Install Minecraft Server on Ubuntu 18.04: Systemd Setup Guide

Minecraft is one of the most popular games ever made — a sandbox game where players explore, build, and survive in procedurally generated worlds. Running your own server gives you full control: custom rules, an allowlist, and a private environment for friends or a small community.

This guide walks you through installing a Minecraft server on Ubuntu 18.04, running it as a systemd service, managing it with the mcrcon RCON console utility, and scheduling automatic daily backups.

<strong>Prerequisite:</strong>&nbsp;You need sudo access. Start by installing the build tools:

bashsudo apt update && sudo apt install git build-essential

Set Up Java and the Minecraft User

Minecraft requires Java 8 or higher. Install the headless JRE — it uses fewer system resources and is better suited for server workloads:

bashsudo apt install openjdk-8-jre-headless

Create a dedicated system user for the server. Running Minecraft as root is a security risk. This account has no login password and cannot connect via SSH:

bashsudo useradd -r -m -U -d /opt/minecraft -s /bin/bash minecraft

Switch to the new user and create the working directories:

bashsudo su - minecraftmkdir -p ~/{backups,tools,server}

The backups directory stores compressed snapshots, tools holds mcrcon and the backup script, and server contains the Minecraft world and all configuration files.

Build mcrcon and Download the Server

mcrcon is a lightweight RCON client that lets you run commands on a live Minecraft server from the terminal. Clone and compile it:

bashcd ~/tools && git clone https://github.com/Tiiffi/mcrcon.gitcd ~/tools/mcrcongcc -std=gnu11 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra -O2 -s -o mcrcon mcrcon.c

Download the official Minecraft server JAR. Check the Minecraft download page for the current URL, then fetch it into the server directory:

bashwget https://launcher.mojang.com/v1/objects/ed76d597a44c5266be2a7fcd77a8270f1f0bc118/server.jar -P ~/server

Configure the Minecraft Server

Run the server once to generate the configuration files. It will exit immediately with an EULA warning:

bashcd ~/server && java -Xmx1024M -Xms512M -jar server.jar nogui

Open ~/server/eula.txt and change eula=false to eula=true to accept the Minecraft EULA. Then open ~/server/server.properties and enable RCON:

rcon.port=25575rcon.password=your-strong-passwordenable-rcon=true

Use a strong, unique password. If you do not need remote console access, block port 25575 at your firewall.

Run Minecraft as a Systemd Service

Switch back to your sudo user with exit, then create the service file:

bashsudo nano /etc/systemd/system/minecraft.service

Paste the following:

ini[Unit]Description=Minecraft ServerAfter=network.target[Service]User=minecraftNice=1KillMode=noneWorkingDirectory=/opt/minecraft/serverExecStart=/usr/bin/java -Xmx1024M -Xms512M -jar server.jar noguiExecStop=/opt/minecraft/tools/mcrcon/mcrcon -H 127.0.0.1 -P 25575 -p your-strong-password stop[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.target

Adjust Xmx (max RAM) and Xms (starting RAM) to match your server. Reload systemd, then start and enable the service:

bashsudo systemctl daemon-reloadsudo systemctl start minecraftsudo systemctl enable minecraft

Open the Minecraft game port in UFW:

bashsudo ufw allow 25565/tcp

Automatic Backups and Console Access

Switch to the minecraft user and create /opt/minecraft/tools/backup.sh. The script pauses world saves, archives the server directory with tar, resumes saves, and deletes backups older than 7 days. Make it executable with chmod +x, then schedule it daily in cron:

bashcrontab -e# Add this line to run backups every night at 23:00:0 23 * * * /opt/minecraft/tools/backup.sh

To connect to the live Minecraft console from the terminal:

bash/opt/minecraft/tools/mcrcon/mcrcon -H 127.0.0.1 -P 25575 -p your-strong-password -t

Type Q to exit the console session.

Your Minecraft server is now running on Ubuntu 18.04, managed by systemd, secured under a dedicated user account, and backed up automatically every night. Leave a comment below if you run into any issues during setup.