Edit server.properties on a Minecraft Bedrock Server

Some settings on a Minecraft Bedrock server can be edited by the use of commands such as /gamerule. Other settings such as the game mode, level name, and allowlist are configured though a file called server.properties. This guide will go over how to edit this file, as well as some common settings available in this file.

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Backup First!

Before making any changes to your files, it's always a good idea to backup first using the Backups link in Command Center.

How to edit server.properties

1. Login to Command Center.
2. From the server list, find the server for which you would like to change settings and click the Manage button.
3. Stop the server.
4. Click the Files tab.
5. Click on the server.properties file.
6. Find the line that contains the config you want to change and edit it (or add the line if it does not exist).
7. Save server.properties
8. Restart your server.

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No server.properties file?

If you don't see a server.properties file on your server, you'll want to run the server long enough to create it.

For more information on what you can edit in that file, see below and the Minecraft Wiki.

Specific configurations for server.properties

allow-cheats

This setting is essential for making players an op on a server. Without this setting, certain commands are unable to be run. To enable cheats, follow the instructions above, then find this setting and change false to true.

max-players

Max players is the setting you would use to change the number of players slots available on the server. The default is usually 10, but you can change it to whatever you want by editing server.properties as explained above. However, just because you've increased the number of slots does not mean the server will be able to handle that many players. If there is too much lag, lower it back to the default.

• Example: max-players=20

online-mode

Running your server in offline mode allows players to connect without authenticating with the Minecraft session servers. Authenticating with the Minecraft session servers ensures that a player is connecting with a registered and paid Minecraft account. Running your server in offline mode can be useful when there are the Minecraft session servers have problems and prevent players from connecting. However, it introduces security risks, as it allows anyone to use any username to join your server. For example, one would be able to login as any allowlist player, or as an Op and run all administrator commands.

If you need online mode to be enabled/disabled on your server, change the following setting in server.properties as explained above to true or false as needed:

online-mode=true to online-mode=false

tick-distance

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What is tick-distance?

From the Minecraft Wiki page for server.properties:

The world is ticked this many chunks away from any player. Higher values have performance impact.

Lowering your server's tick distance can greatly reduce server lag while raising it can greatly increase lag. If you want to edit your server's tick-distance property, change the following setting in server.properties as explained above:

• tick-distance=4 to tick-distance=8

The lower you set tick-distance, the less your server will lag generally speaking. The main consequence of setting this value too low is that you have to be close to mobs or machines in the world for them to be updated in a game tick. This setting has a range of 4-12. By default, the tick-distance is set to 4, so lowering this setting is not essential.

view-distance

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What is view-distance?

From the Minecraft Wiki page for server.properties:

The maximum allowed view distance in number of chunks. Higher values have performance impact.

Lowering your server's view distance can greatly reduce server lag while raising it can greatly increase lag. If you want to edit your server's view-distance property, change the following setting in server.properties as explained above:

• view-distance=32 to view-distance=24

The lower you set view-distance, the less your server will lag generally speaking. However, setting it too low means you will see the edge of the world in game more easily. We recommend lowering the view-distance in increments of 2 and restarting to test to see if it helps. If your lag is reduced, then you should be good to go without lowering it further.