How can I create a new world without losing my old one?

Enter a new name for the World Folder startup parameter and restart your server. The previous world will remain in the worlds directory.

Can I use plugins on my Bedrock server?

Yes. Select the Endstone variant under Games & Variants, then place Python or C++ plugins in the plugins folder.

Minecraft Bedrock: Server Configuration

Learn how to configure the game mode, difficulty, Allow List, worlds, and add-ons for your Minecraft Bedrock game server → Find out more

10 November 20265 min read0 Views0 helpful

Introduction

With the right configuration, you can turn your Minecraft Bedrock Edition game server into exactly the server you have in mind: your own name, the right game mode and difficulty, an Allow List for your friends, and your own worlds. In this guide, we’ll show you which settings are available, where to find them in ZapX, and what to keep in mind when changing them.

How configuration works

Minecraft Bedrock reads its settings from the server.properties file in your server’s root directory. However, you don’t need to change the most important values by hand: you can find them in ZapX under the Startup Parameters tab in Configuration.

Whenever your server starts, it writes the values from the startup parameters to the corresponding lines in server.properties. All other lines remain unchanged, and you can edit them directly in the file. Open the file in the Configuration tab using Edit directly, or in the Files tab.

Important

If a setting is available as a startup parameter, always change it under Startup Parameters, not directly in server.properties. Any change made in the file will be overwritten with the value from the startup parameters the next time the server starts.

After saving, ZapX will prompt you to restart the server. Your changes will only take effect after the restart.

Startup parameters at a glance

Startup parameter	Line in server.properties	Description
Server Name	`server-name`	The name players see in the server list. Default: `ZAP Bedrock Server`
World Folder	`level-name`	The name of the world folder in the `worlds` directory. Default: `Bedrock level`
Game Mode	`gamemode`	Game mode for new players: `survival`, `creative`, or `adventure`. Default: `survival`
Difficulty	`difficulty`	`peaceful`, `easy`, `normal`, or `hard`. Default: `easy`
Allow Cheats	`allow-cheats`	`true` allows cheat commands in the game. Default: `false`
Online Mode	`online-mode`	`true` requires players to sign in with a Microsoft account. Default: `true`
Allow List	`allow-list`	`true` only allows players on the Allow List to join the server. Default: `false`
View Distance	`view-distance`	Maximum view distance in chunks, at least 5. Default: `10`
Tick Distance	`tick-distance`	The area around players in which the world is simulated, from 4 to 12 chunks. Default: `4`
Default Player Permission Level	`default-player-permission-level`	Permissions for new players: `visitor`, `member`, or `operator`. Default: `member`

Info

ZapX manages the max-players and server-port lines for your server. Don’t change them manually; they’ll be set again the next time the server starts.

View distance and performance

View Distance and Tick Distance have the greatest impact on your server’s resource usage. The higher the values, the more chunks your server has to load and simulate. If your server lags when there are many players, lower the Tick Distance first, followed by the View Distance. You can see resource usage in the Statistics tab.

Allow List and operators

Set up an Allow List

An Allow List lets you choose who can join your server:

In the Configuration tab, set Allow List to true under Startup Parameters, save, and restart your server.
Add players in the Console using their gamertag:

Code

allowlist add Gamertag

Use allowlist remove Gamertag to remove a player from the list, and allowlist list to view all entries. Your server stores the list in the allowlist.json file.

Tip

If a gamertag contains spaces, put it in quotation marks, for example, allowlist add "My Name".

Grant operator permissions

Operators can run commands on your server. To make a player an operator, enter this command in the Console:

Code

op Gamertag

Use deop Gamertag to revoke their permissions. The player must be online on your server for this to work. Set the permissions new players receive using Default Player Permission Level.

Manage worlds

Your worlds are stored in the worlds directory, with each world in its own folder. The World Folder startup parameter determines which world your server loads.

Create a new world: Enter a new name for World Folder and restart your server. Your server will create a new world, while the previous one remains in the worlds directory under its existing name.
Switch back to the old world: Enter the name of the old world folder again and restart.
Set a seed: Enter the seed for a new world directly in the level-seed line of server.properties. It only applies when a new world is created.
Upload your own world: Our guide Import a custom world explains how.

You can also find your worlds in the Savegames tab, where you can download and upload them.

Warning

Stop your server before uploading, renaming, or replacing world folders. Otherwise, your server may overwrite the world when it shuts down.

Add-ons and texture packs

In the Add-ons tab, you can install add-ons and texture packs from CurseForge with a single click. ZapX places the Behavior and Resource Packs in the behavior_packs and resource_packs folders and adds them to your current world. They’ll be active after a restart. By default, the tab only shows versions that are compatible with your server version.

If you want all players to use your server’s texture packs, set the texturepack-required=true line in server.properties. Install add-ons that aren’t available on CurseForge manually, as described in our guide Install add-ons.

Info

Add-ons are added to the world that’s active when you install them. If you later switch to another world using World Folder, install the add-ons for that world again.

Plugins with Endstone

Under Games & Variants, you can choose between two variants:

Vanilla: The standard Bedrock Dedicated Server without plugin support.
Endstone: The Bedrock Dedicated Server with the Endstone plugin loader. Place plugins written in Python or C++ in the plugins folder. Endstone always runs with the Bedrock version that the included Endstone version was built for.

Tip

Create a backup before switching variants so you can restore your server if you run into any issues.

Conclusion

Your Minecraft Bedrock server is now set up just the way you want it. If something isn’t working as expected, our guide Common issues can help. If you have any other questions, our support team is available every day! 🙂

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Your server writes any settings that are available as startup parameters to server.properties every time it starts. Change them in the Configuration tab under Startup Parameters.

Set the Allow List startup parameter to true and restart your server. Then add players in the console using allowlist add followed by their gamertag.

In the console, enter op followed by the player’s gamertag. The player must be online on the server. Use deop to revoke their permissions.

Feedback

Was this article helpful?

Your feedback helps us prioritize and improve content.

0 of 0 Users found this article helpful.

Personal support

Need more help than the guide provides?

Our ZAP support team knows your product — briefly describe your issue and we'll help you personally.

Which 🍪 cookies would you like to allow?

Minecraft Bedrock: Server Configuration

Introduction

How configuration works

Startup parameters at a glance

View distance and performance

Allow List and operators

Set up an Allow List

Grant operator permissions

Manage worlds

Add-ons and texture packs

Plugins with Endstone

Conclusion

Frequently asked questions

Minecraft Bedrock Edition

How configuration works

Allow List and operators

Set up an Allow List

Grant operator permissions

Manage worlds

Add-ons and texture packs

Plugins with Endstone

Conclusion

Game Server

Servers & Hosting

ZAPX

Resources

ZAP-Hosting