Ewan's Minecraft Server #

A Dockerised PaperMC server configured for small groups, with tunnelled public access via playit.gg — no port forwarding required.

Table of Contents #

• License
• Features
• System Requirements
• Getting Started
• playit.gg Tunnel Setup
• Usage
• Maintenance
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• Contact
• Rules

Getting Started #

Prerequisites #

• Docker Desktop (or OrbStack on macOS)
• A playit.gg account

1. Clone the repository #

git clone https://github.com/ewanc26/mc-server.git
cd mc-server

2. Configure the environment #

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and set at minimum:

• MC_VERSION — Minecraft version to run (currently pinned to 26.1.2 for Geyser compatibility)
• PLAYIT_SECRET — leave blank for now; see step 4

Then run the auto-configuration script to select the correct Java image and JVM flags (plugins are managed separately, via MC_MODRINTH_PROJECTS / MC_SPIGET_RESOURCES in .env):

MC_VERSION=26.1.2 ./scripts/auto_configure.sh

3. Start the server #

docker compose up -d

4. Claim the playit.gg tunnel #

On first run without a PLAYIT_SECRET, the playit agent prints a claim URL:

docker compose logs playit

Open the URL, sign into playit.gg, and add a Minecraft tunnel pointed at mc:25565. Copy the secret key from the dashboard into .env:

PLAYIT_SECRET=your_secret_here

Then apply it (a plain restart won't pick up the new secret — the container needs recreating):

docker compose up -d playit

Your server is now reachable at the address shown in the playit dashboard — no port forwarding or DNS configuration needed.

5. Whitelist players #

Add player UUIDs (comma-separated) to MC_WHITELIST and MC_OPS in .env, then apply it (a plain restart won't pick up the new values — the container needs recreating):

docker compose up -d mc

Or manage in-game via RCON:

docker compose exec mc rcon-cli

6. (Optional) Set up Bedrock access #

See the playit.gg Tunnel Setup doc for Bedrock tunnel configuration and account-linking instructions.

Scripts #

Utility scripts live in scripts/.

setup_master.sh — main setup script; run this first.

./scripts/setup_master.sh

auto_configure.sh — selects the correct Java image and JVM flags for a given Minecraft version.

MC_VERSION=26.1.2 ./scripts/auto_configure.sh

server_status_mac.sh / server_status_linux.sh — start, stop, and check server status. setup_master.sh can configure an mcserver alias for these.

mcserver start
mcserver stop
mcserver status

Data #

Server world data and backups are stored at:

/Volumes/Storage/Server/MC/
├── data/     # world, plugins, configs
└── backups/  # automated backups via the mc-backup sidecar container

These paths can be overridden in .env via MC_DATA_DIR and MC_BACKUP_DIR.

Support #

If you find this project useful, consider supporting its development: