Minecraft Server Administration Skill

Scope and Routing Boundaries

Routing Boundaries

Use when: the task is infrastructure or live operations for Minecraft servers (deployment choice, tuning, backups, proxying, security, incident response).
Do not use when: the task is writing plugin code (minecraft-plugin-dev) or writing mods/loaders (minecraft-modding, minecraft-multiloader).
Do not use when: the task is WorldEdit command workflows (minecraft-worldedit-ops) or EssentialsX workflow/policy design (minecraft-essentials-ops).
Do not use when: the task is datapack/resource-pack authoring (minecraft-datapack, minecraft-resource-pack).

Support Assets

Read references/deployment-checklists.md when the task is an incident, rollout window, proxy change, or recovery drill and you need a compact checklist before acting.

Deployment Decision Matrix

Use this table first. Pick a deployment type before changing configs.

Deployment profile	Recommended stack	Pick this when	Watch-outs
Small SMP on Paper	Paper only	Up to ~30 concurrent players, broad plugin compatibility, low ops overhead	Do not over-tune early; profile before changing many defaults
Larger public Paper server	Paper + Spark + stricter plugin/change control	Public server with frequent joins, moderate plugin set, uptime matters	Plugin sprawl is the top TPS risk
Velocity-backed network	Velocity + multiple Paper backends	Hub/minigame/factions split across servers, need shared entrypoint	Forwarding/auth mismatches can block joins
Purpur gameplay-heavy server	Purpur (optionally behind Velocity)	You want gameplay knobs exposed in config without custom plugin code	Extra toggles increase misconfiguration risk
Folia high-concurrency server	Folia + Folia-compatible plugins only	Very high concurrency with region-threading goals	Many plugins are not Folia-safe
Fabric/NeoForge mod server	Fabric or NeoForge server build	You require loader mods, custom content, modpack behavior	Bukkit/Paper plugins do not apply

Deployment Type Routing

Small SMP and most public plugin servers: use Paper baseline first.
Use Purpur only when you explicitly need Purpur gameplay controls.
Use Folia only when plugin compatibility has been validated for region-threading.
Use Velocity when one process is not enough or you need separate backend roles.
Use Fabric/NeoForge when the requirement is mod-driven, not plugin-driven.

Playbook: Performance Tuning

Step 1: Establish baseline

Collect a baseline before edits:

free -h
top -b -n 1 | head -n 25

In server console:

tps
mspt
spark healthreport

Record:

peak player count
MSPT at idle and at peak activity
top plugins by CPU from Spark report

Step 2: Profile the real bottleneck

Use Spark instead of guesswork:

spark profiler --timeout 180
spark tps
spark tickmonitor --interval 10

Then identify whether the issue is:

plugin task load
entity count / mob farm pressure
chunk generation / disk I/O
garbage-collection pauses

Step 3: Apply targeted fixes

Do not tune everything at once. Apply one group at a time.

Chunk and simulation pressure:

lower view-distance and simulation-distance first
pre-generate worlds for survival-heavy maps

Entity pressure:

adjust despawn ranges and mob-spawn behavior in Paper world config
cap problematic entities where appropriate

Plugin pressure:

disable or replace top offenders from Spark traces
reduce async task frequency where plugin settings allow

Step 4: Use stable startup flags

For Java 21 on Paper/Purpur:

java -Xms10G -Xmx10G \
  -XX:+UseG1GC \
  -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled \
  -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 \
  -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions \
  -XX:+DisableExplicitGC \
  -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch \
  -XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 \
  -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 \
  -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=8M \
  -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 \
  -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 \
  -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4 \
  -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 \
  -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 \
  -XX:G1RSetUpdatingPauseTimePercent=5 \
  -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 \
  -XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem \
  -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1 \
  -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 \
  -jar server.jar --nogui

For under 12 GB memory budgets, reduce heap and use smaller region size.

Step 5: Verify improvements

After each change set:

spark tps
spark healthreport

Keep the change only if MSPT/tick stability improves under representative load.

Playbook: Plugin Operations

Safe plugin change workflow

Build a plugin inventory:

plugin name and version
required dependencies
minimum server version

Stage updates:

apply plugin updates in staging first
run smoke checks: joins, teleports, economy, permissions, saves

Production rollout window:

announce maintenance window
stop server cleanly
snapshot plugin jars and config
deploy update batch

Post-rollout verification:

watch startup logs for API warnings
run command and permission sanity checks
track TPS/MSPT for 15-30 minutes

Rollback checklist

Keep previous plugin directory snapshot.
If severe regression occurs:
- stop server
- restore prior plugin jars/configs
- start and confirm login/world integrity
Document failing plugin/version pair for future blocks.

