the case, you will give your friends the IP Address. If they do not reserve one for you, you will have to use your own IP address. Once Port Forwarding is complete, your friends will be able log into Minecraft and click Add Server. They can name the server whatever they want (it does not have to match your name) then type in your IP address. If you don't know what your IP address is, you can Google "What's mine IP address" and it should show up as one of the first results. When adding the server, you may need to include :25565 at its end. If the server doesn't recognize it, you can try it without. 6. Configuring Server Property Now that you have your server up and running, it is time to make changes. In the "My Awesome Server", folder, you will see a file called server.properties. Right now your computer won't know how to open the file. But if you right click it and select Open with you should see a list of options. This can be opened in any text-editor you like, but Notepad works well if it isn't already attached to another. You'll see a list of server properties when you open it. Each one can be edited to your satisfaction. Here is a list of all properties and their meanings. But let's start with the most common. difficulty - This can be either a string property or an integer property that determines the difficulty level of your server. minecraft server list Integers can be 0, 1, 2, or 3 String values represent peaceful, normal, easy, or hard. hardcore - this takes a boolean (true or false) value of how your players are handled if they were to die in game. If the value is true then players are automatically put into spectator mode when they die. level-seed - this is blank by default and will automatically generate a seed when you start your server. However, if you found a seed you want online to use, you can type it here and have a copy of that world. max-players: This sets the maximum number players that can play on your server simultaneously. You'll find this useful if you have a computer that struggles to run when many people log on at once. motd - This sets the Message Of The Day for all users to see when they log into your server. It can be helpful to give useful information to everyone at the same time.MINECRAFT SERVERS pvp - this is a boolean value that when set to true allows players to kill each other. Here's a screenshot of my server.properties folder when I opened it using windows notepad. More Minecraft Resources Minecraft teaches Coding to Kids The Best Minecraft Texture Packs A Parent's Guide to Minecraft - For Kids 10 Best Minecraft Mods for Kids How to Install and Download Minecraft Mods How to Play Minecraft With Friends Enjoy Your Multiplayer Minecraft Server You are now done! You are now running your own Minecraft server and you can have all your friends join it as you wish. There are many things you could do with your own server. It is best to start small before you go crazy. Minecraft can quickly consume resources many people don’t have at their homes. Your computer may struggle with everything you want. It is important to keep your IP address private and not share it with anyone you do not know or trust. If you found this article helpful, give us a shout on our Discord to let us know! We'd also love for you to come and hang out with us on our Minecraft server! Our subdomain (server address) is mc.codewizardshq.com. First, you will have to verify your information using Discord by sending a DM to CWHQ Minecraft Server#9605 where your pin code will be provided.