The current release is Java Edition 26.3, "Wilderness Bound", released September 15, 2026, and this page lists only the keys a 26.3 server reads: every current setting with its default, the settings whose defaults changed in 26.3, and the older settings that moved out of the file entirely.
How the server treats the file
Four behaviours, each from the wiki's own description of the file, shape every edit you make to it:
- It is created for you. On a fresh install "the server software generates the following
server.propertiesfile if it is not found". Start the server once, stop it, and edit the file it wrote rather than hand-writing one from memory. - It is rewritten on every startup. "The
server.propertiesfile is regenerated by the server software on startup", and "if the file already exists, existing values are copied from it. Comments are ignored." Your values survive; your comments do not. A#note you add will be stripped the next time the server starts. - Edits need a restart. "After changes are made to the file, the server must be restarted for them to take effect." Editing the file while the server runs changes nothing until you restart it.
- A typo does not stop the server. "Any missing keys or keys with invalid values are set to the defaults." The server still starts; the broken line behaves as though it were not there. A setting that seems to ignore your edit is usually a spelling mistake in the key or value, not a server fault.
The world and how it plays
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
level-name |
"The world name and the world directory path." The folder your world lives in. | world |
world - change it only when uploading an existing world under a different name. |
level-seed |
"The seed for the generated world." | blank | Blank for a random world, or a seed you and your friends picked on purpose. |
level-type |
"The preset for the generated world." | minecraft:normal |
minecraft:normal. Paper's reference also lists legacy values (buffet, default_1_1, customized) that the wiki marks removed - they are not current options. |
motd |
"The message displayed in the server list of the client, below the server name." | A Minecraft Server |
Any friendly custom text - it is the first thing your friends read. |
difficulty |
"The difficulty (such as damage dealt by mobs and the way hunger and poison affects players) of the server." | easy |
easy or normal - pick by how experienced the group is. |
gamemode |
"The default game mode." | survival |
survival. |
hardcore |
"Whether to enable hardcore mode on created worlds"; in Paper's words, "players will be set to spectator mode if they die". | false |
false for almost every friends server. |
initial-enabled-packs |
"Datapacks to be enabled on world creation." | vanilla |
vanilla. |
Who can join, and what they can do
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
max-players |
"The maximum number of players that can play on the server at the same time." | 20 |
A small number your group fits in, such as 5-10. |
online-mode |
"Whether to only allow players verified with the Minecraft account database to join." | true |
true - it is what keeps uninvited, unverified accounts out. |
white-list |
"Whether the whitelist is enabled." Since 26.3 the wiki's History records this property as true by default. | true (as of 26.3) |
true. |
enforce-whitelist |
"Whether to enforce changes to the whitelist" - Paper: "If set to true, the server will kick players who are not on the whitelist." | false |
true - the whitelist only protects fully when it is enforced. |
enforce-secure-profile |
Paper: with it on, "players without a Mojang-signed public key will not be able to connect to the server." | true |
true. |
spawn-protection |
"The side length of the square spawn protection area as 2x+1." At 16 that is a radius of 8 blocks. | 16 |
16, or smaller if your friends build right at spawn. |
player-idle-timeout |
"How many minutes does the player have to idle to be kicked from the server." 0 means never. | 0 |
15-30 if your slots fill up; 0 is fine for a tiny group. |
allow-flight |
"Whether players can use flight on the server while in Survival mode by using mods." | false |
false, unless friends use flight mods and accept the kick risk of leaving it off. |
force-gamemode |
"Whether to switch players to the default game mode on join." | false |
false. |
op-permission-level |
"The default permission level for ops when using /op." 4 is full console-level control. | 4 |
2-3 - enough for friends to help run the server without full console power. |
function-permission-level |
"The default permission level for functions." | 2 |
2. |
Network, distance and pacing
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
server-port |
"The TCP port number the server listens on." | 25565 |
25565 unless the host assigns a different one. |
server-ip |
"The IP address the server listens on. If empty, the server listens on all available IP addresses." | blank | blank. |
view-distance |
"The amount of world data the server sends the client, measured in chunks in each direction of the player." Paper lists the range as 3 to 32. | 10 |
8-10. |
simulation-distance |
"The maximum distance from players that living entities may be located in order to be updated by the server." | 10 |
8-10. |
network-compression-threshold |
"How big should a packet be to be compressed." | 256 |
Leave it at 256. |
prevent-proxy-connections |
"Whether to kick players if the ISP/AS sent from the server is different from the one from Mojang Studios'". | false |
false - true can false-positive on VPNs your friends use. |
rate-limit |
"The maximum amount of packets a player can send before getting kicked." 0 disables the limit. | 0 |
Leave it at 0. |
max-tick-time |
"The maximum number of milliseconds a single tick may take." | 60000 |
Leave it at 60000. |
sync-chunk-writes |
"Whether to enable synchronous chunk writes. This prevents data loss and corruption after a crash." | true |
true. |
enable-status |
"Whether the server appears as 'online' on the server list." | true |
true; set false only if you want the server unlisted from status requests. |
hide-online-players |
"Whether to disable sending the player list on status requests." | false |
false, or true if the group prefers not to show who is online. |
accepts-transfers |
"Whether to accept incoming transfers via a transfer packet" - the mechanism another server uses with the transfer feature to send a player to yours. | false |
false. (See the spelling note below.) |
pause-when-empty-seconds |
"How many seconds have to pass after no player has been online before the server is paused." | 60 (vanilla, per the wiki) |
60. Paper's reference lists its own default as -1 (disabled), so a Paper host may show -1 - see below. |
Query and RCON
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
enable-query |
"Whether to enable query, which provides information about the server." | false |
false. |
query.port |
"The UDP port number query (see enable-query) listens on." | 25565 |
25565. |
enable-rcon |
"Whether to enable rcon, which allows access to the server console over a network." | false |
false - leave it off unless a specific tool needs it. |
rcon.port |
"The TCP port number rcon listens on." | 25575 |
25575. |
rcon.password |
"The password for rcon." | blank | Blank while RCON is off. See the RCON section before ever turning it on. |
broadcast-rcon-to-ops |
"Whether to send rcon console command outputs to all online operators." | true |
true. |
Resource packs
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
resource-pack |
"The resource pack download URL." | blank | Blank unless you are distributing a pack to the group. |
resource-pack-prompt |
"A custom message to be shown on resource pack prompt when require-resource-pack is used." | blank | Optional text explaining what the pack is for. |
resource-pack-sha1 |
"An optional SHA-1 digest of the resource pack, in lowercase hexadecimal." | blank | Set it whenever resource-pack is set. |
require-resource-pack |
Whether joining players must accept the resource pack. | false |
false. |
The remaining housekeeping keys
| Setting | What it does | Default | For a friends server |
|---|---|---|---|
region-file-compression |
"The algorithm used for compressing chunks in regions." | deflate |
Leave it at deflate. Paper additionally offers gzip. |
bug-report-link |
"The URL for the report_bug server link." |
blank | blank. |
text-filtering-config |
"Configuration for the chat filtering mechanism." | blank | blank. |
Settings that are no longer in the file
Older tutorials still list settings a current server does not read. pvp, spawn-monsters, allow-nether and enable-command-block were removed in 1.21.9 (snapshot 25w35a) and, in the wiki's words, "replaced with game rule" pvp, spawnMonsters, allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals and enableCommandBlocks. spawn-animals and spawn-npcs were removed earlier, in 1.21.2 (snapshot 24w33a). You set all of these in-game with /gamerule, not in server.properties. Four more are simply gone from the file: max-build-height (removed in 1.17), snooper-enabled (1.18), previews-chat (1.19.3), and announce-player-achievements, which became the gamerule announceAdvancements back in 1.12. A pvp=true line in a 26.3 server's file is a leftover from an older version, not a setting the server reads.
RCON: the one switch best left off
enable-rcon exists to "allow access to the server console over a network", and that is exactly the risk: with it on, the console is reachable through rcon.port by anything that can reach the port and the password. The dangerous combination is enable-rcon=true together with a blank rcon.password - that leaves the console open to anyone who can reach the port. Leave RCON off unless a specific tool needs it; if one does, set a real password in rcon.password and keep the port unreachable from outside. Never put a real RCON password in a guide, a screenshot or a support ticket.
Where Paper differs
Three differences worth knowing if your server runs Paper rather than vanilla. pause-when-empty-seconds: the wiki's default is 60, while Paper's reference lists -1 (disabled) - so a Paper host may show -1 where a vanilla server writes 60. region-file-compression: Paper adds a gzip option to the vanilla deflate default. And accepts-transfers: Paper's documentation page spells the key accept-transfers, but the server.properties generated by our own Paper 26.3 server today writes accepts-transfers, matching the wiki - that is the spelling used in the table above. Paper's reference also still lists legacy level-type values the wiki marks removed; minecraft:normal is the current preset.
The short pass for a friends server
Most of the file can stay at its defaults. The lines worth touching on day one: motd set to something yours; difficulty at easy or normal; max-players sized to the group (5-10); white-list=true (the 26.3 default - keep it) with enforce-whitelist=true, which is what makes the server "kick players who are not on the whitelist"; online-mode=true; view-distance and simulation-distance at 8-10; and op-permission-level at 2-3 rather than the default 4. Leave enable-rcon and enable-query off, restart the server, and the file is doing its job.
Editing server.properties is the configuration half of the job; the halves around it are covered elsewhere on this site: how to make a Minecraft server for friends walks the whole setup, port forwarding for game servers covers reachability, and the backup checklist covers the world itself.
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