Playbook: Proxy and Forwarding (Velocity)

Velocity baseline

velocity.toml essentials:

bind = "0.0.0.0:25565"
online-mode = true
player-info-forwarding-mode = "modern"
forwarding-secret-file = "forwarding.secret"

Backend server requirements

server.properties on backend:

online-mode=false
enforce-secure-profile=false

Paper backend forwarding support (config/paper-global.yml):

proxies:
  velocity:
    enabled: true
    online-mode: true
    secret: "paste-the-shared-forwarding-secret-here"

Use the same secret value stored in Velocity's forwarding.secret file; the backend config takes the secret string itself, not a file path.

Validation runbook

Confirm proxy port is reachable from clients.
Confirm backend is firewalled from direct internet access.
Join through proxy and verify:

UUID consistency
skin/profile forwarding
plugin permission behavior

Common proxy incidents

"Invalid player info forwarding":
- mismatch in forwarding mode or shared secret between Velocity and backend.
Random auth/session failures:
- mixed online-mode expectations or direct backend exposure.

Playbook: Backup and Recovery

Backup policy template

Asset	Frequency	Retention	Notes
World folders (`world*`)	Hourly incremental + daily full	7 daily, 4 weekly	Highest priority
`plugins/` and `config/`	Daily	14 daily	Required for quick rollback
Proxy config/secrets	Daily	30 daily	Store encrypted off-host
Container/orchestration files	On change + weekly	8 weeks	Git-tracked where possible

Example backup script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

DATE="$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S)"
BACKUP_ROOT="/backups/minecraft"
SERVER_ROOT="/srv/minecraft"
DEST="${BACKUP_ROOT}/${DATE}"

mkdir -p "$DEST"
tar -czf "${DEST}/worlds.tar.gz" -C "$SERVER_ROOT" world world_nether world_the_end
tar -czf "${DEST}/plugins-config.tar.gz" -C "$SERVER_ROOT" plugins config
cp "$SERVER_ROOT/server.properties" "$DEST/server.properties"

Recovery drill (must be tested)

Stop server.
Restore selected backup to staging directory.
Validate ownership/permissions.
Start server in maintenance mode.
Verify:

world spawn loads
player data is readable
key plugins initialize

Reopen to players.

Define targets:

RPO (acceptable data loss window)
RTO (acceptable restore duration)

Playbook: Live Troubleshooting

Incident triage flow

Classify incident:

crash on startup
severe lag / TPS collapse
join/auth failures
memory/disk pressure

Capture evidence first:

df -h
free -h

From server/proxy console:

spark tps
spark healthreport

Stabilize:

stop risky rollout changes
disable newest suspect plugin first
reduce player impact (maintenance mode, temporary queue, restricted worlds)

Recover and document:

apply rollback or hotfix
document root cause and permanent preventive action

Fast symptom map

Symptom	First checks	Typical root cause
Startup crash after plugin update	latest logs, plugin dependency chain	incompatible plugin/API mismatch
High MSPT only at peak hours	Spark profiler, entity/chunk stats	mob farms, heavy scheduled tasks, chunk I/O
Players cannot join via proxy	forwarding mode + secret + backend exposure	Velocity/backend config mismatch
Periodic hard lag spikes	GC pauses + autosave + backup overlap	memory pressure, backup I/O contention

Operational Config Reference

`server.properties` high-impact keys

max-players=100
view-distance=10
simulation-distance=8
sync-chunk-writes=true
max-tick-time=60000
enable-rcon=false

`bukkit.yml` and `spigot.yml`

Use Spigot/Bukkit docs as authoritative for version-specific defaults and side effects. Tune conservatively and re-measure after every change set.

Paper config files

config/paper-global.yml
config/paper-world-defaults.yml

Adjust these only after profiling identifies an actionable bottleneck.

Deployment Patterns

Docker Compose (Paper)

services:
  paper:
    image: itzg/minecraft-server:java21
    container_name: mc-paper
    environment:
      EULA: "TRUE"
      TYPE: "PAPER"
      VERSION: "1.21.11"
      MEMORY: "10G"
    ports:
      - "25565:25565"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Pterodactyl/Wings notes

Keep startup command and memory allocations consistent with tested JVM flags.
Pin panel and Wings versions to supported combinations.
Validate backup mount and restore workflow before production.

Security Hardening Checklist

Keep online-mode=true unless proxy forwarding requires backend online-mode=false.
Never expose backend Paper ports directly when using Velocity.
Restrict RCON and panel/admin surfaces by firewall/IP allowlist.
Rotate secrets (forwarding.secret, panel credentials, backup credentials).
Keep plugin sources trusted; verify checksum/release source before install.
Maintain off-host encrypted backups.
Keep Java runtime and host OS patched.

minecraft-server-admin