Notes

Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server

A Raspberry Pi Minecraft server is a cost-effective way to have your very own private server with your friends or just for stuffing around on.



Mine has been up for a while and I haven't had any issues. It is important that you know that this server is not capable of hosting many people.



Based on my experience, if you have more than five people, your server will get a little wonky. The best number of people I have found is between two and three. But, you can tweak the server to make it more efficient.



We are also going to be using the spigot version of Minecraft as the default install didn't work for me. I found that it will crash a lot, be laggy, and is very unstable. The official Java version will likely improve over time.



In this project, we will utilize Java that should already be installed on the Raspberry Pi (If you're using the full version of Raspbian).



We will make a few changes to optimize the server for the Raspberry Pi 2, 3, or 4 if you have one. We will also set it all up so that you can access it online and reboot it if it goes offline.



Equipment



Below you will find the equipment I used in making this Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server.



Recommended



Raspberry Pi Micro SD Card Ethernet Cable, or Wi-Fi


Power Supply


Optional



USB Keyboard


USB Mouse


HDMI Cable


Raspberry Pi Case


Video Tutorial



If you want to see how to setup the server, then check out my video below. If you don't have the video, I provide a detailed text explanation below.



If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe or follow us socially to keep up with what's happening.



Installing the Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server



Firstly, we will need to install Raspbian onto the Raspberry Pi. If you haven't already done this, then check out my awesome guide on installing NOOBs Raspberry Pi. It will take you through all the steps that you will need to do.



Important: You will need to be on the latest versions of Raspbian Buster. If Java is not installed then this will result in the server not working. I recommend that you update to Jessie or Stretch, or Buster.



We will be working entirely in the terminal during this tutorial. It is probably best to boot straight into the terminal in order to save memory and avoid loading the GUI.



1. First, let's get Raspbian updated to the latest version. Enter the following.



2. We'll need to make a few changes in the configuration tool. Let's get the tool up by entering this line.



Our guide contains more information about the raspi-config tool.



3. First, go to Advanced Options->Memory Split. Update this to 16. This will make the server have more memory.



4. Also, you don't want to boot into the Raspbian desktop, so ensure the boot option is set to the CLI (Command Line Interface) instead. This will give your server the best possible processing power.



5. If possible, switch to High overclocking



6. Finally, also enable SSH so we can access the Pi remotely if required (Unless you already have it enabled).



7. Now, go to the end and reboot.



8. For when we connect to our server, we will need the IP address for our Pi. Enter the hostname command for the Raspberry Pi IP Address.



A static IP address is a way to make sure that your IP address does not change.



8. Next, we need to make sure that Java and Git is installed. We won't be able launch or build the server if we don't.



Enter the following command in order to install the default JDK packages for Raspbian and the Git software.



9. Now we need the Minecraft server files. To do this, we will use the Spigot builder tool.



10. Now we need to run the file build tools, so it creates our Spigot Server. It will take around 15-30 minutes.



Add --rev 1.14.4 to the end of the command to get the latest version. Change 1.14.4 in your command to the most recent version number.



Important: If you have a Raspberry Pi B+, B or any variation before the Raspberry Pi 2, then the build tools will likely fail. Instead, you will need to generate the spigot.jar using a faster computer.



11. To ensure that Spigot has been successfully downloaded and saved, simply type ls.



Make sure you remain in the /home/pi/minecraft folder as we want all the server files to be created in here. You can't start the server from a different folder. It will create the files there.



12. Now we're ready to launch the server, to do this enter the following command. (Depending on your version, you may have to change the version number. spigot-1.14.4.jar)



Raspberry Pi 1



Raspberry Pi 2, 3 or 4



You can increase your Xmx value by purchasing the Raspberry Pi 4 in 2GB or 4GB variants.



The server will be stopped immediately as we have to agree to the Eula. This can be done by entering the following command into the Eula.



13. Change false to TRUE in this section. Save and exit by pressing CTRL+X, then Y.



14. Relaunch the server. It may take a while for a map to be created so allow it to run for three to five more minutes. If the map was already created, it'll only take thirty seconds to load.



15. Minecraft-servers.cc Now, the server should be up and available over the local network.



16. You might want to modify your user now in order to be able to use all the server commands once you log in. If we have it auto-boot on startup, accessing the server backend is slightly more difficult.



To mod your user, simply run the following command when the server has launched (Replacing username with your username).



17. The Raspberry Pi's Minecraft Server will now be operational. You may need to optimize it to make it run better.



Connecting to the Minecraft server



If you are connected to a local network, it should be easy to connect to the Minecraft server on the Raspberry Pi. These are the steps to verify it.



Load the Minecraft Java Client on a computer connected to the Pi.



Go to multiplayer, and your server might appear in the list. If it doesn't simply go to direct connect and enter the IP we got earlier on the Pi using the command hostname -I.



Port forwarding is necessary if you wish to allow access to Minecraft servers via the internet.



If you are interested in how to do it, then check out my guide on Raspberry Pi Port Forwarding. Port forwarding port 25565 to your Pi is required, unless you change it in server properties.



Here are a few tips for configuring the server and getting it up and running.



Optimizing the Minecraft Server



Now to get the most out of our Minecraft server on the Raspberry Pi, we will want to install a plugin to help optimize the performance.



Install the NoSpawnChunks plugin first. This will prevent the Minecraft server's RAM from being too full.



You can also download other plugins that will improve performance or extend server functionality. Just use the wget command as we did above to download them to your Pi.



Editing the Minecraft Properties



You probably want to learn how to modify the server properties. This ability is vital for optimizing the server, customizing it to your liking, and ensuring that it runs smoothly.



You can find more information about each server setting on this page.



The following line will allow you to enter the server properties.



Here are some settings that can be changed to improve the performance of the server.



These settings can be changed however you wish, but the Pi cannot handle too much processing.



Startup Boot Camp



There are a few more steps that we need to take in order for the server to begin on boot.



1. We will need a service to run Minecraft. Let's begin writing the service file below by entering the command.



2. You will need to enter the text below into this file.



This file defines the services, so the service manager understands how and what to run. When you upgrade, don't forget about updating the spigot version number.



Once you're done, save the file using CTRL + X followed by Y and ENTER.



3. Now we need to enable this service. You can enable this service by running the following command.



4. You should now be able to start the Minecraft server by simply using the following command.



5. You can check the status of the service by using a similar command. This is a great way to debug.



5. The following command can be used to stop the server.



Now your server should be ready to go. It is possible to test it by restarting your Raspberry Pi. It will take a while to start.



If you want to get access to the server on the command line, then you will need to shutdown the server and load it using the normal command.



I hope this tutorial helped you set up a stable Raspberry pi Minecraft server. If you liked this tutorial then please visit our other Raspberry Pi Projects.


Also, feel free to drop us a comment below if you have better optimization settings, plugins, or ideas. Let us know if you have any problems.


My Website: https://minecraft-servers.cc/