---
layout: post
author: Sam Hadow
tags: games sysadmin
---

In this blog post, I'll describe how to self host a minecraft server on a raspberry Pi 5. This guide assumes you already have a minimal install of debian 13 on your Pi5. 

# Steps

## 1. Installing the required packages

```bash
sudo apt install default-jre openjdk-25-jre
```

## 2. Running the server

### 2.1) Creating a dedicated user:
```bash
sudo useradd -m minecraft
```

### 2.2) Enabling autologin for minecraft on TTY2
```bash
sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty2.service.d
```
and in this folder I created this file:
```ini
#/etc/systemd/system/getty@tty2.service.d/autologin.conf
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin minecraft --noclear %I $TERM
```

### 2.3) Enabling lingering for minecraft (which is needed to start user systemd services even without a shell session)
```bash
sudo loginctl enable-linger minecraft
```

### 2.4) Downloading the minecraft server:

Download the latest version of fabric minecraft server from [here](https://fabricmc.net/use/server/)  
For example:  
```bash
sudo curl -o /home/minecraft/server.jar https://meta.fabricmc.net/v2/versions/loader/26.2/0.19.3/1.1.2/server/jar
```

### 2.5) Creating the systemd service
First creating the folder:
```bash
sudo mkdir -p /home/minecraft/.config/systemd/user
```
And then a service unit file:
```ini
#/home/minecraft/.config/systemd/user/minecraft.service
[Unit]
Description=Minecraft Server
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/minecraft
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -Xmx4G -jar /home/minecraft/server.jar nogui

Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
```

After this make sure the ownership is correct:
```bash
sudo chown -R minecraft:minecraft /home/minecraft
```

And then to start the service:
```bash
sudo systemctl --user --machine=minecraft@.host daemon-reload
sudo systemctl --user --machine=minecraft@.host start minecraft
```

after the first start you'll need to accept the EULA:
```ini
#/home/minecraft/eula.txt
eula=TRUE
```

```bash
sudo systemctl --user --machine=minecraft@.host restart minecraft
```


## 3. Checking logs

To check the minecraft server related logs, we can use the following command:
```bash
sudo journalctl _UID=$(id -u minecraft)
```

## 4. Additional remarks

### 4.1) Server properties

You can change the server properties in `/home/minecraft/server.properties`.  
I recommend enabling the whitelist if your server is exposed on the internet.

### 4.2) Executing commands

In `/home/minecraft/server.properties` enable RCON:
```ini
enable-rcon=true
rcon.port=25575
rcon.password=CHANGE_ME
```

Ideally you now want strict permissions on this file since it contains your RCON password in cleartext:
```bash
sudo chmod 600 /home/minecraft/server.properties
```

Then you can administer your server with a RCON client like mcrcon:
```bash
mcrcon -H 127.0.0.1 -P 25575 -p 'YOUR_RCON_PASSWORD'
```

### 4.3) Mods

Put your mods in `/home/minecraft/mods`  
I recommend installing these mods:
 - [fabric api](https://modrinth.com/mod/fabric-api)
 - [carpet](https://modrinth.com/mod/carpet) : For technical minecraft players
 - [lithium](https://modrinth.com/mod/lithium) : For optimizations