Minecraft Server Control Script

A powerful command-line control script for UNIX and Linux powered Minecraft servers.

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Index

• Overview
• Prerequisites for installation
  • Required programs
  • Configuring the firewall / NAT
  • Mapping software (optional)
• Installation
  • Downloading the script
  • Configuration
• Creating and importing worlds
  • Create new world
  • Import existing world
• Adjusting server options
  • The mscs.properties file
  • The msctl file
• Automated backups and restarts
  • Scheduling backups
  • Removing backups after X days
  • Scheduling restarts
• Mapping the world
• Command reference
• License
• Issues

Overview

Minecraft Server Control Script (MSCS) is a server-management script for UNIX and Linux powered Minecraft servers. Features include:

• Run multiple Minecraft worlds.
• Start, stop, and restart single or multiple worlds.
• Create, delete, disable, and enable worlds.
• Includes support for additional server types: Forge, BungeeCord, SpigotMC, etc.
• Users automatically notified of important server events.
• Uses the Minecraft [Query protocol](http:b //wiki.vg/Query) to keep track of current server conditions.
• LSB and systemd compatible init script, allows for seamless integration with your server's startup and shutdown sequences.
• Map worlds using the Minecraft Overviewer mapping software.
• Automatically backup worlds, remove backups older than X days, and restart worlds.
• Update the server and client software automatically.
• Send commands to a world server from the command line.

Most of the general/beginner documentation is located in this file. For additional documentation that is not located in this file, please check the wiki.

Prerequisites for installation

Ensure that you have done the following before installing MSCS:

Required Programs

We've made an attempt to utilize only features that are normally installed in most Linux and UNIX environments in this script. However, there may be a few requirements that this script has that may not already be in place:

• Java JRE - The Minecraft server software requires this.
• Perl - Most, if not all, Unix and Linux like systems have this preinstalled.
• Python - Required by the Minecraft Overviewer mapping software.
• GNU Wget - Allows the script to download software updates via the internet.
• rdiff-backup - Allows the script to efficiently run backups.
• Socat - Allows the script to communicate with the Minecraft server.
• Iptables - Although not explicitly required, a good firewall should be installed.

If you are running Debian or Ubuntu, you can make sure that these are installed by running:

    sudo apt-get install default-jre perl python wget rdiff-backup socat iptables

Configuring the firewall / NAT

If you have a firewall installed on your computer, or a router using NAT installed in your network, you will need to route some ports to your server. Instructions on how to accomplish this are beyond the scope of this post, but here are some things you will need to know:

• The default port for the Minecraft server is: 25565.
• If you wish to run multiple world servers using this script, you will want to open a range of ports (for example 25565 - 25575).

See the iptables.rules file for a very basic set of rules that you can use with the Iptables firewall.

Mapping software (optional)

The script uses the Minecraft Overviewer mapping software to generate maps of your worlds. Minecraft Overviewer is a command-line tool for rendering high-resolution maps of Minecraft worlds. It generates a set of static html and image files and uses the Google Maps API to display a nice interactive map.

If you wish to use the mapping software, you can download premade binaries for supported systems, or build your own binary from source if needed.

Repositories for automatic installation are also available:

• Debian/Ubuntu
• RHEL/CentOS/Fedora

Installation

Downloading the script

The easiest way to download the script is to make a clone of the git repository. You must have git installed first. To install git:

    sudo apt-get install git

Then:

    git clone https://github.com/sandain/MinecraftServerControlScript.git

Note that it will be downloaded into the current directory which you are working in.

Other ways to download

• Get the latest stable release.

• Get the development version as a zip file:

    wget https://github.com/sandain/MinecraftServerControlScript/archive/master.zip
  

Configuration

Navigate to the MinecraftServerControlScript directory that you just downloaded. Configuration can be done with the included Makefile in Debian and Ubuntu like environments by running:

    sudo make install

Then, type

    chmod -R u+w /opt/mscs
    chown -R minecraft:minecraft /opt/mscs

This will give the user you created in the config (by default, the user minecraft) access to write in the /opt/mscs folder. If you configured MSCS manually when you installed the script, then replace minecraft with the name of the user you made.

