Minecraft Server - Docker Setup

A lightweight, reproducible Docker + Docker Compose setup for running a vanilla Minecraft Java Edition server. The aim is to keep the image tiny, configuration minimal, and world data fully persistent so you can spin the server up or tear it down at any time without losing progress.

Why another image? The container is assembled from openjdk:21-jdk-slim and the official Mojang server JAR — no opaque third‑party images, so you always know exactly what is inside.

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Table of Contents

• Minecraft Server - Docker Setup
  • Table of Contents
  • Features
  • Requirements
  • Quick Start
  • Usage
    • Configuration
    • Persistent Data
    • Upgrading / Modifying
  • Testing the Server without the Game Client

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Features

• One‑command deployment via docker compose up --build.
• EULA acceptance is exposed as an environment variable so the same image can run anywhere.
• World saves, configuration files and logs are mounted to the host for persistence.
• Clean separation between immutable server code (baked into the image) and mutable data (your world).
• Ready for production hosting: automatic restarts on crashes.

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Requirements

Requirement	Minimum version	Notes
Docker	20.x CE / EE	with BuildKit recommended
Docker Compose	v2.5+	uses docker compose CLI
Minecraft server JAR	1.20+	place in project root as `minecraft_server.jar # Official server binary (not committed)

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Quick Start

1. Clone or create the project folder

git clone https://github.com/e1pmiS/minecraft-server-.git minecraft-server && cd minecraft-server

2. Download the server JAR (replace hash with the real one)

curl -o minecraft_server.jar \ 
https://launcher.mojang.com/v1/objects/<hash>/server.jar

3. Create a .dockerignore so world data never enters the build context

echo "data" > .dockerignore

4. Build & Run

docker-compose build        # build the image
docker-compose up -d        # start detached

When you see Done (xx.xx s)! For help, type "help", connect from your Minecraft client using the host’s IP (default port 25565).

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Usage

Configuration

Variable	Default	Purpose
EULA	"true"	Must be true to start the server

Override them in `` or in a .env file:

# .env example
EULA=true

Persistent Data

The Compose file mounts the host directory ./data to /minecraft/world inside the container. This keeps:

• World folders (world, world_nether, world_the_end)
• server.properties, ops.json, whitelist.json, etc.
• Logs.

Upgrading / Modifying

1. Stop the server: docker-compose down.
2. Replace minecraft_server.jar with a newer version or add datapacks/mods.
3. Restart: docker-compose up --build -d.

The world data is untouched.

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Testing the Server without the Game Client

Install mcstatus once:

pip install --user mcstatus

Then query:

python3 -m mcstatus localhost:25565 status

A healthy server prints version, MOTD, player count and latency.

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