Getting started

Requirements

Tip

FeatherMC requires at least Java 25 to run, which is easy to download and install.

FeatherMC runs the latest Minecraft version. You can check which Java version you have with:

java -version

Downloading FeatherMC

Download the FeatherMC jar from the downloads page. Put it in an empty folder and name it server.jar.

Running the server

Open a terminal in that folder and run:

java -jar server.jar

The first start asks you to accept the Minecraft EULA in eula.txt. Set eula=true, start the server again, and look for a Done! message in the console. That’s it.

The server uses Java’s default memory settings unless you set them. To give it a fixed amount of RAM, add the Xms and Xmx arguments. --nogui disables Vanilla’s GUI, so you don’t get double interfaces when using the command line.

java -Xms4G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar --nogui

To configure your server, see the Global Configuration and Per World Configuration pages. FeatherMC’s own options are in feather.yml.

Updating the server

Updating FeatherMC is simple! See the Update Tutorial for more information.

Migrating to FeatherMC

From Vanilla

Migrating from Vanilla is easy, but there are some differences, namely in world saves. FeatherMC allows dimensions to have independent data (like gamerules).

FeatherMC will handle this conversion for you automatically. No additional consideration is required.

From CraftBukkit or Spigot

See the migration guide before switching, because Spigot and CraftBukkit change how worlds are stored.

From Paper

FeatherMC is a fork of Paper, so a Paper server on the same Minecraft version moves over by swapping the jar. See Migrating from Paper.

Next steps

Take a look at the Next Steps guide to get your server up and running with the best performance and features.