Tech Vault

Host a Minecraft server with Crafty

Set up a Minecraft server you manage from a web page, keep it backed up, and let your friends join from anywhere. No terminal needed.

40 minutesEasyNo terminal neededChecked 9 November 2026

What you’re about to build

By the end you’ll have a Minecraft Java server running on your own computer, managed from a web page called Crafty. You’ll be able to start and stop it with a button, see who’s online, make backups, and send friends an address that lets them join from their own homes.

The guide has three parts: install Crafty, create the server, then let your friends in. The middle part looks the same however you install Crafty.

Part 1: Install Crafty

Pick the computer the server will run on. A machine that stays on all the time is best, because the server stops whenever the computer does.

ZimaOS home server, No terminal, one click

ZimaOS is a free system for home servers with an app store. If your server doesn’t have it yet, the ZimaOS install guide walks through putting it on a spare computer from a USB stick. CasaOS, its older sibling, has the same app store and works the same way here.

  1. Open your ZimaOS dashboard in a browser. Its address is shown on the server’s own screen, something like http://192.168.1.50.
  2. Open the App Store, search for Crafty, and install it.
  3. When it’s installed, open the app from the dashboard. Crafty’s page opens at your server’s address on port 8111, for example https://192.168.1.50:8111. Note the https.
  4. Your browser warns that the connection isn’t private. That’s because Crafty makes its own security certificate. Choose the option to continue to the site anyway.
  5. Crafty asks you to log in. The first username and password are in a text file it creates: open ZimaOS’s Files app, go to AppData, then crafty, then config, and open default-creds.txt.

ZimaOS’s version of Crafty already includes Java, so there’s nothing else to install.

Windows PC, No terminal

  1. Install Java first. Go to adoptium.net, download the latest long-term-support version of Temurin for Windows, and run the installer with its normal settings. Minecraft servers need Java to run.
  2. Go to Crafty’s download page and download the newest Windows Package.
  3. Right-click the downloaded file and choose Extract All.
  4. Move the extracted folder out of Downloads and into your Documents folder, so it doesn’t get cleared out by accident.
  5. Open the folder and double-click Crafty.exe. A window opens and stays open while Crafty runs. Leave it open.
  6. In your browser, go to https://127.0.0.1:8443. Note the https.
  7. Your browser warns that the connection isn’t private. That’s because Crafty makes its own security certificate. Choose the option to continue to the site anyway.
  8. The first username and password are in a text file Crafty creates: inside the Crafty folder, open app, then config, then default-creds.txt.

Docker on Linux, Uses the terminal

If you already run Docker, Crafty’s image includes Java and everything else. Save this as compose.yaml in a new folder:

services:
  crafty:
    image: registry.gitlab.com/crafty-controller/crafty-4:latest
    container_name: crafty
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    ports:
      - "8443:8443"
      - "25565:25565"
    volumes:
      - ./backups:/crafty/backups
      - ./logs:/crafty/logs
      - ./servers:/crafty/servers
      - ./config:/crafty/app/config
      - ./import:/crafty/import

Start it with docker compose up -d, open https://your-server:8443, and find the first password in ./config/default-creds.txt.

Part 2: Create your server

These steps are the same on every route.

  1. On Crafty’s dashboard, choose to create a new server.
  2. At the top, choose Minecraft-Java.
  3. Choose the kind of server. Paper is a good first choice: it plays exactly like the normal game, runs more smoothly, and can take plugins later. Then choose the version. The newest one is right unless your friends play an older version.
  4. Give the server a name, like Friends Survival.
  5. Set the memory near the bottom of the form. For a few friends, a minimum of 2 GB and a maximum of 4 GB is plenty. Leave at least 2 GB of the computer’s memory free.
  6. Leave the port as 25565, the normal Minecraft port. If you make a second server later, give it 25566.
  7. Create the server. Crafty downloads it and sets it up, which takes a minute or two.

Start it and accept the licence

  1. Open your new server and press Start.
  2. Crafty asks you to agree to Minecraft’s licence agreement (the EULA). Read it if you like, then press yes. Crafty records your agreement and starts the server.
  3. Watch the server’s console. The first start builds the world, which takes a minute. When a line ends with Done, the server is ready.

