1. How to easily host a Minecraft server

2. Minecraft has many qualities that helped it become a
gaming phenomenon: ever-expanding environments to
explore, the freedom to craft complex machines from
simple parts, and devastating iron golems, just to name
a few. But one of my favorite things about Minecraft is
how easy it is to host your own server. With just a
Windows computer, a decent internet connection (with a
static IP), and a little know-how, anyone can create a
private world for a few friends to share. Here’s how to
get started.

3. Create your world
The Minecraft Server application relies on Java, so begin by
making sure you have the latest version of Java 7 installed
(32-bit or 64-bit, depending on your Windows version). Once
that’s done, download minecraft servers exe from
Minecraft.net and save it into a dedicated folder, like
C:MinecraftServer.
Go ahead and run the server application, which will bring up a
simple interface window. Don’t worry about any “missing file”
warnings, those are normal for the first run. Once the series
of “Preparing spawn area” messages is finished by a line that
says “Done,” type “stop” in the text field and press Enter.
Your new Minecraft world has been created! Now it’s time to
configure it.

5. Customize the server settings
In the directory where you saved Minecraft_Server.exe you
should see two files called “server,” one of which will be
listed as a PROPERTIES file when you hover over it.
Right click this file and choose Edit to open it in notepad.
You’ll see a list of server settings followed by an equals
sign and a value. By changing the values you can
configure a number of things about your new Minecraft
world. Fortunately, most of the default settings should be
fine, but there are a few that you should consider
altering.

6. The gamemode and difficulty options are fundamental for
deciding what kind of experience you want your players
to have. The default gamemode setting is 0, which
creates a survival server. In survival, players have to
gather their own resources, endure damage from
enemies, and contend with hunger — it’s what you
probably think of when you think about playing Minecraft.
Changing the setting to 1 enables creative mode, which
means that players take no damage and can fly around
placing and destroying blocks instantly. If all you want to
do is build, this is the mode for you.

7. If you decide to go the more traditional survival route, you
can configure the difficulty setting from 1 (Easy) to 3
(Hard) to make the game’s enemy mobs more or less of
a threat. If you want to remove enemies from the world
completely, change the setting to 0 (Peaceful).
Setting white-list=true is a good way to make sure that your
server gets inhabited by only your friends, and not
potentially vandals. Once turned on, no one but the
users you approve will be allowed to connect and play. In
the next section we’ll cover how to add your first few
friends to the white-list itself.

8. Setup your white-list and ops list
Back in your Minecraft server folder, you’ll see another file
called white-list — as before, right click it and choose
Edit, which should open a completely blank text file. The
first player you’ll want to add is yourself, so type your
Minecraft username into the top line. Your username will
be whatever you registered when buying the game, and
is the same thing you use to log into the regular
Minecraft client.

10. Once you’ve entered your username, press Enter to jump
down one line, and begin adding your friend’s
usernames, each on its own line. When you’re done click
File-Save and close out of the white-list.
Your Minecraft server folder contains another special list
called “ops,” which you add usernames to the same way
you did for the whitelist. The difference is that anyone on
the op (short for “Operator”) list will be able to execute
moderator commands in-game. Since you’ll be in charge
of this Minecraft world, you should definitely add yourself
as an op. If you’ve got a trusted player or two who can
handle the responsibility, add them as well. See the
“Learn to Op” below for details on exactly what ops can
do.