What Does Whitelisting Mean On Your Minecraft Server?

Are you tired of random players joining your Minecraft server and ruining it? It can be frustrating when people show up out of nowhere and start griefing or messing with your world. You want to enjoy the game with your friends without worrying about strangers.

When random players join, they can destroy your creations, break your builds, or even cause chaos on your server. This can completely ruin your Minecraft experience. You’ve spent hours building a big, amazing world with your friends, only to have some random player come in and destroy everything. You try to fix it, but they keep coming back. That’s when you realize that the best way to stop this from happening is to whitelist your Minecraft server.

By whitelisting your Minecraft server, you can stop these random players from joining. This ensures only the people you trust, like your friends, can play on your server. Your builds will stay safe, and you can have peace of mind knowing you control who joins.

It’s easy to set up, and in this article, we’ll show you how to whitelist your Minecraft server. You don’t have to worry about complex steps, as we’ve made the process simple and user-friendly.

Why Whitelist Your Minecraft Server?

Before we go over the steps, let’s explain the importance of whitelisting your Minecraft server. You might be thinking, "What's the point of whitelisting my Minecraft server?"

Well, there are many reasons, with security being the most common, but there are other benefits as well.

Better community experience

It helps create a group of players you can trust, making the server more fun and friendly. When players get to know each other and become friends, everyone feels happier and more comfortable. They can help each other, play together, and share good times. This makes the server a better place for everyone, and more people will want to join because it’s a nice place to be.

Protects against griefing

Only players you trust are allowed to join, which helps protect your creations from being ruined by random strangers. By limiting access to trusted players, you can make sure that no one will come in and destroy the builds you've worked hard on. This not only keeps the game safe but also ensures that everyone can enjoy the world you’ve created without worrying about griefers or unwanted interruptions. It helps create a more secure and enjoyable environment where players can focus on having fun and collaborating without fear of their work being damaged.

Prevents unwanted players

It stops random people from joining your server, even if they have your IP address. Without this protection, anyone who knows your server’s IP could easily connect and cause problems. By limiting access, you ensure that only trusted players can join, no matter who has the IP.

Control over who joins

You have complete control over who can play, making your server more private. This means you can decide exactly who gets to join, ensuring that only the people you trust are allowed in. Whether it's friends, family, or specific players, you can handpick who enters your world.

Security

It adds an extra layer of protection against potential hackers or troublemakers. By controlling who can join, you make it much harder for anyone with bad intentions to get into your server

How To Whitelist Your Minecraft Server?

Whitelisting your Minecraft server is quick and easy… it will take no more than 2 minutes. Below, I've listed simple steps for both Minecraft editions: Java and Bedrock.

Java Edition

In Minecraft Java Edition, whitelisting your server is very easy. You’re only two commands away from enabling the whitelist and adding players. Whether you’re using Paper, Spigot, or other APIs, the feature is available. 

You can whitelist your Minecraft server in Java edition in 2 ways: in your in-game console and from your Minecraft hosting console. The difference is that in your in-game console you should use / to run the command, while in Minecraft hosting console you write the command without /. 

Note: Before using the command in-game, make sure you have administrator permissions. To get them, type the following in the console:

op [YourPlayerName]

Here are 6 quick and easy steps for you to follow:

  1. Open the in-game console.
  2. To enable the whitelist, type: /whitelist on
  3. To add a player to the whitelist, type: /whitelist add [playername]
  4. To remove a player from the whitelist, type: /whitelist remove [playername]
  5. To view the players on the whitelist, type: /whitelist list
  6. To disable the whitelist, type: /whitelist off

Notes:

  • You can run these commands from the hosting console as well. Remember, in the hosting console, you should not use the / to run commands.
  • Don’t forget to whitelist yourself!

Bedrock Edition

The Bedrock Edition has a whitelist feature too, but it’s called AllowList. To enable it, you only need to make one simple change in your Minecraft server files.

Here are 8 quick and easy steps for you to follow:

  1. Go to your Minecraft server files.
  2. Open server.properties.
  3. In the server.properties file, change allow-list=false to allow-list=true.
  4. Save the changes and restart your server.
  5. To add players, open the Minecraft hosting console and type: allowlist add [playername]
  6. To remove players, type: allowlist remove [playername]
  7. To view the list, type: allowlist list
  8. To disable the allowlist, go back to server.properties and change allow-list=true back to allow-list=false. Save the changes and restart the server.

Secure Minecraft Server Hosting With Pine Hosting

What sets Pine Hosting apart? Our high-performance hardware ensures smooth gameplay, even with large player bases. With our user-friendly control panel, setting up and managing your server is a breeze, whether you’re hosting a small private server or a large community. Plus, we offer fully customizable options to suit your needs, no matter how big or small your vision is.

Worried about transferring your data from an old host? With Pine Hosting, we’ve got you covered. Our team will migrate all your files and data for free, ensuring a hassle-free transition. And with 24/7 customer support, we’re here whenever you need us. We’ve built a reputation for top-notch support, ready to jump in and handle any issues you face, so you can focus on what matters: enjoying your server.

Ready to host your own server and enjoy an effortless Minecraft experience? Host your server with Pine Hosting today and join the countless people who trust us for high-performance, reliable hosting. Get started now and see why we’re the best choice for Minecraft hosting!