Join it yourself

  1. Open Minecraft Java Edition, choose Multiplayer, then Add Server.
  2. For the address, type the server computer’s address. On the same Windows PC that’s localhost. From another computer at home, it’s the server’s address, like 192.168.1.50.
  3. Join. You’re playing on your own server.

Make yourself the admin and lock the doors

In Crafty, open your server’s console, type each of these commands into the box, and press Enter after each one. Put your own Minecraft name in place of YourName:

op YourName
whitelist on
whitelist add YourName

op makes you an operator, so you can use commands in the game. whitelist on means only names on the list can join. Add each friend the same way with whitelist add FriendName, or type /whitelist add FriendName in the game’s chat now that you’re an operator.

Part 3: Back it up and keep it healthy

Automatic backups

  1. Open your server’s Backups page and choose Create new backup.
  2. Give it a name like Nightly, and set Max Backups to 7, so Crafty keeps a week and deletes older ones.
  3. Turn on Compress Backup to save space, and save.
  4. Press Backup Now once, to check it works.

Run the backup every night

  1. Open the server’s Schedules page and choose Create New Schedule.
  2. Choose a basic schedule, pick the backup action and set it to run once a day.
  3. Add a second schedule that restarts the server once a day at a quiet time. A daily restart keeps a long-running server smooth.

A backup on the same computer protects you from a griefed or broken world, not from a dead drive. Download a backup now and then using the download button next to it, and keep it somewhere else.

Give a friend their own login (optional)

Under Panel Settings, choose Add New Role, pick the server, and tick only what they need, such as starting the server and seeing the console. Then choose Add New User, set their username and password, and give them that role. Don’t give friends a “Super User” account.

Part 4: Let friends join from their homes

Friends outside your home can’t use 192.168.1.50. The easiest way in is playit.gg, which gives your server a public address without touching your router, and keeps your home address private.

ZimaOS home server, No terminal

  1. In the ZimaOS App Store, install Playit Agent.
  2. Open the app’s settings in ZimaOS and look at its logs. You’ll see a link to activate the agent. Copy it into a new browser tab.
  3. Log in to playit.gg, or make a free account, and allow the agent. Remember the agent’s name.
  4. Go to your playit.gg agents page, choose that agent, and add a tunnel for Minecraft Java.
  5. For the local address, enter your server’s address (like 192.168.1.50) and the port 25565.
  6. playit gives you an address for the tunnel. That’s what your friends type into Add Server.

Windows PC, No terminal

  1. Download the playit program for Windows from playit.gg and run it.
  2. It shows a link to connect it to your account. Open the link, log in to playit.gg or make a free account, and allow it.
  3. On the playit.gg website, add a tunnel for Minecraft Java, pointing at port 25565 on this PC.
  4. playit gives you an address for the tunnel. That’s what your friends type into Add Server.

Leave the playit program running alongside Crafty.

Docker on Linux, Uses the terminal

Run playit’s agent as a container next to Crafty, follow the claim link it prints in its logs (docker logs playit), then add a Minecraft Java tunnel on the playit.gg website pointing at your server’s address and port 25565. The playit.gg site has the current image and instructions.

Check it worked

Ask a friend to join using the playit address. In Crafty, the server’s page lists the players who are online. If your friend appears there, everything is working.

If it breaks

“Can’t connect to server.” Check the server says it’s running in Crafty, and that you’re using the right address: localhost on the same PC, the local address at home, the playit address from outside.

“You are not white-listed on this server.” Add that exact username with whitelist add in Crafty’s console. Spelling and capitals matter.

The server stops by itself, or Crafty says it crashed. It’s usually short of memory. Raise the maximum memory a little in the server’s settings, as long as the computer has some to spare.

The server won’t start and the console mentions Java. On Windows, install the newest Temurin release from adoptium.net and restart Crafty. On ZimaOS or Docker, Crafty includes several versions of Java: open the server’s settings and point it at the newest one.

The game lags. Plug the server into the router with a cable, and make sure nothing else heavy runs on that computer while you play.

Updating to a new Minecraft version. Make a backup first. Make sure your friends have updated their game too, since everyone must be on the same version.