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.



I have mine running for quite some while now and have not had to face any problems. It is important to know that this server won't be able hold many people.



From my experience, anything over five people and the server will start to get a bit wonky. I found the optimal amount of people is only two to three, but this can be improved upon by tweaking the server.



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



We will be using Java that should already exist on the Raspberry Pi (if Raspbian is the full version).



We will make a few adjustments to optimize your Raspberry Pi 2, 3 or 4 server. We will also set it up so you can access it on the web and reboot if the Pi goes offline for any reason.



Equipment



Below is the equipment that I used to create this Raspberry Pi Minecraft server.



Recommendation



Raspberry Pi Micro SD card Ethernet Cable or Wi Fi (I recommend an ethernet to get the best network performance).


Power Supply


Optional



USB Keyboard


USB Mouse


HDMI Cable


Raspberry Pi Case


Video Tutorial



Check out my video below if you want to learn how to set it up. A detailed text explanation is available below the video.



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Setup 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 walk through all the steps required.



Important: You will need to be on the latest versions of Raspbian Buster. If Java isn't installed, then this will cause the server not to work. I recommend that you update to Jessie or Stretch, or Buster.



In this tutorial, we will work entirely in the terminal. It is probably best to boot straight into the terminal in order to save memory and avoid loading the GUI.



1. Let's start by bringing Raspbian up to date. Enter the following.



2. We will now need to make some changes to the config tool. Let's bring the tool up by entering the following line.



For more information about raspi-config, please see our guide.



3. Let's start by going to Advanced Options->Memory Split. Change this to 16. This will allow for more memory to be free for the server.



4. Also, you don’t wish to boot into Raspbian desktop. Make sure the boot option has been set to the CLI. This will increase the server's processing power.



5. If possible, increase the speed of your overclocking.



6. If you don't have SSH enabled already, make sure to enable it.



7. Now go to finish and reboot.



8. We will now need the IP Address of our Pi in order to connect with our server. To get the Raspberry Pi IP address, enter the hostname command.



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



8. Next, we must ensure that Java and Git are installed. We will not be able build or launch the server without Java and Git.



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 accomplish this, we'll use the Spigot builders tool.



10. We will now need to run build tools. It creates 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 A+, B, or any other variation of the Raspberry Pi 2, then the build tool will likely fail. You will need to instead generate the spigot.jar on a more powerful computer.



11. To check if the Spigot server has been successfully downloaded, use ls.



As we want all server files to be created here, make sure you are still in the folder /home/pi/minecraft. If you start the server under a different folder, it will create all the files there.



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



Raspberry Pi 1



Raspberry Pi 2, 3, and 4



The Raspberry Pi 4 2GB and 4GB variants allow you to increase the Xmx values even further.



The server will automatically stop because we must 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. minecraft servers If you ever reboot again, it will only take thirty seconds to load if the map has already been created.



15. The server should now be available on the local network and running.



16. Modifying your user is a good idea. This will allow you to use all server commands when you log into the server. Accessing the server's backend can be a little more difficult if the system is set to autoboot at startup.



When the server launches, run the following command: Replace your username with the following command.



17. The Raspberry Pi's Minecraft server should now be running smoothly. But, it is possible to optimize the server for even better performance.



Connecting to Minecraft Server



If you're connected to your local network, it should not be difficult to connect to the Minecraft server that runs on the Raspberry pi. The following steps will allow you to test 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, you can go to direct connection and enter the IP address we have previously obtained on the Pi by using the command hostname --I.



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



If you're interested in this tutorial, check out my guide to setting up 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



We will need to install a plugin in order to get the best performance from our Minecraft server on Raspberry Pi.



Let's first install NoSpawnChunks, which will help to stop the Minecraft server from eating up too much RAM.



There are many plugins available that can improve the performance of the servers or extend their functionality. Simply use the wget command and download them to the Pi, just like we did.



Editing the Minecraft Properties



You probably want to learn how to modify the server properties. This ability to edit is very important for optimizing the server and customizing it to how you want the server to be.



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



To enter the server properties, enter the following line.



We will now change a few settings in order to optimize the server's performance.



These and other settings can be modified however you'd like. However, the Pi cannot process too much.



Startup Bootcamp



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



1. We will need the service file to be created for Minecraft server. Enter the command below to get started.



2. The following text will be required to be entered into this file.



This file defines the services, so the service manager understands how and what to run. You should also update the spigot version every time you upgrade.



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



3. Now, we must enable the service. You can enable the service by running the command below.



4. The following command will allow you to begin the Minecraft server.



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



5. You can stop the server by using the following command.



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



If you need to access the server from the command line you will need the following steps: Shut down the server, and then load it using normal commands.



I hope this tutorial helped you set up a stable Raspberry pi Minecraft server. If you liked this tutorial, please check out 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://minecraftservers.pw/