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Types of server:

1 Make a vanilla server

Very simple. Very little customisation or protection. Good for a very basic server for you and a couple of trusted friends who won't grief.


2 Make a Bukkit server

Only slightly harder to setup and manage. Allows you to use plugins, essentially allowing you to customise your server however you want: add new games, NPCs, economy, jobs, shops, grief protection, cheating protection etc




Vanilla Server:

1 Go to minecraft.net/download and download minecraft_server.exe

2 Double click 'minecraft_server.exe'. When you first run the server, it creates some server files. You may have to restart your server after you run it for the first time.


Better alternative method:

1 Go to minecraft.net/download and download minecraft_server.jar


2 Right click your desktop and make a new text document. Paste the following into the text document:





This starts your server with above normal priority. -Xincgc enables garbage collection so you only use memory you need (less memory usage). -Xmx1G sets the maximum RAM allocated to 1GB (change this if you need to).


Now rename your text document to 'run.bat'. If your text document doesn't end in .txt, do a Google search for 'enable file extensions'. That will change your 'text document' to 'text document.txt'. Then you can rename it to 'run.bat'



3 Make a new folder containing minecraft_server.jar and run.bat. Double click run.bat to start your server. When you first run the server, it creates some server files. You may have to restart your server after you run it for the first time.




Bukkit Server:

1 Go to bukkit.org/. For dev builds go here. In the top right you will see the latest 'recommended build' of Bukkit. Click on the latest recommmended build and then download 'craftbukkit-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar'. Rename it to 'craftbukkit.jar'.

2 Right click your desktop and make a new text document. Paste the following into the text document:





This starts your server with above normal priority. -Xincgc enables garbage collection so you only use memory you need (less memory usage). -Xmx1024M sets the maximum RAM allocated to 1GB, change this if you need to.


Now rename your text document to 'run.bat'. If your text document doesn't end in .txt, do a Google search for 'enable file extensions'. That will change your 'text document' to 'text document.txt'. Then you can rename it to 'run.bat'



3 Make a new folder containing craftbukkit.jar and run.bat. Double click run.bat to start your server. When you first run the server, it creates some server files. You may have to restart your server after you run it for the first time.

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Two options for connecting with people:
1 Port forward your router

This forwards internet traffic to you computer, allowing people to connect to you. Good speeds.

2 Use Hamachi to create a virtual LAN

Uses software to make it seem like you are connected to other people you are playing with. Bad speeds, limited by how fast hamachi allows you to transfer data to your players. Only Slightly easier to setup. Will be slower, will be laggy. Not recommended unless you pay for a hamachi premium account.




Port forward your router:

1 Find your local IP:

Method A

i) Press windows key+R . Alternatively click Start>Run.

ii) Type 'cmd' then press enter.

iii) In the command window, type 'ipconfig' then press enter

iv) Under Local Area Connection/Wireless Connection find your 'ipv4 address', something similar to: 192.168.0.???

Method B

i) In the taskbar (bottom-right) click on your network adapter that you use to connect to the internet (local area connection or wireless connection).

ii) For XP click on the support tab and look for 'ip address'. You are looking for something like 192.168.0.??? This is your ipv4 address.

iii) For Vista/Win 7, click open network centre and then 'view status' on the connection and then click 'details'. You are looking for something like 192.168.0.??? This is your ipv4 address.



2 Find your router brand and model number: check the instruction manual, the box, or the sticker on the back of your router. If you still cannot find it then google search for which router your isp supplied you with.

Examples: Netgear 'DG834' , Belkin 'F5D7010' , Edimax 'ZPh0-DX' etc



3 Go to portforward.com

i)Find and click on your router name and model.

ii)Click skip advertisement at top right

iii)Scroll down and select 'Minecraft server'

iv)Follow the step by step instructions. For 'local ip address', use the ipv4 address you have just found.

4 Google search: 'What is my ip?'. Give this IP to people who you want to join your server. Try to connect using this IP to check whether you portforwarded correctly.



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IF YOU CANNOT FIND YOUR ROUTER MODEL on portforward.com:

This is a very generalised list of how to port forward on a router:

1 Google search to find your router's homepage and default login/password. Probably something similar to: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 or 10.0.0.1 or 172.0.0.1 with user=admin and password=password

2 Find the 'Advanced settings' or 'Port forwarding' section in your router.

3 You now need to port forward:

Local IP= ipv4 address you found

Port= 25565

TCP/UDP= Must be both TCP and UDP. If you cannot select both TCP and UDP, then setup two port forwards, one for TCP and one for UDP.

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Use Hamachi to create a virtual LAN:

1 Go here and click on download now for 'unmanaged mode'.

2 Double click the installer, and install Hamachi.

3 Open Hamachi and click 'Create new network'.

4 Enter a name for your network, and then enter a password.

5 To get the server ip, simply hover your mouse over whoever is the owner of the hamachi network. Alternatively, right click their name and 'copy ipv4 address'.

6 After you have run your server for the first time, it will create a 'server.properties' file. Right click it and edit the file in notepad. Add your hamachi ip to 'server-ip='. Save it and then restart your server.

7 Give the network name and password to people who you want to play on your server.

If you have a blue 'relayed' connection with people on your server, they will experience a pretty large amount of lag. This can often be resolved by repeatedly powering off Hamachi and restarting Hamachi. The hoster and relayed player may have to do this many times before a proper non-relayed connection is established.

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Minecraft 1.8 and 1.9 have put even more stress on memory and processor usage. Now more than ever it is recommended to use 64-bit java. This will give you less lag and is essential for high resolution texture packs. 64-bit java also allows you to give more memory to java. If you are getting out of memory errors moving to 64-bit will help.



If you only have 32-bit java, the most memory you can allocate to java is 1GB. ZaphodX: You can allocate up to 1.5GB, but only 1GB will be used. Remember that even if you have 64-bit java installed, 32-bit java will run by default unless you have changed it.


1 Check if you have a 64bit operating system:

i) Click Start and right click 'Computer'/'My computer'

ii) Choose 'Properties' from the menu

iii) Under 'System' you should have 'x64 Edition' or '64-bit Operating System'



2 Install 64-bit java. I recommend java 6. Install java 7 at your own risk, I can not offer support if you choose to use java 7.

i) Go to http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp. Download 'Windows 7, XP Offline (64-bit)'.

ii) Double click the downloaded file and install 64bit java.



3 Change the default run path to the 64-bit version of java:

i)

For Windows XP:

Click Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced

For Windows Vista/7:
Click Start and right click 'Computer'
Choose 'Properties' from the menu
Click 'Advanced' or 'Advanced system settings'

ii) Click on Environment Variables.
iii) Under System Variables, scroll down, find 'Path' or 'PATH', and click on it.
iv) Click the Edit button and then scroll to the front of the edit window, and paste this:




(Use 'jre7' if you have java 7 installed)


v) Click OK->OK->OK



To verify you are using 64-bit java, open minecraft or your minecraft server. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open the task manager. Find java.exe and right-click it and select properties. If the location is 'C:\\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin;' then it is using the 64-bit version of java.