Build an Advanced SMP Server

Plan before you install

Write down your answers to these before touching the server. Changing them later is painful.

Memory

More memory than the server uses doesn't make it faster. Ask us to set Aikar's flags (Paper's recommended garbage-collection settings) on plans of 4 GB and up.

Install Paper or Purpur and pin the version

1. Open your server → Startup. Set the server type to Paper (or Purpur) and Minecraft Version to an exact version, not latest. Change version
2. Pick the matching Java image. Newer Minecraft versions need newer Java; the version guide lists which.
3. Start once on the Console, accept the EULA when asked, let it finish starting, then Stop. First start
4. Turn on two-factor authentication on your panel account and add co-owners as sub-users, never by sharing your password. Sub-users

Don't let players in yet. The world you see now will be replaced in step 4.

Core server.properties

With the server stopped, open Files → server.properties and set:

motd=My SMP - survival, claims, economy
difficulty=hard
gamemode=survival
pvp=true
max-players=60
white-list=true
enforce-whitelist=true
online-mode=true
spawn-protection=0
view-distance=8
simulation-distance=6
enable-query=true
enable-rcon=false
sync-chunk-writes=true
allow-flight=false

Every setting is explained in server.properties. pvp=true is fine because claims can switch PvP off inside them.

Choose terrain and pre-generate the world

Terrain is the first thing players notice and the one thing you can't change later without a new world. Terrain datapacks only affect chunks generated after they're installed, so this comes before anything else touches the world.

1. Pick the terrain. Popular, maintained choices that run on Paper as datapacks:
   • Terralith for almost 100 new biomes, vanilla blocks only.
   • Tectonic for huge mountains and valleys. To combine it with Terralith, use Terratonic, not both separately.
   • Incendium (Nether) and Nullscape (End).
   • Iris is a full world engine plugin, but it's paid and very heavy to generate.
2. Delete the test world, put the datapacks in world/datapacks/ (or install them from the CurseForge page, which puts them there), set level-seed, then start and check datapack list.
3. Set the border to fit your community (radius 5,000 suits 10–40 players): worldborder center 0 0, worldborder set 10000.
4. Install Chunky and pre-generate overnight with the server empty: chunky world world, chunky worldborder, chunky start. Then the Nether (radius ÷ 8) and the End.
5. Far views: if players use Distant Horizons or Voxy, use Chunksmith instead of Chunky to build their far-view data in the same pass. It needs an extra port; ask us.

Each of these is walked through in full, with border maths, disk and time estimates, in Better pre-generated worlds. Do that guide now, then come back.

Create the databases

LuckPerms, CoreProtect and the economy store a lot of data. On a busy SMP, CoreProtect alone writes millions of rows; a MariaDB database stays fast where its built-in file slows down.

On Databases, create one database per plugin (the panel adds your server's prefix):

Click the eye on each to copy the host, username and password. The full steps and the exact config for LuckPerms and CoreProtect are in Databases. Connect each plugin as you install it in the next step.

Install the plugin stack

Install from Minecraft Plugins (one click from Modrinth), Plugins (CurseForge and Modrinth) or by uploading the jar to plugins/ on Files. Install plugins

The stack, and why each one

"Paid" means the plugin is sold on SpigotMC or a similar store, even where its source code is public. Everything else in the table is free.

Install order

Install, restart and check the console after each line:

1. LuckPerms (connect the database first time), then Vault or VaultUnlocked.
2. EssentialsX, EssentialsX Chat.
3. CoreProtect (connect the database).
4. FastAsyncWorldEdit (for staff and WorldGuard), WorldGuard.
5. GriefPrevention.
6. QuickShop-Hikari.
7. AuraSkills (and Jobs Reborn + CMILib if you use it).
8. PlaceholderAPI, TAB.
9. Grim.
10. Floodgate, Geyser.
11. Simple Voice Chat.
12. DiscordSRV.
13. BlueMap.
14. LibertyBans, OpenInv.

After the last one, run plugins in the console. Every name should be green. A red name failed to load; scroll up in the console to see why (usually a version mismatch or a missing dependency).

Design ranks with LuckPerms

Good rank design means you never use op for anyone but the owner, and every permission has one obvious home.

