How to Make a Minecraft Server on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Minecraft is one of the most-played games in the world, and running your own server gives you full control: invite friends, install mods, set your own rules. It’s less complicated than it sounds — you mainly need a bit of command-line comfort and a server (or a spare Windows/Linux/macOS machine) to run it on. Here’s how to set one up on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Linux (Ubuntu or CentOS)

You’ll need root SSH access to your server (check your KwikServer welcome email or client area for credentials), and at minimum Ubuntu 16.04 or CentOS 7.

1. Install Java and Screen

Connect over SSH, then check whether Java is already installed:

java -version

If it’s missing, install it:

# Ubuntu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install default-jdk

# CentOS
sudo yum update
sudo yum install java -y

Then install Screen, which will let the server keep running after you disconnect:

# Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install screen

# CentOS
sudo yum install screen -y

2. Download and Run the Server

Create a dedicated folder and move into it:

mkdir minecraft
cd minecraft

Install wget if you don’t already have it, then download the server jar (check Minecraft’s official download page for the current version link):

wget https://launcher.mojang.com/path/to/server.jar

Run it once to generate the EULA file (drop nogui if you want the graphical console):

java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui

Open eula.txt and change eula=false to eula=true, then save. Start a detachable Screen session so the server survives after you log out:

screen -S minecraft-server
java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui

1024M is the minimum recommended RAM allocation — bump it up to 2048M or higher if your plan has the headroom. To detach from Screen without stopping the server, press Ctrl+A then D; to reattach later, run screen -r. Server settings live in server.properties if you need to tweak them, though the defaults work well for most setups.

Windows

1. Check your Java version with java -version in Command Prompt; install or update it from the official Java site if needed.
2. Download the server .jar file and place it in its own folder.
3. Double-click the jar once to generate eula.txt, then edit it to set eula=true.
4. Run the server by double-clicking the jar, or from Command Prompt: java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui. You may need to allow it through Windows Firewall.

macOS

Recent macOS versions include Java by default (check with java -version).

1. Create a folder for the server and drop the downloaded jar into it.
2. In TextEdit, switch to plain text mode (Format → Make Plain Text) and paste:

#!/bin/bash
cd "$(dirname "$0")"
exec java -Xms1024M -Xmx1024M -jar server.jar nogui

3. Save it as startmc.command in the same folder as the server jar.
4. Make it executable: chmod a+x startmc.command
5. Double-click startmc.command to launch the server in a new terminal window. A one-time “missing file” warning on first launch is normal.

Whichever platform you use, a private server built on real dedicated resources will feel noticeably smoother than one squeezed onto a shared home connection. KwikServer’s Linux VPS and Windows VPS plans both work well for hosting a Minecraft server.