This is a neat little project to run multiple Minecraft servers on one machine using docker.
Each container keeps the server in an off state, listening for connections. Once a user sends a request (by joining the server or using the web service), the main Minecraft server is turned on, so the user needs to wait 1-2 minutes to join the loaded world. The server shuts down automatically when no players are online to save power and resources.
Bellow is a step-by-step guide on how create your own Minecraft server.
Whole process can be done in terminal, but it is recommended to use IDE like Visual Studio Code.
Create a directory for your server and create docker-compose.yml file in it. This file will be used to configure your server. You can also create files directory in your server directory, but it is not required - it will be created automatically.
mkdir myserver
cd myserver
touch docker-compose.ymlMain Dockerfile is located in docker directory. It is used to create base image for Minecraft server. You can use it to create your own image using commands in docker/README.md file. Make sure you aren't overriding existing images. Do only if you know what you are doing!
It is recommended to use docker-compose to run your server. It can be done using docker run command, but it is not recommended. Compose file is more readable and easier to use.
Here is an example of docker-compose.yml file for base Minecraft server.
services:
mc:
image: minecraft # Image name - make sure you create it first
ports:
- 25565:25565 # Minecraft server port
- 8080:80 # Web service port
environment:
VERSION: 1.20.1
MEMORY: 5G
DIFFICULTY: normal
WEBPORT: 80 # Web service port - must be the same as in ports, if you want to use web service
tty: true
stdin_open: true
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- ./files:/data # Server filesFor more examples, visit examples directory.
For more information about docker-compose file, visit docker-compose reference.
To start server, run docker-compose up -d command in your server directory.
But before that, you need to make sure that your server is working properly. To do that, run docker-compose up command. Container will start, and you will see logs in your terminal. If everything is working properly, you can stop the container using Ctrl+C and start it in background using docker-compose up -d command. For better debug is recommended to use web service to start your server.
Make sure that you don't have any other Minecraft server running on this port. If you do, you can change ports in docker-compose.yml file. You can check used ports using docker ps command.
Older or modded servers may require older java version. You can change java version in Dockerfile file. Make sure you are using image with correct java version. If you need java, but its image is not build, you can create it using commands in docker/README.md file.
When using AUTO_CURSEFORGE option, it's possible that's some mods going to be missing (some authors forbid downloading their mods automatically). After first startup, there's going to be a file that contains all missing mods. You can download them manually and put them in files/mods directory. After that, you can relaunch your server, and it should work.
When mod is not working, it's possible that it's not compatible with server. Check if mod isn't client-side only. If it's not, change java version or try to remove the mod. But remember, that some mods are required for server to work properly.
Check your directory permissions using ls -l - it should look like drwxrwxrwx - if not use sudo chmod 777 -R directory_name
If you have any other problems, please read documentations of used projects, it may help you. If not, contact me.
To open server console, run console.py script.
sudo python3 config/console.pyYou can pass container name as argument, or you will be asked to choose one.
All credits go to these projects: