Guide:Manage a server

While the advice in this guide can apply to servers hosted via Linux etc, the specific examples will be for Windows OS.

Whether hosting a server via a hosting company or your own machine, how to be a good server admin isn't necessarily obvious.

First of all, set up protections even if you think your server is private, intended for just you and a friend. A whitelist is the most-recommended method to prevent would-be griefers from accessing your world.

Common issues

Food spoils while offline

The default serverconfig is for the world to pause when nobody is logged in. But if one person logs in, a lot of time could pass for those who aren't logged int.

Suggestion: Reduce the spoil rate. /worldconfig foodSpoilSpeed 0.5

The World Configuration page explains

/worldconfig foodSpoilSpeed [0-10]
Set the spoilage rate multiplier of all perishable foods, e.g. 0.5 means all food lasts twice as long (default: 1)

Note: It's unclear whether hides are affected by this.

The Preset_playstyles#Comparing_playstyles page shows that Exploration playstyle's setting is 0.5.

Seasons pass too quickly

Players are understandably upset if it's spring one day and winter the next. It's particularly difficult if they didn't get a chance to prepare food etc for winter, or if their crops die due to extreme temperatures arriving while they were offline.

Suggestion 1: Increase month length.

With a default calendarspeedmul of 0.5, 1 day = 48 real life minutes. With a default daysPerMonth of 9,

Suggestion 2: Disable crop death.

While a dead crop will always yield the seed, it seems more fair to offline players to prevent time passing from killing their crops.

Somebody reports valuable(s) missing

Suggestion: Advertise rules including something like this, "Type /land claim to get instructions for protecting an area."

Manual: Use the /announce command every now and then to inform/remind players. Example:

/announce Use /land claim to protect your home and belongings.  Unclaimed items will not be replaced by admins if stolen.

Automatic: Find serverconfig.json for your server and edit the WelcomeMessage line; be careful to use quotation marks and end with a comma. Example:

"WelcomeMessage": "Use /land claim to protect your home and belongings.  Unclaimed items will not be replaced by admins if stolen.",

Th3Essentials mod enables a more robust system of automated announcements.

Ideally, make the rules easy to find, including prior to joining the server. Let players know who to contact if they have questions/concerns.

Somebody gets stuck inside a land claim

Suggestion: Teleport them to a safe location.

Somebody could start a wildfire that lags the server and destroys multiple bases

Suggestion: Disable firespread.