Reference library
MINECRAFT SERVER KNOWLEDGE BASE
What things mean and how they work — TPS, permissions, ports, plugin APIs. Short, straight answers, with the practical how-to linked at the end of every entry.
- 26 entries
- 5 categories
- Free with PufferHost
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THE FOUR NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Read these first and most server conversations start making sense.
Minecraft Server Permissions Explained (Levels and Plugins)
How Minecraft server permissions work: vanilla operator levels, what each level can do, and how plugin permission systems replace them as a server grows.
Read entry Entry · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft TPS Explained (Ticks Per Second and What 20 Means)
Minecraft TPS explained: what ticks per second measure, why 20 is the target, how TPS differs from MSPT, and what each TPS range actually feels like to players.
Read entry Entry · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft MSPT Explained (Milliseconds Per Tick)
MSPT explained: milliseconds per tick is the honest measure of server health. Learn healthy values, how to read spikes versus steady load, and where to find it.
Read entry Entry · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server Ports Explained (25565 and Beyond)
Which port a Minecraft server uses, what TCP and UDP carry, when to change the default, and how hosted servers hide port configuration from you entirely.
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Server Administration
Who can do what on your server, and how to keep control as it grows.
Minecraft Server Permissions Explained (Levels and Plugins)
How Minecraft server permissions work: vanilla operator levels, what each level can do, and how plugin permission systems replace them as a server grows.
Read entry Server Administration · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Operators (OP): What They Are and How to Use Them
Minecraft operators explained: what op status grants, the four operator levels, how to grant and revoke access, and how to keep admin powers under control.
Read entry Server Administration · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Whitelists Explained (How Access Control Works)
How the Minecraft whitelist works: what it blocks, how names are stored, how it interacts with operators and online mode, and when it is not enough.
Read entry Server Administration · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server Backups: What to Back Up and How Often
What a Minecraft backup must include, why copying a running world corrupts saves, how often to back up, and how to prove that a restore actually works.
Read entry Server Administration · Updated 2026-09-11The Minecraft Server Console Explained (Logs and Commands)
How the Minecraft server console works: live output versus log files, sending commands, reading errors, and why the console is your first diagnostic tool.
Read entry Server Administration · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server Commands: The Ones Admins Actually Use
The Minecraft server commands worth knowing: player management, world control, and diagnostics, plus which need operator level 4 and which are moderator-safe.
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Performance
The numbers that describe server health, and the settings that move them.
Minecraft Server RAM: How Much You Need and Why
How RAM works on a Minecraft server: heap versus system memory, how much to allocate, why claiming more than the machine has causes crashes, and how to size it.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server CPU: Why Single-Core Speed Wins
Minecraft is mostly single-threaded, so per-core speed matters more than core count. Learn what the main server thread does and how to spot a CPU bottleneck.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft TPS Explained (Ticks Per Second and What 20 Means)
Minecraft TPS explained: what ticks per second measure, why 20 is the target, how TPS differs from MSPT, and what each TPS range actually feels like to players.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft MSPT Explained (Milliseconds Per Tick)
MSPT explained: milliseconds per tick is the honest measure of server health. Learn healthy values, how to read spikes versus steady load, and where to find it.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Chunk Loading Explained (and Why It Causes Lag)
How Minecraft loads and generates chunks, why generation causes lag spikes, what pre-generating a world achieves, and how view and simulation distance differ.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Entity Limits: Mob Caps, Cramming, and Tick Cost
How Minecraft limits entities: mob caps, cramming, and collision behaviour, why piled-up mobs cost ticks, and the settings that reduce entity load safely.
Read entry Performance · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft View Distance and Simulation Distance Explained
View distance versus simulation distance: what each controls, how they multiply server load, sensible values for small servers, and how to change them safely.
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Plugins
The server software and APIs behind every plugin you install.
Paper: The Most Widely Used Minecraft Server Software
What Paper is, where it came from, how it differs from vanilla, and why most servers run it: performance patches plus the full Bukkit plugin ecosystem.
Read entry Plugins · Updated 2026-09-11Spigot: The Server Software Most Forks Build On
What Spigot is, how it relates to CraftBukkit and Paper, what it still does well, and why most modern servers run a fork of it instead of Spigot itself.
Read entry Plugins · Updated 2026-09-11Purpur: Paper With Gameplay Toggles On Top
What Purpur adds to Paper: optional gameplay features like rideable mobs and elevators, hundreds of toggles, and identical performance and plugin support.
Read entry Plugins · Updated 2026-09-11Bukkit and the Plugin API: How Server Plugins Work
What the Bukkit API is, why plugins are server-side, how the ecosystem relates to Spigot and Paper, and what “Bukkit plugin” means in practice today.
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Networking
How players find, reach, and fail to reach your server.
Minecraft Server Ports Explained (25565 and Beyond)
Which port a Minecraft server uses, what TCP and UDP carry, when to change the default, and how hosted servers hide port configuration from you entirely.
Read entry Networking · Updated 2026-09-11DNS for Minecraft Servers: Names Instead of Numbers
How DNS turns a server address into an IP, what A and SRV records do for Minecraft, why names survive IP changes, and how hosted subdomains simplify it all.
Read entry Networking · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft SRV Records Explained (Custom Domains, Any Port)
SRV records let a domain resolve to a Minecraft server on any host and port, so players type a plain name with no port. What they do and when you need one.
Read entry Networking · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server IP Addresses: Public, Private, and Shared
Public versus private IPs, why your home address changes, what carrier-grade NAT does to self-hosting, and why hosting keeps your home IP private.
Read entry Networking · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Connection Issues: Causes and Where to Look
Why players cannot connect: version mismatches, whitelist blocks, wrong addresses, closed ports, and server-side errors — checked in the fastest order.
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Troubleshooting
Diagnosing crashes, lag, and conflicts in the right order.
Why Minecraft Servers Crash: Common Causes Explained
Why Minecraft servers crash: out-of-memory errors, broken configuration, incompatible plugins, corrupt chunks, and JVM mistakes — and how to tell them apart.
Read entry Troubleshooting · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Server Lag Explained: Types and Symptoms
Lag is not one problem. Learn the difference between server tick lag, client stutter, network delay, and world-generation spikes — and what each looks like.
Read entry Troubleshooting · Updated 2026-09-11Minecraft Connection Errors Decoded (Vanilla Messages)
What Minecraft’s connection errors mean: connection refused, timed out, outdated client, incompatible versions, and failed to bind — plus what to do about each.
Read entry Troubleshooting · Updated 2026-09-11Plugin Conflicts: Why Plugins Break Each Other
How to find and fix plugin conflicts: overlapping features, missing dependencies, version mismatches, and a method that finds the culprit fast.
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