Minecraft Server on Proxmox – Version 3.0 (updated 2026-03-26)

Minecraft Server on Proxmox

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Quick Links

• Server Commands: SERVER_COMMANDS.md
• Simulation Guide: SIMULATION.md
• Bedrock Networking: docs/BEDROCK_NETWORKING.md
• Copilot Workflow: .github/copilot-instructions.md
• Issues — https://github.com/TimInTech/minecraft-server-Proxmox/issues

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What's New in v3.0

Breaking Changes & Critical Fixes

• PaperMC API migrated to Fill v3 — The old api.papermc.io/v2/ endpoint stopped receiving new builds on December 31, 2025 and will be fully disabled on July 1, 2026. All scripts (setup_minecraft.sh, setup_minecraft_lxc.sh, embedded update.sh) now use the new fill.papermc.io/v3/ REST API. This resolves Issues #66 and #70.
• User-Agent header required — Fill v3 rejects or rate-limits requests without a proper User-Agent. All API calls now include minecraft-server-Proxmox/<version>.
• Download URLs embedded in API response — Downloads now come from fill-data.papermc.io. URLs are no longer manually constructed but read directly from the API response.
• Stable channel filtering — The new API returns builds across channels (alpha, beta, stable, recommended). Scripts now filter for channel == "STABLE" to avoid pulling experimental builds.

Other Improvements

• LXC script: screen support added — setup_minecraft_lxc.sh now installs screen, creates the /run/screen socket directory, and starts the server inside a screen session (consistent with VM script and README instructions). Resolves Issue #67.
• Minecraft versioning note — Starting in 2026, Mojang uses a new versioning scheme (26.1 instead of 1.x.x). The scripts handle this transparently since they always pull the latest version from the API.
• Java badge corrected — Java 21 is the minimum requirement (Java 17 is no longer sufficient for current PaperMC builds).
• Bedrock regex updated — The URL scraping pattern now also matches the new 26.x versioning scheme used since February 2026.
• File ownership fix — eula.txt and other generated files are now created with correct ownership from the start.

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✅ Requirements

• Proxmox VE: 7.4+ / 8.x / 9.x
• Guest OS: Debian 12/13 or Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04
• CPU/RAM: ≥2 vCPU, ≥2–4 GB RAM (Java), ≥1–2 GB (Bedrock)
• Storage: ≥10 GB SSD
• Network: Bridged NIC (vmbr0), ports 25565/TCP and 19132/UDP

Java 21 is required. If OpenJDK 21 is missing in your repositories, the installers automatically fall back to Amazon Corretto 21 (APT with signed-by keyring). Note: UFW must be installed before running any ufw commands. JVM memory is auto-sized by the installer (see below). Bedrock installer enforces SHA256 checksum by default.

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Introduction

This repository provisions a performant Minecraft server (Java & Bedrock) on Proxmox in minutes. VM and LXC are supported. CLI-first setup, updater, and backup examples are provided.

Simulation only: Do not execute commands in this workspace. See SIMULATION.md.

Technologies & Dependencies

📊 Status

Stable. VM and LXC tested. PaperMC API upgraded to Fill v3 (March 2026). Bedrock updates remain manual.

Quickstart

VM (DHCP)

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TimInTech/minecraft-server-Proxmox/main/setup_minecraft.sh
chmod +x setup_minecraft.sh
./setup_minecraft.sh
sudo -u minecraft screen -r minecraft

Debian 12/13: Ensure /run/screen exists with root:utmp and mode 0775 (see below).

VM (Static IP)

sudo tee /etc/netplan/01-mc.yaml >/dev/null <<'YAML'
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    ens18:
      addresses: [192.168.1.50/24]
      routes: [{ to: default, via: 192.168.1.1 }]
      nameservers: { addresses: [1.1.1.1,8.8.8.8] }
YAML
sudo netplan apply

LXC/CT

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TimInTech/minecraft-server-Proxmox/main/setup_minecraft_lxc.sh
chmod +x setup_minecraft_lxc.sh
./setup_minecraft_lxc.sh
sudo -u minecraft screen -r minecraft

Bedrock

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TimInTech/minecraft-server-Proxmox/main/setup_bedrock.sh
chmod +x setup_bedrock.sh
./setup_bedrock.sh
sudo -u minecraft screen -r bedrock

🗃 Backups

Option A: systemd

sudo tee /etc/mc_backup.conf >/dev/null <<'EOF'
MC_SRC_DIR=/opt/minecraft
MC_BEDROCK_DIR=/opt/minecraft-bedrock
BACKUP_DIR=/var/backups/minecraft
RETAIN_DAYS=7
EOF

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/mc-backup.service >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Minecraft backup (tar)
[Service]
Type=oneshot
EnvironmentFile=/etc/mc_backup.conf
ExecStart=/bin/mkdir -p "${BACKUP_DIR}"
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c 'tar -czf "${BACKUP_DIR}/java-$(date +%%F).tar.gz" "${MC_SRC_DIR}"'
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c '[ -d "${MC_BEDROCK_DIR}" ] && tar -czf "${BACKUP_DIR}/bedrock-$(date +%%F).tar.gz" "${MC_BEDROCK_DIR}" || true'
ExecStartPost=/bin/bash -c 'find "${BACKUP_DIR}" -type f -name "*.tar.gz" -mtime +"${RETAIN_DAYS:-7}" -delete'
EOF