That's it! If you wish to configure the script manually, please visit the wiki page.

Creating and importing worlds

So you successfully installed the script--great!

At first, you probably want to create a new world or import an existing world into the script.

Then, you should adjust the settings for the server as needed.

Create new world

The command to create a new world is:

    mscs create [world] [port] <ip>

Where world is the name of the world you specify, and port is the server port (by default, use 25565). ip is optional and will be used if you wish to create multiple worlds across different servers. For now, leave it blank.

Afterwards, simply start the server via mscs start [world] where world is the name of the world.

Finally, accept the EULA. As of Minecraft version 1.7.10, Mojang requires that users of their software read and agree to their EULA. After the first time you start the server, you need to modify the eula.txt file in your world's folder, changing the value of the eula variable from false to true.

The EULA can be found in /opt/mscs/worlds/myWorld where myWorld is the name given to the world you created.

After accepting the EULA simply start the server using the same command above, and you're all set!

Import existing world

Suppose you want to import a world folder named world into MSCS, and that you want MSCS to recognize this world by the name "vanillaMC".

1. First, if you don't have one already, create a worlds folder in /opt/mscs/.

2. Create a new folder within the /opt/mscs/worlds/ directory that is the name you want MSCS to use for the world. For this example, I chose "vanillaMC". So, I created a new directory vanillaMC within the /opt/mscs/worlds directory, so the path would be /opt/mscs/worlds/vanillaMC.

3. Drag the folder of the world you wish to move into the folder you just created. So I would drag the world world into the vanillaMC folder. The path of world (the actual world folder) would now be /opt/mscs/worlds/vanillaMC/world/.

The finished file structure should resemble the following, with a world named world and a containing folder name "vanillaMC":

/opt/mscs/vanillaMC       // The path

world                     // The actual world folder
server.properties         
other world files... (in no particular order)

After you've set up the file structure, you now need to create a world entry into MSCS. Do this via:

    mscs create [world] [port] <ip>

Where world is the name of the containing folder you created (so it would be "vanillaMC" from the previous example", and port is the server port (by default, use 25565). ip is optional and will be used if you wish to create multiple worlds across different servers. For now, leave it blank.

Afterwards, simply start the server via mscs start [world] where world is the name of the containing world's folder (again, it would be "vanillaMC" from the last example). Then, accept the EULA, run the start command again, and you're good to go!

As a last note, make sure you check server-port and query.port in server.properties to make sure it does not overlap with other servers created by the MSCS script. Also ensure that enable-query is set to true. If you do not have enable-query and a query.port set, you will not be able to check the status of the world with the script.

Adjusting server options

There are two ways of adjusting the options through MSCS: changing values in the mscs.properties file and/or editing the msctl file directly.

The mscs.properties file

The mscs.properties file can be found in every world folder (for instance, if you had a world called myWorld, the path would be /opt/mscs/worlds/myWorld/mscs.properties).

By default, the file only has one line in it: mscs-enabled=true. You can add a variety of flags to this file and set them as to a true/false boolean or a variable to your liking.

The following flags are available:

• mscs-enabled - Enable or disable the world server.
• mscs-version-type - Assign the version type (release or snapshot).
• mscs-client-version - Assign the version of the client software.
• mscs-client-jar - Assign the .jar file for the client software.
• mscs-client-url - Assign the download URL for the client software.
• mscs-client-location - Assign the location of the client .jar file.
• mscs-server-version - Assign the version of the server software.
• mscs-server-jar - Assign the .jar file for the server software.
• mscs-server-url - Assign the download URL for the server software.
• mscs-server-args - Assign the arguments to the server.
• mscs-initial-memory - Assign the initial amount of memory for the server.
• mscs-maximum-memory - Assign the maximum amount of memory for the server.
• mscs-server-location - Assign the location of the server .jar file.
• mscs-server-command - Assign the command to run for the server.