The design

• Inheritance: member → default; trusted → member; helper → trusted; mod → helper; admin → mod. Each group only adds what's new.
• VIP is an extra parent, not a step on the ladder, so a trusted player who supports you keeps trusted and also gets vip. Its weight (30) puts its prefix above trusted but below staff.
• Weights decide which group wins when two disagree, and order the prefixes.

Create the groups

Run these in the Console (in-game, put / in front):

lp creategroup member
lp creategroup trusted
lp creategroup vip
lp creategroup helper
lp creategroup mod
lp creategroup admin

lp group member parent add default
lp group trusted parent add member
lp group vip parent add default
lp group helper parent add trusted
lp group mod parent add helper
lp group admin parent add mod

lp group default setweight 0
lp group member setweight 10
lp group trusted setweight 20
lp group vip setweight 30
lp group helper setweight 50
lp group mod setweight 70
lp group admin setweight 100

lp group member meta setprefix 10 "&7[Member] "
lp group trusted meta setprefix 20 "&a[Trusted] "
lp group vip meta setprefix 30 "&6[VIP] "
lp group helper meta setprefix 50 "&b[Helper] "
lp group mod meta setprefix 70 "&9[Mod] "
lp group admin meta setprefix 100 "&c[Admin] "

lp createtrack players
lp track players append default
lp track players append member
lp track players append trusted

lp createtrack staff
lp track staff append helper
lp track staff append mod
lp track staff append admin

Check with lp listgroups and lp listtracks.

Permissions for each group

EssentialsX permissions are essentials.<command>. Grant only what each rank needs.

default

lp group default permission set essentials.spawn true
lp group default permission set essentials.rules true
lp group default permission set essentials.helpop true
lp group default permission set essentials.list true
lp group default permission set essentials.motd true
lp group default permission set essentials.msg true
lp group default permission set essentials.r true
lp group default permission set essentials.mail true
lp group default permission set essentials.mail.send true
lp group default permission set essentials.ignore true
lp group default permission set essentials.afk true
lp group default permission set essentials.home true
lp group default permission set essentials.sethome true
lp group default permission set essentials.delhome true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpa true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpaccept true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpdeny true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpr true
lp group default permission set essentials.balance true
lp group default permission set essentials.pay true
lp group default permission set essentials.baltop true
lp group default permission set essentials.kit true
lp group default permission set essentials.kits.starter true
lp group default permission set griefprevention.claims true
lp group default permission set griefprevention.createclaims true
lp group default permission set quickshop.player true

member

lp group member permission set essentials.sethome.multiple true
lp group member permission set essentials.back true
lp group member permission set essentials.back.ondeath true
lp group member permission set essentials.warp true
lp group member permission set essentials.warp.list true
lp group member permission set essentials.nick true

trusted

lp group trusted permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.trusted true
lp group trusted permission set essentials.hat true
lp group trusted permission set essentials.workbench true
lp group trusted permission set essentials.kits.trusted true

vip

lp group vip permission set essentials.sethome.multiple true
lp group vip permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.vip true
lp group vip permission set essentials.chat.color true
lp group vip permission set essentials.kits.vip true

helper

lp group helper permission set essentials.mute true
lp group helper permission set essentials.kick true
lp group helper permission set essentials.seen true
lp group helper permission set essentials.socialspy true
lp group helper permission set coreprotect.inspect true
lp group helper permission set coreprotect.lookup true
lp group helper permission set griefprevention.claimslistother true
lp group helper permission set grim.alerts true

mod

lp group mod permission set essentials.tempban true
lp group mod permission set essentials.ban true
lp group mod permission set essentials.unban true
lp group mod permission set essentials.vanish true
lp group mod permission set essentials.tp true
lp group mod permission set essentials.tphere true
lp group mod permission set essentials.invsee true
lp group mod permission set essentials.fly true
lp group mod permission set coreprotect.rollback true
lp group mod permission set coreprotect.restore true
lp group mod permission set coreprotect.teleport true
lp group mod permission set griefprevention.ignoreclaims true
lp group mod permission set griefprevention.deleteclaims true
lp group mod permission set griefprevention.transferclaim true

admin

lp group admin permission set * true

If you use LibertyBans instead of EssentialsX for bans, give staff its permissions instead (they're listed on its wiki), and don't give both plugins' ban commands, or staff will use two different ban lists.

