Minecraft Server with Docker & mcstatus

📘 Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites
3. Project Structure
4. Quickstart
5. Usage and Configuration
6. Verify Server Status
7. Minimal docker-compose.yml
8. Stop and Cleanup
9. Contact
10. Checklist

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Introduction

This repository provides a minimal Docker-based setup for running a Minecraft server using Docker Compose. It demonstrates containerization, volume persistence, and external availability checks via mcstatus — without requiring the Minecraft game client or in-depth knowledge of the game itself.

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Setup

Prerequisites

• A V-Server running Ubuntu/Debian
• Docker

Ensure your system is up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose git

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Project Structure

minecraft-server/
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .gitignore
└── data/                # Automatically created when the server runs it includes all the server data including settings etcpp

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Quickstart

1. Install dependencies:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose git

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone git@github.com:BenjaminTietz/minecraft-server.git
   cd mincraft-server

3. Generate and configure the .env file:
   The environment file will be created automatically from env.template. Adjust the values to match your setup (optional):

   cp env_template.txt .env
   nano .env (optional)

4. Start the Minecraft server:

   docker-compose up -d

5. Install mcstatus and check server status:

   python -m pip install mcstatus
   mcstatus localhost:25565 status

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Usage and Configuration

You can configure the server using environment variables in .env.

Default environment:

EULA: "TRUE" # Required to accept Minecraft EULA
MOTD: "Welcome to my server!" # Message of the Day

Volumes

All world data and configuration are persisted in the ./data folder:

volumes:
  - ./data:/data

Ports

The default Minecraft port is exposed:

ports:
  - "25565:25565"

For cloud deployments, you may map it to another port, e.g., 8888:25565.

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Verify Server Status (without Minecraft client)

Install mcstatus:

python -m pip install mcstatus

Check server status:

mcstatus localhost:25565 status

Example output:

version: v1.21.5 (protocol 770)
motd: "A Minecraft Server"
players: 0/20 No players online

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Minimal docker-compose.yml

services:
  minecraft-server:
    image: itzg/minecraft-server #This is an offical commuity image
    container_name: mc-server
    ports:
      - "25565:25565"
    environment:
      EULA: "TRUE" # (optional) use an .env
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    restart: on-failure

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Stop and Cleanup

docker-compose down

To remove all persisted data:

rm -rf ./data

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Contact

👤 Personal

• Portfolio
• Drop me a mail

🌍 Social

• LinkedIn

💻 Project Repository

• GitHub Repository