The following variables may be used in some of the values of the above keys:

• $JAVA - The Java virtual machine.
• $CURRENT_VERSION - The current Mojang Minecraft release version.
• $CLIENT_VERSION - The version of the client software.
• $SERVER_VERSION - The version of the server software.
• $SERVER_JAR - The .jar file to run for the server.
• $SERVER_ARGS - The arguments to the server.
• $INITIAL_MEMORY - The initial amount of memory for the server.
• $MAXIMUM_MEMORY - The maximum amount of memory for the server.
• $SERVER_LOCATION - The location of the server .jar file.

Example key/value pairs

mscs-enabled=true
mscs-version-type=release
mscs-client-version=$CURRENT_VERSION
mscs-client-jar=$CLIENT_VERSION.jar
mscs-client-url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/versions/$CLIENT_VERSION/$CLIENT_VERSION.jar
mscs-client-location=/opt/mscs/client/$CLIENT_VERSION
mscs-server-version=$CURRENT_VERSION
mscs-server-jar=minecraft_server.$SERVER_VERSION.jar
mscs-server-url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/versions/$SERVER_VERSION/minecraft_server.$SERVER_VERSION.jar
mscs-server-args=nogui
mscs-initial-memory=128M
mscs-maximum-memory=2048M
mscs-server-location=/opt/mscs/server
mscs-server-command=$JAVA -Xms$INITIAL_MEMORY -Xmx$MAXIMUM_MEMORY -jar $SERVER_LOCATION/$SERVER_JAR $SERVER_ARGS

Run a Minecraft version 1.6.4 server:

mscs-client-version=1.6.4
mscs-server-version=1.6.4

Use Forge to run a 1.8.4 server (requires additional setup):

mscs-client-version=1.8.4
mscs-server-version=1.8.4
mscs-server-jar=forge-1.8-11.14.1.1419-universal.jar
mscs-server-url=http://files.minecraftforge.net/maven/net/minecraftforge/forge/1.8-11.14.1.1419/forge-1.8-11.14.1.1419-universal.jar

Use the latest BungeeCord successful build (requires additional setup):

mscs-server-jar=BungeeCord.jar
mscs-server-url=http://ci.md-5.net/job/BungeeCord/lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/bootstrap/target/BungeeCord.jar

Additional documentation

More examples and documentation on server customization can be found on the wiki page.

The msctl file

The msctl file can be found at /usr/local/bin.

The msctl file is an additional file for adjusting the properties of your server that are not found in mscs.properties. Starting at line 236 and ending at line 385 is where the settings are in this file.

You can set the default settings of mscs.properties in this file, as well as some other useful settings:

• Line 305 is the beginning of the server instance configuration settings.
• Line 321 is the beginning of the backup configuration settings.
• Line 334 is the beginning of the server log configuration settings.
• Line 341 is the beginning of the listing option settings.
• Line 348 is the beginning of the mirror image settings.
• Line 370 is the beginning of the minecraft overviewer settings

Automated backups and restarts

Scheduling backups

MSCS uses cron, a scheduler software that can run programs on a set interval of time. Below is an example of one way how you could setup backups via cron to backup a world every 2 hours:

Type the following (in any directory):

export EDITOR=vim
crontab -e

Page down until you get to an empty line. Then paste the following:

0 */2 * * *  PATH-TO-MSCS backup myWorld

• 0 */2 * * * is the time interval to backup. This particular expression means backup every 2 hours. You can change this to 3, 4, 5 or whatever amount of hours to backup X amount of hours. You can also backup according to days, minutes, seconds, the time of the day, and more. See the wiki page for more information.
• PATH-TO-MSCS is the path of where the mscs file is (which will be inside the MinecraftServerControlScript folder that you downloaded)
• myWorld is the name of the world you wish to backup. Omitting this will backup all worlds.

For instance, if the mscs script is located in /home/MinecraftServerControlScript/mscs, and I want to backup the world "vanillaMC" every 2 hours, it would look like this:

0 */2 * * *  /home/MinecraftServerControlScript/mscs backup vanillaMC

Finally, press escape, then type :wq to save and quit.

The backups will be saved in /opt/mscs/backups.

Removing backups after X days

You can specify how long to keep backups by changing the BACKUP_DURATION in the /usr/local/bin/msctl file, on line 331.

Scheduling restarts

You can schedule restarts for the server following the same method as outlined in scheduling backups. Simply change the scheduled command from backup <myWorld> to restart <myWorld>. myWorld is the name of world you wish to restart; omit if you wish to restart all worlds.

Mapping the world

Minecraft Server Control Script uses overviewer to generate minecraft maps. First, follow the instructions on their site to install overviewer.

Then, once you have it installed, modify the settings found in /usr/local/bin/msctl. The settings can be found starting on line 370 of the document:

OVERVIEWER_BIN=$(which overviewer.py)
OVERVIEWER_URL="http://overviewer.org"
MAPS_URL="my.minecraftserver.com"
MAPS_LOCATION="$LOCATION/maps"

At the very least, change the MAPS_URL value to reflect the domain of your website/server that you wish to use to view the map.

After you've tinkered the settings to your liking, run mscs map <world> where world is the name of the world you would like to get mapped. Omit the world name to map all worlds.

Command Reference

All commands below assume that you are running them as either the minecraft user or as root (through sudo).

Note: If the script is run as the root user, all important server processes will be started using the minecraft user instead for security purposes.

sudo mscs [option]

* start [world]

    Start the Minecraft world server.  Start all worlds by default.

* stop [world]

    Stop the Minecraft world server.  Stop all worlds by default.

* force-stop [world]

    Forcibly stop the Minecraft world server.  Forcibly stop all worlds by
    default.

* restart [world]

    Restart the Minecraft world server.  Restart all worlds by default.

* force-restart [world]

    Forcibly restart the Minecraft world server.  Forcibly restart all
    worlds by default.

* create [world] [port] [ip]

    Create a Minecraft world server.  The world name and port must be
    provided, the IP address is usually blank.

* delete [world]

    Delete a Minecraft world server.

* disable [world]

    Temporarily disable a world server.

* enable [world]

    Enable a disabled world server.

* list [option]

    Display a list of worlds.
    Options:

    * enabled

        Display a list of enabled worlds, default.

    * disabled

        Display a list of disabled worlds.

    * running

        Display a list of running worlds.

    * stopped

        Display a list of stopped worlds.

* status [world]

    Display the status of the Minecraft world server.  Display the
    status of all worlds by default.

* broadcast [command]

    Broadcast a command to all running Minecraft world servers.

* send [world] [command]

    Send a command to a Minecraft world server.

* logrotate [world]

    Rotate the server.log file.  Rotate the server.log file for all
    worlds by default.

* backup [world]

    Backup the Minecraft world.  Backup all worlds by default.

* list-backups [world]

    List the datetime of the backups for the world.

* restore-backup [world] [datetime]

    Restore a backup for a world that was taken at the datetime.

* console [world]

    Connect to the Minecraft world server's console.  Hit [Ctrl-D] to detach.

* watch [world]

    Watch the log file for the Minecraft world server.

* map [world]

    Run the Minecraft Overviewer mapping software on the Minecraft world.
    Map all worlds by default.

* update

    Update the client and server software packages.

Examples

To start all of the world servers, issue the command:

sudo mscs start

To create a world named alpha, issue the command:

sudo mscs create alpha 25565

To start just the world named alpha, issue the command:

sudo mscs start alpha

To send a command to a world server, issue the command:

sudo mscs send [world] [command]

ie.

sudo mscs send alpha say Hello world!

License

See LICENSE

Issues

We have only tested this code in a Debian/Ubuntu environment, but there is no reason that it shouldn't work in any appropriately configured UNIX-like environment, including Apple Mac OSX and the other BSD variants, with only minor modifications. If you experience errors running this script, please post a copy of the error message and a note detailing the operating environment where the error occurs to the support thread, and we will try to work out a solution with you.

Support thread: http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=129833

Github Issues: https://github.com/sandain/MinecraftServerControlScript/issues