Minecraft Server Setup & Admin Guides

Questions about server & admin

In what order should I set up a server?

Server software, then the world, then permissions, then plugins. Choosing Paper or Purpur after configuring fifty plugins means redoing that configuration, and installing a permissions plugin after twenty hand-made ranks means typing them all again.

Which settings in server.properties actually matter?

Six of them: view distance, simulation distance, difficulty, spawn protection, online mode and the max player count. The rest can stay on their defaults for years. The edit guide walks those six with values that suit a small community server.

Which commands come up most often?

Gamemode, teleport, give, time, weather, gamerule, effect and enchant, plus ban, kick and whitelist for moderation. Each has its own guide here because the selector syntax, the @a, @p and @s part, is what turns ten commands into one.

Do I need a plugin to run a small server?

No. Vanilla plus the right server.properties runs a friends-only server fine. Plugins start earning their keep once you need permissions, protection or an economy, and those are the guides in the plugins category rather than this one.