Promoting players

Testing and troubleshooting ranks

• Test from a normal account. Staff with * never notice missing permissions.
• lp verbose on, have the player run the command, then lp verbose off: LuckPerms prints every permission checked and whether it passed.
• lp editor gives a link to a web editor for bulk changes.
• Back up ranks with lp export ranks-backup before big changes.

Set up EssentialsX

Open plugins/Essentials/config.yml with the server stopped.

Homes per rank

sethome-multiple:
  default: 2
  trusted: 4
  vip: 6

Players without essentials.sethome.multiple get one home. With it, they get the default number (2). With essentials.sethome.multiple.trusted as well, 4; with .vip, 6.

Teleport rules

teleport-cooldown: 30
teleport-delay: 3
tpa-accept-cancellation: 120

A short delay stops players teleporting out of fights; the cooldown stops spam.

Chat format with rank prefixes

Install EssentialsX Chat (same download as EssentialsX), then in config.yml:

chat:
  format: '{DISPLAYNAME}&7: &r{MESSAGE}'

{DISPLAYNAME} already includes the LuckPerms prefix (EssentialsX reads it through Vault).

Spawn, warps and random teleport

1. Build your spawn, stand in the middle and run /setspawn. Players join and respawn there.
2. /setwarp shops at the market, /setwarp nether at a Nether hub and so on.
3. Random teleport (/tpr) spreads new players out. Set its range from the spawn with /settpr center, /settpr minrange 500 and /settpr maxrange 4500, kept inside your border.

Starter kit

Hold the items you want in your inventory and run /createkit starter 86400 (once a day). Players get it with /kit starter. Create trusted and vip kits the same way.

Land claims with GriefPrevention

Players claim land with a golden shovel: right-click one corner, then the opposite corner. A stick shows claims nearby. They earn claim blocks by playing.

Player commands to put on your rules board

Configure it

Stop the server and open plugins/GriefPreventionData/config.yml. The keys sit under GriefPrevention: → Claims::

GriefPrevention:
  Claims:
    InitialBlocks: 1000
    BlocksAccruedPerHour: 100
    MaxAccruedBlocks: 80000
    MinimumWidth: 5
    MinimumArea: 100
    AutomaticNewPlayerClaimsRadius: 4
    Expiration:
      ChestClaimDays: 7
      AllClaims:
        DaysInactive: 60

Claims mode is set per world with GriefPrevention.Claims.Mode.<world name> (Survival for normal worlds). Check the generated file for your world names.

Staff commands

Protect spawn with WorldGuard instead: select it with the FAWE wand (//wand), then rg define spawn and rg flag spawn pvp deny.

Economy and player shops

Money

EssentialsX's economy is enough for most SMPs. Set it in plugins/Essentials/config.yml:

starting-balance: 100
currency-symbol: '$'

Check it works: /balance shows the starting balance, and /eco give Steve 50 (admin) adds money.

Where money comes from matters more than any setting. Pick one or two sources and keep them small:

• Jobs Reborn: players earn for mining, farming, building and so on. Lower its payouts in its config if prices inflate.
• Selling to the server: a small admin shop at spawn buying common items sets a price floor.
• Voting rewards and events.

Where money goes (sinks) stops inflation: claim block purchases, cosmetic shops, server-run auctions, taxes on shops.

Player shops with QuickShop-Hikari

1. Players place a chest, hold the item they want to sell, and left-click the chest.
2. They type the price in chat. A sign appears on the chest.
3. Buyers click the shop and type how many they want.

The quickshop.player permission (given to default in step 7) covers everything players need. Build a market district at spawn, protect it with an admin claim, and let players rent stalls.

Progression: skills and jobs

AuraSkills gives players skills (farming, mining, fighting and more) that level as they play, with stats and abilities. It works out of the box; check /skills in-game.

• Keep one skills plugin. AuraSkills and mcMMO overlap and fight over the same actions.
• mcMMO is the classic, but it's paid on SpigotMC.
• Jobs Reborn is different: it pays money for work rather than giving abilities, so it runs fine alongside AuraSkills.
• Show skills in the tab list or scoreboard with PlaceholderAPI placeholders.

Grief logging with CoreProtect

CoreProtect records every block placed and broken, every container change and chat. It's how you undo griefing without a full restore.

Connect it to the coreprotect database (Databases), then learn these:

Always #preview first, and always give a radius or a world (r:#world) unless you mean everything.

Anti-xray (built into Paper)

Paper hides ores from x-ray clients itself. It's off by default. Turn it on in config/paper-world-defaults.yml under anticheat.anti-xray, with the server stopped.

Engine modes

Overworld (modes 2 and 3)

Paper's recommended values:

anticheat:
  anti-xray:
    enabled: true
    engine-mode: 2
    max-block-height: 64
    update-radius: 2
    lava-obscures: false
    use-permission: false
    hidden-blocks:
      - air
      - copper_ore
      - deepslate_copper_ore
      - raw_copper_block
      - diamond_ore
      - deepslate_diamond_ore
      - gold_ore
      - deepslate_gold_ore
      - iron_ore
      - deepslate_iron_ore
      - raw_iron_block
      - lapis_ore
      - deepslate_lapis_ore
      - redstone_ore
      - deepslate_redstone_ore
    replacement-blocks:
      - chest
      - amethyst_block
      - andesite
      - budding_amethyst
      - calcite
      - coal_ore
      - deepslate_coal_ore
      - deepslate
      - diorite
      - dirt
      - emerald_ore
      - deepslate_emerald_ore
      - granite
      - gravel
      - oak_planks
      - smooth_basalt
      - stone
      - tuff

• air in hidden-blocks also hides ores exposed to air in caves. Paper notes it can drop FPS for some players; remove it if people complain.
• Chests can't go in hidden-blocks in mode 2 (they're block entities), which is why Paper puts chest in replacement-blocks.
• max-block-height is rounded to a multiple of 16. Some ores generate higher than 64 since 1.18; raise it if you like, at some CPU cost.
• use-permission: true lets ops and players with paper.antixray.bypass see real ores. Leave it false.

Nether and End

Each dimension has its own paper-world.yml: on Minecraft before 26.1, world_nether/paper-world.yml and world_the_end/paper-world.yml; on 26.1 and newer, world/dimensions/minecraft/the_nether/paper-world.yml and .../the_end/paper-world.yml. Put only the changed keys there. For the Nether:

anticheat:
  anti-xray:
    enabled: true
    engine-mode: 2
    max-block-height: 128
    hidden-blocks:
      - air
      - ancient_debris
      - bone_block
      - glowstone
      - magma_block
      - nether_bricks
      - nether_gold_ore
      - nether_quartz_ore
      - polished_blackstone_bricks
    replacement-blocks:
      - basalt
      - blackstone
      - gravel
      - netherrack
      - soul_sand
      - soul_soil

For the End, Paper's guide simply sets enabled: false.

Restart (not /reload) to apply. To check, ask a friend with an x-ray resource pack to look underground, or look yourself from a test account in spectator mode: you should see scattered fake ores.

Leave the exploit fixes alone

config/paper-global.yml has an unsupported-settings section that can re-enable headless pistons, permanent block breaking, piston duplication (TNT, carpets, rails) and unsafe End portal teleportation. Paper doesn't support them and may remove them. Leave every one at its default on an SMP. Duplication glitches wreck economies overnight.

Anti-cheat with Grim

Paper already stops many cheats (flying kicks, packet spam limits). Grim adds a full movement simulation that catches speed, fly, reach, timer and more.

1. Install Grim (Grim Anticheat on Minecraft Plugins) and restart.
2. Put Floodgate on the same server (it is, from step 6), so Grim can exempt Bedrock players. Put ViaVersion on this server too if you use it.
3. Staff with grim.alerts see alerts; toggle them with /grim alerts.
4. Watch for a week before you punish. Lag, Elytra edge cases and some plugins cause false flags. Grim's config is in plugins/GrimAC/; its wiki explains each check.

Treat anti-cheat alerts as a reason to watch a player (vanish and spectate), not as proof. Back decisions with CoreProtect logs and recordings.

