Server Advice
Server Advice
7 ArticlesHow to Protect your Modded Minecraft Client/Server from the 'Bleeding Pipe' Vulnerability
BleedingPipe is a current (as of July 2023) exploit malware that has been spreading quietly around the Minecraft community. The vulnerability has been discovered in many popular mods, spreading to Minecraft servers and clients running Forge. BleedingPipe uses a vulnerability found in mods that use an unsafe deserialization code, which then gives the malware full remote code execution on clients and servers. However, not all hope is lost, as there is a Patcher that has been released called serializationisbad which resolves the issue and keeps players & servers protected. This patcher can be installed client-side to protect players from any server they join. Alternatively, it can be installed server-side to protect any players that connect to your server. When using a Shockbyte server, all servers that use our Modpack Installer are protected as they have this patcher pre-installed. If you have any concerns or think your server may be infected, don't hesitate to get in touch with our dedicated support staff, who can scan your server to ensure it hasn't been compromised! --- Installing serializationisbad to your Server/Client This patcher's JAR file should be added to your mods folder in either your server or client. 1. Download the latest version of serializationisbad. 2. Upload to your mods folder, in either your client or server. What if you may have already been affected? If you're worried that the malware has already reached your PC or server, then you can use a JAR malware detection tool to check for you. To do this, we would suggest using jNeedle. jNeedle requires you to specify a folder, and it will search the JAR files to detect any malware existing in that folder. There are various ways to use jNeedle to detect malware, but we would suggest using the GUI mode. 1. Download jneedle-gui-xxx.jar. 2. Double-click the JAR file to run the software. 3. Specify the folder you wish to scan for vulnerabilities. 4. Once the scan is complete, you will see the complete message in the console with the number of files scanned and the malicious file(s) found.
How to Make Money from your Minecraft Server
Monetizing your Minecraft server is a great way to expand and promote a Minecraft network. Hosting a server can quickly get expensive; between paying upkeep, developing plugins, and hiring builders, there are many associated costs. This guide will show you some popular methods to monetize a server without breaking Minecraft’s Terms of Service. --- Understanding Minecraft Terms of Service All server owners are required to follow Minecraft Terms of Service, including the Commercial Usage Guidelines when monetizing servers. Failure to do so may result in servers being shut down or users being banned altogether. Server owners are also required to ensure that all players are following the TOS while playing on their server. Be sure to carefully read over the Terms of Service before monetizing your server. --- Cosmetics Cosmetics are a great way to raise money on a server. Cosmetics can range from in-game pets, trails, and more. Adding cosmetics as a purchasable option on your server can help market your server and get more players interested in sticking around. ::ProseNote{title="Important" description="It is against TOS to sell capes as a cosmetic item." appearance="danger"} :: Paid Entry If you already have a list of players eager to join your server, a paywall is another option to generate more revenue. This is especially useful for owners with a Twitch or YouTube following. For example, you could allow entry to your server on the basis that all members must purchase a Twitch subscription before being able to join. This increases the incentive to not only support your channel but also encourages community members to join in on the fun. Donations One of the most common and useful methods of monetization is donations. You can set up simple donations to allow users to support the network, as well as goals to further incentivize donations. Besides one-time donations, paid subscriptions are another amazing option for players to show continuous support. As long as you do not provide powerful perks for donating, you can increase server income a lot. --- Events Minecraft events often bring in plenty of new players. Because of this, advertisements are a very popular method of generating revenue during events. If you have a large community of players, third-party sponsorships can help increase server income. There are many companies and content creators that love sponsoring Minecraft events, so reaching out to these companies is a great idea. Events are also useful for marketing your server. If you invite players who might produce content during your event, you can significantly increase your server’s exposure. --- Conclusion There are tons of reasons why owners may wish to generate income on their server. As Minecraft servers become increasingly popular, many owners are searching for new ways to increase community support. Because of this, it is incredibly important to understand how to do so safely and legally.
How to Analyze a Timings v2 Report
A timings report is a diagnostic tool used on Paper servers, that provides a detailed breakdown of server performance. Often, these are used to help server owners diagnose where server lag may be occurring and can be utilized to help manage your server. ::ProseNote{title="Creating a Report" description="To learn how to create a timings report, click here to follow our guide. Once you have done this, you can follow the steps below to analyze the report." appearance="default"} :: How to Read a Timings Report Once a report has been generated, you may open it, Upon doing so, you will be presented with one of 2 variants. This guide describes how to analyze Timings report v2, which is generated from PaperMC server types. If your report doesn't look similar to the one below, it means you most likely have timings report v1 which is generated by Spigot. If you have generated a Timings v1 Report, you are required to follow this analyzation guide. --- Reading a Timings Report v2 1. Check Server Ticks per Second (TPS) Navigate to the Avg tab under results bar and select it. Then check the value named Minecraft::Full Server Tick. If it's above 18 TPS (make sure to check the value in "()"), your server isn't experiencing consistent tick-related lag. The lag may be caused by latency issues. To fix latency lag, consider changing your server location. 2. Check Entity Count Too many entities may take a lot of your server’s processing power. Therefore, to check it navigate to Regions Count and expand the world option. There you will be able to find the total number of entities per region. If there are more than 2000+ entities present on your server at the same time, this may result in poor server performance. In this instance, we recommend checking our guide on How to Reduce Entity Lag on your Server. 3. Check Average Player Count Players as entities take valuable resources to process their actions on the server. Therefore having too many players online at the same time may negatively impact your server’s performance. This is more common in cases where your server may not have enough RAM. If more than 20 players are connected to your server per GB of RAM, we suggest upgrading your server to reduce player-related lag (this may vary depending on your Server Type). To check the number of players in the selected region, navigate to Regions Count and search for the Player value. 4. Attempt to Resolve Alerts PaperMC Timings reports alert you if some settings are not optimized or are beyond their normal values. In the example below, we can see that the report alerted us that the server is not using Aikar flags and it also provides a resolution. The errors may vary, but they always contain a cause and suggestion on how to resolve the issue. In rare cases, it may happen that you won’t be able to find any conclusive evidence of what is causing lag on your server. --- There are a few ways you may resolve lag that is not appearing on your timings report. We would recommend checking the following documentation: Optimize bukkit.yml to Reduce Lag Optimizing spigot.yml to Reduce Lag How to Fix Lag By Reducing View Distance on a Minecraft Server Use Plugins to Reduce Lag on Your Minecraft Server You may also simply upgrade your server to a higher plan, which may instantly solve your issues. If your server is still lagging, you may contact our 24/7 support team, providing your timings report in a ticket. We will be happy to take a look and assist you in finding a resolution for your lag problems.
How to Analyze a Timings v1 Report
A timings report is a diagnostic tool used on Spigot servers, that provides a detailed breakdown of server performance. Often, these are used to help server owners diagnose where server lag may be occurring and can be utilized to help manage your server. ::ProseNote{title="Creating a Report" description="To learn how to create a timings report, click here to follow our guide. Once you have done this, you can follow the steps below to analyze the report." appearance="default"} :: How to Read a Timings Report Once a report has been generated, you may open it, Upon doing so, you will be presented with one of 2 variants. This guide is focused on Timings v1 Reports, which are generated from Spigot server types. If your report doesn't look similar to the one below this means you most likely have a v2 timings report which is generated by PaperMC server types. If you have generated a Timings v2 Report, you should follow this analyzation guide instead. Reading a Timings Report V1 1. Check Server Ticks per Second (TPS) Check the Average TPS value. If it's above 18 TPS, your server isn't experiencing consistent tick-related lag. The lag may be caused by latency issues. To fix latency lag, consider changing your server location. 2. Check Entity Count Too many entities may take a lot of your server’s processing power. Check the Entity count value on your Timings report. 3. Check Average Player Count Players as entities take valuable resources to process their actions on the server. Therefore having too many players online at the same time may negatively impact your server’s performance. This is more common in cases where your server may not have enough RAM. If more than 20 players are connected to your server per GB of RAM, we suggest upgrading your server to reduce player-related lag (this may vary depending on your Server Type). To see this value, check the Average Players value on your Timings report. 4. Attempt to Resolve Alerts Spigot Timings reports will alert you if some settings are not optimized or are beyond their normal values. In the example below, we can see that server is overloaded and the report also provides a resolution. The errors may vary, but they always contain a cause and suggestion on how to resolve the issue. In rare cases, you may not be able to find any conclusive evidence of what is causing lag on your server. There are a few ways you may resolve lag that is not appearing on your timings report. You may switch to PaperMC in an effort to improve server performance. We would also recommend checking the following documentation: Optimize bukkit.yml to Reduce Lag Optimizing spigot.yml to Reduce Lag How to Fix Lag By Reducing View Distance on a Minecraft Server Use Plugins to Reduce Lag on Your Minecraft Server You may also simply upgrade your server to a higher plan, with more RAM, which may help solve your issues. If your server is still lagging, you can always contact our 24/7 support team, providing your timings report in a ticket. We will be happy to take a look and assist you in finding a resolution for your lag problems.
How to Advertise your Minecraft Server
Minecraft servers are best when you get to play and enjoy the game with more players. For new server owners, it can be challenging to get players into your server, which is why we will guide you through some tips and tricks to jump-start your very own Minecraft server community. One of the popular ways to get players into your server is through advertising. But wait! Before you post your server advertisement, it is important to make sure your server is ready for players. Not only that, once your advertisement is published and players begin to join your server, you also want them to stay and even invite their friends to play on your server too. Our checklist below will help you prepare your server to make it more appealing and ensure player retention. It is recommended to go over this list before you advertise your server. --- Tips to Increase Player Retention Completely set up your Minecraft server (builds, permissions, ranks, shops, and other configurations) to prevent affecting server availability and performance. Use a custom domain / subdomain (e.g. mymcserver.com) as your server address to make it easier to remember and share. Follow our guide here: Setting Up a Custom Server IP (Domain / Subdomain). Choose a game mode or server type that'll give players a unique experience. Invite your friends to play on your server to encourage new players to stay. The more, the merrier! --- Where to Advertise Your Minecraft Server Minecraft Server Listing Sites MinecraftServers.net MinecraftServers.org Minecraft.ServersList.co Minecraft-Server-List.com MinecraftList.org Minecraft-MP.com PlanetMinecraft.com (servers) TopG.org --- Minecraft Forums MinecraftForum.net (Java Edition) (Bedrock Edition) PlanetMinecraft.com (Java Edition) (Bedrock Edition) CurseForge.com After posting your server on server lists, new players will be able to find your server and join. If you want to gain even more players from the server list, we recommend setting up Votifier. Voting allows players to vouch for your server, which boosts it on the server list. We have a guide to help you with Votifier here.
How Often you should Restart your Minecraft Server
We recommend that you restart your Minecraft server at least once every day. This provides benefits such as allowing the RAM used by Minecraft to clear out useless and old data from when players disconnect, including chunks, entities, and more. Restarting once every 12-24 hours will make sure that you have little to no lag from overuse of RAM. To set up automatic restarts on your Minecraft server, you can check out our Knowledgebase article found here.
How Much RAM do I Need for a Minecraft Server
Minecraft servers vary in their RAM requirements, depending on their specific purpose and setup. RAM, or random access memory, acts as the server's quick access memory, influencing its ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. If a Minecraft server doesn't have sufficient RAM, it can experience performance issues. Therefore, it's important to understand what influences RAM usage and determine the appropriate amount needed for optimal performance. --- Vanilla, Bedrock, Spigot, Paper, etc. Vanilla servers usually need less RAM compared to modded server types. However, several factors can influence the necessary amount. In simple terms, the more addons (data packs/plugins) and players a server accommodates, the greater the RAM requirement. Bedrock servers typically need a similar amount of RAM to Vanilla servers. However, Bedrock servers might not need as much extra RAM when there are more players. | Metric | Recommended RAM | | ----- | ----- | | Minecraft 1.16.5 and previous | 2GB Minimum recommended | | Minecraft 1.17+ | 3GB Minimum recommended | | For every additional 5 players | +1GB Recommended | | For every 10 plugins | +1GB Recommended | BungeeCord, Waterfall, and Other Proxies Proxy servers don't load worlds, players, entities, or anything similar. Their role is to redirect players to a different connected server. Due to this, they don't need very much RAM to function properly. We suggest allocating 1GB of RAM for a basic proxy server. However, if you've added plugins to your proxy server, it might be worth adding more RAM. | Amount of Plugins | Recommended RAM | | ----- | ----- | | 0 - 5 Proxy Plugins | 1GB Recommended | | 6 - 15 Proxy Plugins | 2GB Recommended | | 16+ Proxy Plugins | 3GB Recommended | Forge, Fabric, and Other Modded Servers Running a modded version of Minecraft on your server, like Forge or Fabric, will notably raise your average RAM usage, especially when using modpacks. Some other factors that affect RAM requirements for modded servers include the Minecraft version, the number of players online, and the progress within the server. Please note that some modpacks may have official recommended RAM amounts posted on their official pages. Please make sure you check for these recommendations. | Metric | Recommended RAM | | ----- | ----- | | Minecraft 1.12.2 and previous Modpacks | 5GB Minimum recommended | | Minecraft 1.13 - 1.16.5 Modpacks | 6GB Minimum recommended | | Minecraft 1.17+ Modpacks | 8GB Minimum recommended | | Extra large Modpack | +1-2GB Recommended | | For every additional 3 players | +1GB Recommended |