Running a minecraft server? TIPS?

I'm running a minecraft server for a organization that has been putting on small minecraft lans for the kids. They were just doing it off one laptop (the laptops are horrible) and one would local host and all would play together. Once they hit around 8 to 10 players started having a lot of issues.

Anyway since my son goes I volunteered to run a real server. I use my rig in my sig as a server(my son plays on a different machine). How many players should I be able to support with my setup (going to upgrade my ram to 8 gb shortly). I have the server running online also but I only have about 1mb up I believe. So debating on how many players can actually join that lol. Maybe 5 or 10 tops? Lan wise I've seen a few threads discussing it I've heard 30-40 with my system similar specs.

Also I do not know much about minecraft as far as mods etc go. Any suggest some server mods like to say create a area for creative mode and leave most of it survival? I also want players to be able to protect what they build.

Any suggestions would be great.

The best mod for terraforming and playing around with world rules on minecraft is MCedit. If you want some videos on it check out Sethbling on youtube, he also does a lot of Redstone episodes. A mod the kids might like that i enjoyed myself was Feed The Beast, it basically adds things to the game like Computers with the mod computer craft, Portals via the Portal Mod, and Machines via Industrial and Buildcraft mods. I think you should check it out, i'm sure they'd like it and it's easy to install and use!

I also think your rig could handle upto 10 people as long as they weren't to far from each other.

You could also check out Vechz Adventure maps and they could play adventure maps together, or capture the monument. You could use Mumble to host a chat too via your PC.

Best of luck and if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

I'm not sure, but I would imagine that getting the 64 bit version of java would be recommended for better performance as it is for desktops as well. There is also a command that allows you to specify how much ram you want minecraft/java to use. Regarding mods, ftb is a good place to get stuff. http://feed-the-beast.com/ I personally like the Direwolf20 Pack.

an SSD is optimal for a minecraft server, also theres alot of guides on how to enable more memory usage, which it is going to need for that many people. mine ate up 2-4 gigs easy with about 10 people on. depending how far appart we were from eachother.

I'm running two Minecraft servers, a Vent server, and folding on my server. No problems, even with 3 people connected.

The estimates of 30-40 people is pretty accurate, judging by this.

As for mods, can't really say. Only thing I did was use Craftbukkit and a backup program.

Thanks a lot for the tips. I ended up taking down the regular server and put up a craftbukkit server with factions, Multiverse, and Iconomy. Crazy how many things you can do with this game. I mean I used to play it a little bit when it blew up but man server wise crazy how much you can install and how many options there are within each plugin when you have them in.

Got more ram on the way from a friend so I'll be more then good to go. Think I'll hold on to my two sticks and watch for a cheap ATX mobo so when the next lan comes I can toss them in to have a total of 12gb should keep me good for hopefully for the rest of the year. If it keeps growing lol guess I'll just look into making a real server computer.

Really, the biggest problem I think you will see with your system in your sig running online is your upload speed. Your PC will handle it with no problem. It's the upload speed that will be the limiting factor. I'd definitely run the minecraft server with a higher '-Xmx' than the default just to ensure you have plenty of RAM allocated.

It has been a while since I have really looked into the details of running a Minecraft server so I can't speak to whether or not running 32 bit or 64 bit Java will yield any performance increase at all but I highly doubt it unless you are using more than 2 GB of RAM as I believe that is the max heap size on Windows.

Running 32-bit Java limits you to 1GB of RAM per server.

ATMINSIDE said:

Running 32-bit Java limits you to 1GB of RAM per server.

Click to expand...

Do you mean a 1 GB limit with Minecraft on 32 bit Java or a 1 GB limit with 32 bit Java irregardless of Minecraft?

*edit: I know for certain that you can have a heap size of 1.5 GB on Windows desktops with 32 bit Java. On Windows Server, you can use ~2 GB as that is what my ColdFusion servers run with.

I believe its just a Java limitation, as the exact same .exe with 64-bit Java does at least 4GB.

All I can say for sure is that it didn't like over 1GB.

The reason that happens is because Java wants a continuous block of memory to be allocated which is specified by the -Xmx value (max heap size). If it can't be allocated, it complains and fails. Windows typically does not reserve any more than 1.5 GB for 32 bit applications, possibly lower in some cases depending on the physical memory available on a machine.

You can edit a file in the Java thing, i did it on my old computer where you can allocate as much memory as you'd like. I can link you to the thing i used, but keep in mind i use Macs, so the experience would be a little different doing it on your PC. If you'd like the link i can dig it up for you, but wont unless you ask... (It would take about a half hour going through my old HDD).

Yeah, it's actually very easy to do with either the .exe or .jar for the client or the server

Client

Server

^that right there...

See i'm not that fluent in Java, so i needed a little help. I should also add i did this with absolutely no tech knowledge of Java the first time, and i was maybe 13? (15 now)

Yeah, it doesn't really make a ton of sense without having to look it up. Unfortunately in my case, it is from spending way too much time dealing with Java related software at work

I went ahead and moved our posts to a new thread here since we are getting a bit more off topic

I always download 64 bit java right off the bat when i reinstall my machine. I had a little vanilla server going a long time ago for a little bit and had java 32 bit installed at that time it was a headache all the way around with my system.

I might pick up a new mobo mine is pretty old and I want a ATX board then I can keep my 2x4gb sticks hopefully and boost up to 12gb if i end up needing it later this year for bigger lans. I've been itching to head back into linux also. With valves games hitting linux and getting back into running a server again (even if it's a small one online because of crap upload). It's been fun find something extra to do.

But yeah as far as running online as Ben said my unload is crap. Sucks it used to be really nice I was pushing almost 4mb up and running a L4D server when i lived a town over. Then I moved and comcast cranked it down to like 1mb up lol. Must of been a mistake they caught when i moved.