For many years now, a common but devastating issue for server owners has been random players joining their Minecraft servers and harrassing players and causing damage to builds. This is not something Mojang protects you from. The responsibility is unfortunately in your own hands to protect your server.
Protecting your official Minecraft server is
easy; simply join your server as an operator/admin (or get the server owner to do this) and
run the command
After turning on the whitelist, make sure to check the list
for any random players that may
have already joined your server using the command listed above and remove them using the remove command.
NB! If you as the server owner do not have operator/admin
access to the server with your
Minecraft account, you will need to type in those commands through the server console.
To access the server console, you will need to log in to your server hosting provider's
control panel and find the console section.
If you are having trouble finding the console, simply google
Protecting a cracked server is a little more complicated,
but definitely doable. There is no official
recommended method for this as cracked servers aren't supported by Mojang, but with a combination of a
whitelist and an authentication plugin
you can effectively protect your cracked server from random players joining.
To protect your cracked server, you will need to follow these two steps:
1. Enable whitelist on your server by following the same instructions as for official servers above.
2. Install a plugin/mod that requires players to register an account before they can join the server. I
personally
use AuthMeReloaded for Bukkit/Spigot/Paper servers, which you can find here.
This plugin requires players to register an account with a password, which prevents random players from
joining your server with
an already whitelisted username (for example, a hacker finds out your username and tries to join using it).
If you need help installing plugins/mods on your server, you
can usually find instructions on your server hosting provider's
website. Simply google
This two-step system effectively protects your cracked
server from random players joining and causing havoc.
Random players aren't the only threat
to your server. Here is some additional information on how to help keep your server persistent:
1. Create backups of your server regularly. This way, if something does go wrong, you can easily restore
your server to a previous state. Remember, if your backups are stored on the same
cloud server, they aren't backups! Use an external storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox, or
simply download the backups to your local computer.
When to do backups:
i. Before and after installing new plugins/mods or making major changes to your server.
ii. Regularly scheduled intervals (e.g. weekly or monthly) depending on how often is
practical for you.
iii. Before updating the server version.
2. Keep your server software and plugins/mods up to date. This will help ensure that you have the latest
security patches and bug fixes.
3. Potentially install an anticheat plugin/mod to help prevent cheating and hacking on your server.
4. Land claiming plugins/mods can help prevent griefing by allowing players to claim land and protect their builds.
Use only if necessary, as these can sometimes take away from the multiplayer experience.
By following these steps, your Minecraft server
has almost no chance of being compromised by in-game disruptors or outside factors such as corruption,
data loss, or crashes.