← Back to Minecraft Documentation | Documentation Portal

🛠️ Server Operations Guide

Daily maintenance procedures, performance monitoring, and file management rules for the Fabric 1.21.1 instance.

Note: This documentation applies to the current server configuration. If a new server is set up using the setup guides, operational procedures may differ slightly. See the Minecraft Documentation for configuration details.

1. Directory Structure & Scripts

Server Home Directory

The server home directory is ~ (also /home/server). SSH puts you here by default.

backups/ - Contains daily server backups (collected at 04:00 AM and uploaded to Google Drive)
docs/ - Additional server documentation
minecraft-fabric-server/ - Main Minecraft server directory containing world data, mods, and configs

Important Scripts

./start.sh - Starts the server. Must run in a virtual terminal (using screen), otherwise the server shuts down when the terminal closes.
./upload_mods.sh - Zips the mods directory and uploads it to Google Drive

2. Virtual Terminals (Screen)

The server runs in a background "screen" session to keep it alive when you disconnect.

Common Screen Commands

screen -r minecraft - Resume (attach to) the existing Minecraft virtual terminal
screen -S minecraft - Create a new virtual terminal named "minecraft"
screen -list - Show all running virtual terminals and their session IDs
screen -X -S <session_id> quit - Close a specific virtual terminal session

Detaching from Console (Safe Exit)

DO NOT press Ctrl+C. This will kill the server process immediately and may corrupt game files.

To leave the console running in the background:

Press Ctrl + A
Then press D

Note: Only one Minecraft virtual terminal session can exist at a time.

3. Server Console Commands

When attached to the server console (via screen -r minecraft), you can type Minecraft commands:

stop - Gracefully shuts down the server. Wait for the "Saving chunks" message to complete before proceeding.
/op <player> - Give operator privileges to a player
/whitelist <add|remove> <player> - Manage the whitelist

4. Power Cycle Procedures

Manual Restart

If you need to restart the server manually:

Attach to console: screen -r minecraft
Type stop in the game console
Wait for the "Saving chunks" message to complete
Exit to the regular terminal
Run the start script:
```
./start.sh
```

Hardware Constraints

RAM Limit: The server is allocated 10GB of RAM. Do not increase this beyond 12GB or the Linux kernel will crash due to lack of memory overhead.

5. Mod & Datapack SOP

Fabric has strict file placement rules. Misplacing these files will prevent the server from starting.

Mods (.jar)

Location: ~/minecraft_server/mods/

Rule: ALL .jar files go here, even if they seem like content packs (e.g., "Gardener's Dream").
Sync: Players MUST install these mods on their own computers to join.

Datapacks (.zip)

Location: ~/minecraft_server/world/datapacks/

Rule: Only .zip datapacks go here. No jars.

6. Performance Monitoring

Use the installed Spark mod to diagnose lag.

Check Health (TPS/RAM)

/spark health

Displays current Ticks Per Second and Memory usage.

Profile Lag Spikes

/spark profiler start
# ... Wait 2 minutes ...
/spark profiler stop

Generates a web link to analyze exactly what mod is causing lag.

7. Offsite Backups

Backups run automatically every day at 04:00 AM. You can access the archives directly below.

📁 Google Drive Archive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yE9wjVu2AkK_bRUnVYhvuOSSmVFeemH3?usp=sharing

← Back to Minecraft Documentation