Public Minecraft Java server: how to open yours and get players

A public Minecraft Java server is one that anyone can find and join by copying an address, without asking you first. This guide covers what makes a server public, how to open yours without leaving it exposed, how to get it seen, and how to keep order once strangers start arriving.

If you have no server yet, start one on our free Minecraft server hosting and follow our guide to making a free Minecraft server; the Minecraft Java server page sums up versions and templates. If you only want a public server to play on, section 1 takes you straight to one.

• Public means four things: an address that works from outside, online mode on, the whitelist off (or a join password) and more slots than your group of friends.
• Being found is a separate step: nobody sees your server until you list it somewhere. On 1up you switch on Show on the public list and your server appears on our public server list with its own profile page.
• Moderation starts on day one: careful operators, quick bans and the whitelist ready for when a group of griefers turns up.

1. If you only want to play on a public server

Open our public server list. Filter by game, by mode (Survival, Creative, Minigames, PvP, Modpack or Roleplay), by region or by With room left, press Copy IP, then in Minecraft go to Multiplayer → Add Server and paste the address. The list refreshes every 60 seconds and only shows servers that are online right now.

If a server carries the Password protected badge, open its profile and press Join with the password: you type your Minecraft name and the password the owner gave you, and you land on its whitelist. Invite only means only players the owner added can join.

2. What makes a Minecraft Java server public

A server is public when a stranger can join without you doing anything. That comes down to five server.properties settings, all described on the Minecraft Wiki:

Online mode is the one setting you never switch off on an open server. Without it the server does not check who you are, so someone can join under your name, and if your name is an operator, with your permissions.

3. Open your server on 1up

If you are creating the server now, the wizard asks about all of this in its settings step: Whitelist on, Online mode, Show in the public list and Protect with a password. For a public server, leave Online mode ticked and Whitelist on unticked.

If you already have a server:

1. In the Game tab, Players section, check that Online mode is on and raise Max players. Your plan sets the ceiling.
2. In the Players tab, switch Whitelist on off if it was on.
3. In the MOTD section of Game, write the message players see in their server list. The editor has colours and a preview of how it looks in the game.
4. Restart the server to apply the changes that need it.

Your address is yourname.play.1up-servers.com, with no port, because we publish an SRV record that tells the game which port to use. Nothing to forward on your router.

Be realistic about slots. The Free plan gives 4 slots and 2 GB of RAM, enough to test whether your idea draws people in; Casual gives 6, Starter 10 and Pro 20. Our guide to how much RAM a Minecraft server needs helps you tell when you have outgrown a plan.

4. Publish your server on the 1up public list

A server with a working address is still invisible if nobody knows it. To appear on our list:

1. Open the Server tab and, in the Network group, the Address and ports section.
2. Under Public list, switch on Show on the public list.
3. Pick the Mode: Survival, Creative, Minigames, PvP, Modpack or Roleplay. Players filter by it.
4. Write the Description: one line of up to 160 characters, shown on the list and on the profile. Say what sets you apart, not that you are «the best».
5. Press Publish on the list. A View profile button then appears.

The profile lives at /en/j/yourname/ and shows the address with a copy button, the mode, the description, the version, the region, the players online and how to join from Java, from Bedrock and from a console. It is the link to paste on Discord or social media.

Three things to know:

• Only online servers are listed. Switch yours off and it drops off the list until it is online again.
• The padlock is automatic. With a join password your server shows as Password protected; with the whitelist on and no password, as Invite only.
• You can unlist it any time. Switch the toggle off and your server leaves the list.

5. Basic moderation for an open server

Opening your server means people you do not know will join. Get ready before the first problem.

Be careful with operators. In the Players tab, the Operators list shows who has admin rights. op grants level 4 by default, the highest, which includes stopping the server. According to the /whitelist wiki page, operators can also always join while the whitelist is on. Only op people you trust.

Kick and ban. The list of online players has kick and ban one click away. ban puts the account on the server blacklist, stored in banned-players.json, and pardon removes it, as the /ban wiki page explains. Our Minecraft server commands guide has the full syntax.

The whitelist as an emergency brake. If a wave of griefers arrives, switch on Whitelist on in Players: from then on only players on it can join. A middle ground is the Join password, in the Server tab, Protection section. Minecraft has no password of its own, so we turn the whitelist on and players who know the password add themselves from the profile page.

Moderators. From Starter you can invite someone in the Access tab with the Moderator role. They can kick and ban, but granting or removing op stays with the owner and the co-owner.

Reports. The public profile has a Report abuse link. You run your server and 1up does not moderate its content live, but we enforce our acceptable use policy when someone reports abuse.

If you also want phone and Windows Bedrock players, our Java and Bedrock crossplay with Geyser guide explains the bridge.

6. How server listing sites work

Besides our list, independent websites collect Minecraft servers. Almost all of them work the same way:

• You register and add your address. The site queries your server with the same status ping the game uses to show the MOTD, the players online and whether it is up.
• They rank by votes. Players vote once a day and the most voted climb. Many sites hand out in-game rewards to voters through a vote plugin.
• That plugin needs a plugin-capable server. On 1up, one-click plugins and mods start on Starter; on Free and Casual, create the server with Paper and upload the plugin's .jar through Files.
• There are paid featured spots. If you ever pay for one, first check how many people really play on the servers around it.

Before you list your server anywhere, have the profile and the moderation ready.

7. Get your first players

• A clear niche. «Vanilla survival for adults, no map resets» draws more people than «fun survival». Use it in the description and the MOTD.
• A community outside the game. A Discord with rules and announcements keeps people around when the server is empty.
• Consistency. A server that is off shows on no list. If you are serious, a paid plan keeps it running without depending on your schedule.
• A cared-for world. Protect the spawn with Spawn protection in Game and take a backup before every big change; backups start on Casual.

If you are torn between starting free and paying, our comparison of free vs paid game server hosting covers what changes with each plan, and the pricing page lists the slots and RAM of each.

Tested on Minecraft: Java Edition 26.3, the default version of our wizard, 2026-10-07: the public list, the profile page and the panel settings were checked against production (1up v0.268.0). The server.properties settings and the commands come from the Minecraft Wiki.

Change log

• 2026-10-20: plugins on Free and Casual go through Files on a Paper server.
• 2026-10-07: first version.

NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT SERVICE. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG OR MICROSOFT.