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/mc-backup.timer >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Nightly Minecraft backup
[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* 03:30:00
Persistent=true
[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now mc-backup.timer

Option B: cron

crontab -e
30 3 * * * tar -czf /var/backups/minecraft/mc-$(date +\%F).tar.gz /opt/minecraft
45 3 * * * tar -czf /var/backups/minecraft/bedrock-$(date +\%F).tar.gz /opt/minecraft-bedrock

♻ Auto-Update

Java Edition: update.sh (created by setup_minecraft.sh) pulls the latest stable PaperMC build via Fill v3 API with SHA256 and size validation.

cd /opt/minecraft && ./update.sh
crontab -e
0 4 * * 0 /opt/minecraft/update.sh >> /var/log/minecraft-update.log 2>&1

Bedrock requires a manual download. setup_bedrock.sh enforces SHA256 by default (see below). Checksum enforcement: Bedrock installer requires REQUIRED_BEDROCK_SHA256 and validates the ZIP before extraction.

Configuration

JVM memory (Java)

The installer sets Xms ≈ RAM/4 and Xmx ≈ RAM/2 with floors 1024M/2048M and an Xmx cap of ≤16G. Override in /opt/minecraft/start.sh.

Integrity & Firewall

Java (PaperMC):

• Paper download is verified via SHA256 from the Fill v3 API response.
• Minimum size server.jar > 5 MB to avoid saving HTML error pages.
• Only STABLE channel builds are downloaded (alpha/beta/experimental excluded).

Bedrock:

• Default: REQUIRE_BEDROCK_SHA=1. Set REQUIRED_BEDROCK_SHA256=<sha>. Override with REQUIRE_BEDROCK_SHA=0.
• The installer validates MIME type via HTTP HEAD (application/zip|octet-stream), checks size, and tests the ZIP via unzip -tq before extracting.

screen socket (Debian 12/13):

sudo install -d -m 0775 -o root -g utmp /run/screen
printf 'd /run/screen 0775 root utmp -\n' | sudo tee /etc/tmpfiles.d/screen.conf
sudo systemd-tmpfiles --create /etc/tmpfiles.d/screen.conf

LXC Note: In unprivileged LXC containers, the utmp group may not exist. The scripts handle this gracefully by falling back to root:root with mode 0777 if needed.

UFW:

sudo apt-get install -y ufw
sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp
sudo ufw allow 19132/udp
sudo ufw enable

PaperMC API Migration (v2 → Fill v3)

If you have an existing installation using the old api.papermc.io/v2/ endpoint, re-run the setup script or manually update your update.sh in /opt/minecraft/. The key changes are:

Aspect	Old (v2)	New (Fill v3)
Base URL	api.papermc.io/v2/projects/paper	fill.papermc.io/v3/projects/paper
Build selection	jq '.builds | last'	jq 'map(select(.channel=="STABLE")) | .[0]'
Download URL	Manually constructed	Embedded in .downloads."server:default".url
SHA256	.downloads.application.sha256	.downloads."server:default".checksums.sha256
User-Agent	Not required	Required (rejected/rate-limited without)
Shutdown	July 1, 2026	Active and supported

🕹 Admin/Commands

See SERVER_COMMANDS.md.

☕ Support / Donate

If this project saves you time, consider supporting continued maintenance via Buy Me A Coffee.

Troubleshooting

• PaperMC download fails with 404 → You are still using the old v2 API. Update your scripts to Fill v3 (re-run installer or see migration table above).
• Not enough RAM in LXC → Reduce values in start.sh.
• Missing /run/screen → Follow the "screen socket" section above.
• /run/screen mode 777 in LXC → In unprivileged containers, utmp may not exist. Use chmod 0777 /run/screen or ensure the utmp group is mapped.
• Bedrock ZIP MIME-Type issue → Revisit the Mojang download page.
• Java 17 no longer works → PaperMC 1.21.8+ requires Java 21. Re-run the installer to get Corretto 21 fallback.

Use the PR template. Do not execute anything in this workspace. See .github/copilot-instructions.md.

For safe simulation workflow details, see SIMULATION.md.

Simulation CLI: For step-by-step Copilot CLI workflow, see .github/copilot-instructions.md.

References

• PaperMC: https://papermc.io/
• PaperMC Fill v3 API Docs: https://docs.papermc.io/misc/downloads-service/
• PaperMC Fill v3 Swagger: https://fill.papermc.io/swagger-ui/index.html
• Proxmox Wiki: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Main_Page
• Mojang Bedrock Server: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download/server/bedrock

License

MIT

Proxmox Helper: scripts/proxmox_create_ct_bedrock.sh creates a Debian 12/13 container and installs Bedrock.