Performance configuration

Make these changes with the server stopped. Each file is on Files. Change one file at a time and run the server for a day before the next, so you can tell what helped.

config/paper-world-defaults.yml

chunks:
  max-auto-save-chunks-per-tick: 8
  prevent-moving-into-unloaded-chunks: true
  entity-per-chunk-save-limit:
    arrow: 16
    experience_orb: 16
    snowball: 8
    ender_pearl: 8
    egg: 8
    fireball: 8
    small_fireball: 8
collisions:
  max-entity-collisions: 2
entities:
  armor-stands:
    do-collision-entity-lookups: false
environment:
  optimize-explosions: true
fixes:
  fix-items-merging-through-walls: true
misc:
  redstone-implementation: ALTERNATE_CURRENT
tick-rates:
  grass-spread: 4
  mob-spawner: 2
  behavior:
    villager:
      validatenearbypoi: 60
  sensor:
    villager:
      secondarypoisensor: 80

Optional: hopper.disable-move-event: true makes hoppers much cheaper, but claims and shop plugins use that event to stop hoppers stealing from protected chests. Leave it false on an SMP with claims.

spigot.yml

Under world-settings: → default::

world-settings:
  default:
    view-distance: default
    nerf-spawner-mobs: true
    entity-activation-range:
      animals: 16
      monsters: 24
      raiders: 48
      misc: 8
      water: 8
      villagers: 16
      flying-monsters: 48

• view-distance: default lets server.properties control it. A number here silently overrides it.
• nerf-spawner-mobs: true gives mobs from spawners no AI. They still drop loot and get pushed by water, so mob grinders keep working, but they cost far less.
• entity-activation-range is how close a player must be for mobs to run their full AI. Lower values save CPU; mobs farther away tick less.

bukkit.yml

spawn-limits:
  monsters: 50
  animals: 8
  water-animals: 3
  water-ambient: 3
  water-underground-creature: 3
  axolotls: 3
  ambient: 3

These are per-player mob caps (Paper counts them per player by default). The defaults (70 monsters, 10 animals) are fine for small servers; lower them as you grow.

purpur.yml (Purpur only)

Purpur adds hundreds of toggles in purpur.yml. A useful one for SMPs: world-settings → default → mobs → villager → lobotomize → enabled: true. Villagers locked in trading cells stop running pathfinding but still trade. Purpur's documentation lists every option; with nothing changed, Purpur plays like Paper.

Check it worked

Restart, play for an hour with players on, then run spark profiler start, wait 5 minutes, spark profiler stop, and open the link. spark tps should show close to 20 and MSPT under 50. Fix lag

Bedrock crossplay, voice chat and Discord

Bedrock (Geyser + Floodgate)

The full walkthrough is in Let Bedrock players join. The short version for one server:

1. With Geyser and Floodgate installed, start once and stop.
2. In plugins/Geyser-Spigot/config.yml, set bedrock.clone-remote-port: true (Bedrock players use your Java port) and remote.auth-type: floodgate.
3. Start. Bedrock players add your address and port under Servers.
4. Bedrock names start with .. Whitelist them with fwhitelist add PlayerName, and use .PlayerName in LuckPerms commands.

Voice chat (Simple Voice Chat)

Voice uses its own UDP port, which must be allocated to your server. The full steps are in Set up Simple Voice Chat:

1. Ask us for an extra port; it appears on Network.
2. In plugins/voicechat/voicechat-server.properties, set port= to that number.
3. Restart. Players with the mod press V to check it's connected.

Bedrock players can't use Simple Voice Chat; tell them so in your FAQ.

Discord (DiscordSRV)

1. Create a bot in the Discord Developer Portal, copy its token, turn on the Server Members and Message Content intents, and invite it to your Discord server.

2. Turn on Developer Mode in Discord, then right-click your chat channel and console channel to copy their IDs.

3. In plugins/DiscordSRV/config.yml:

   BotToken: "your-bot-token"
   Channels: {"global": "123456789012345678"}
   DiscordConsoleChannelId: "234567890123456789"
   

4. Restart. Chat now flows both ways.

Live web map

A web map lets players plan journeys and show off builds. It needs its own TCP port: ask us for one, and it appears on Network.

BlueMap (3D):

1. Install BlueMap, start once, stop.
2. In plugins/BlueMap/core.conf, set accept-download: true. BlueMap downloads Minecraft's client resources to draw textures, and this setting is you agreeing to that.
3. In plugins/BlueMap/webserver.conf, set port: to your extra port (default is 8100).
4. Start. Open http://gameprod1.crashcrafts.com:<port> in a browser.

squaremap (2D, lightest): set settings.internal-webserver.port in plugins/squaremap/config.yml. Dynmap: set webserver-port in plugins/dynmap/configuration.txt. Check Dynmap supports your Minecraft version first; it often lags behind.

Render the whole map once, overnight, after pre-generation. To hide the Nether or areas around bases, every map plugin can disable worlds and add hidden regions; see its docs.

Whitelist and applications

A whitelisted SMP with a short application gets better players and far less griefing.

1. Keep white-list=true (from step 3).
2. Applications: a Discord channel with a form or a pinned template is enough. Ask for their Minecraft name, age range, how they found you, what they like to build, and that they've read the rules.
3. Approve: a helper runs whitelist add Name (Java) or fwhitelist add Name (Bedrock) and welcomes them.
4. Link accounts (optional): DiscordSRV's plugins/DiscordSRV/linking.yml has a Require linked account to play option, so only players who linked their Discord can join. Easy bans and contact across both.
5. Promote from default to member after a few hours of good play: lp user Name promote players.

Write your rules once, short and specific (no griefing, no stealing in or out of claims, no x-ray or hacked clients, no lag machines, be kind in chat), and show them with /rules (edit plugins/Essentials/rules.txt).

Staff tools and moderation workflow

Tools

Workflow

1. Report comes in (Discord ticket, /helpop or in-game).
2. Investigate: a helper checks CoreProtect, chat logs and alerts. Screenshot or copy the evidence into a staff channel.
3. Act with a published ladder: warning → mute (1 hour) → temporary ban (1–7 days) → permanent ban. Severe cases (x-ray, hacked clients, big griefs) can skip steps.
4. Repair: roll back the damage with CoreProtect and return stolen items.
5. Record: note what happened, who acted and why in a staff log channel.
6. Appeals: one channel or form, reviewed by someone who didn't make the ban.

Give staff the smallest rank that does their job, and review the staff list monthly.

Backups on a schedule and off-site

A backup only helps if it exists, is recent, and restores. Backup schedules has every screen; here's the SMP plan.

Panel backups

1. Schedules → Create Schedule, name Backup every 6 hours, Minute 0, Hour */6, Only when Server is Online? off.
2. Tasks: Send Command save-all, then Create Backup with Time Offset 10 seconds. In Ignored Files, add logs, cache and crash-reports, and BlueMap's render folder (bluemap) if you have one, since it can be rebuilt.
3. Run now once, then check Backups: it should appear and turn Successful.

With 4 unlocked slots and a backup every 6 hours, you can go back 24 hours. Keep at least one slot unlocked, or scheduled backups fail.

Locked and off-site copies

• Lock a backup before every update and at each milestone (launch day, season start).
• Download a backup weekly to your own computer or cloud storage. Backups live on our servers; deleting the server deletes them too.
• Databases aren't in panel backups. Export LuckPerms with lp export weekly (it writes a file in plugins/LuckPerms/, which the next backup picks up), and ask us for database dumps of CoreProtect and the economy before big changes.
• Test a restore once, on a quiet evening, so you know the process works before you need it.

Restart schedule

A daily restart clears memory, applies plugin updates waiting in plugins/update/, and keeps the server snappy.

On Schedules, create Daily restart with Only when Server is Online? on, timed 10 minutes after a backup. For a backup at 08:00 UTC (4:00 am EDT), restart at Minute 10, Hour 8. Tasks:

Times are UTC; see cron times. Busy servers sometimes restart twice a day.

Test, then launch

Run through this as a normal player, not staff:

1. Join from a non-staff account (and a Bedrock device if you use Geyser).
2. Check /spawn, /sethome, /home, /tpa, /tpr, /kit starter, /balance, /rules.
3. Claim land with a golden shovel; have a friend try to break blocks there.
4. Create a shop, and buy from it on another account.
5. Check skills level up (/skills).
6. Talk on voice chat; check Discord chat both ways; open the web map.
7. Ask a friend with x-ray to look underground (or check in spectator yourself).
8. Run spark profiler for 5 minutes with a few people on. Fix anything that stands out.
9. Make a locked backup called Launch day.