PaperMC Minecraft Server Setup for Windows

Automated PowerShell script to download, configure, and run a PaperMC Minecraft server with Amazon Corretto OpenJDK on Windows.

Features

✅ Automatic download of Amazon Corretto OpenJDK
✅ Automatic download of PaperMC server
✅ Optimized JVM parameters (Aikar's Flags)
✅ Configurable Minecraft and Java versions
✅ Automatic EULA acceptance
✅ Configurable memory allocation
✅ Self-contained installation (all files in subdirectories)
✅ Easy to use start script

Requirements

Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2016+
PowerShell 5.1 or later
Internet connection for downloads
~2GB free disk space

Quick Start

Download the script

git clone "https://github.com/Cyclenerd/minecraft-windows.git"
cd minecraft-windows

Run the setup script
```
.\setup-papermc.ps1
```
Server will start automatically!

Configuration

Command Line Parameters

.\setup-papermc.ps1 `
    -JavaVersion "21" `
    -MinecraftVersion "1.21.11" `
    -MinMemoryMB 1024 `
    -MaxMemoryMB 2048

Available Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
`JavaVersion`	Amazon Corretto Java major version	`21`
`MinecraftVersion`	Minecraft version	`1.21.11`
`MinMemoryMB`	Minimum memory allocation (MB)	`1024`
`MaxMemoryMB`	Maximum memory allocation (MB)	`2048`

Examples

Run with 4GB RAM:

.\setup-papermc.ps1 -MinMemoryMB 2048 -MaxMemoryMB 4096

Use a different Minecraft version:

.\setup-papermc.ps1 -MinecraftVersion "1.20.4"

Use a specific Java version:

.\setup-papermc.ps1 -JavaVersion "17"

Use a specific Java and Minecraft version:

.\setup-papermc.ps1 -JavaVersion "25" -MinecraftVersion "26.1.1"

Directory Structure

After running the script, the following structure is created:

minecraft-windows/
├── server-icon.ico            # Icon for the desktop shortcut
├── server-icon.png            # Server icon (automatically copied to server/)
├── setup-papermc.ps1          # Primary installation and setup script
├── start-server.cmd           # Server launch script (generated after first run)
├── Start Minecraft Server.lnk # Desktop shortcut (generated after first run)
├── README.md                  # This README file
├── java/                      # Embedded Java runtime (Amazon Corretto OpenJDK)
│   └── bin/
│       └── java.exe
└── server/                    # Folder for Minecraft server files and data
    ├── paper.jar
    ├── eula.txt
    ├── server.properties
    ├── server-icon.png
    ├── logs/
    ├── plugins/
    └── world/

Usage

First Time Setup

# Run the setup script
.\setup-papermc.ps1

The script will:

Remove existing java/ directory (if present) and create fresh directories
Download and extract Amazon Corretto Java
Download the latest PaperMC server
Accept the Minecraft EULA
Create a default server.properties file (if not exists)
Create a start-server.cmd script
Create a shortcut with custom icon (if server-icon.ico exists)
Start the server

Important:

The java/ folder is always deleted and re-downloaded to ensure a clean installation
The server/ folder is preserved - your worlds, plugins, and configurations are safe

Re-running the Setup Script

You can safely re-run setup-papermc.ps1 to:

Update to a different Java version
Update to a different Minecraft/PaperMC version
Change memory allocation settings

Your existing server data (worlds, plugins, configurations) will be preserved.

Starting the Server (After Initial Setup)

Use the generated start script:

start-server.cmd

Or double-click start-server.cmd in Windows Explorer.

Stopping the Server

Press Ctrl+C in the PowerShell window, or type stop in the server console.

Server Configuration

Edit server/server.properties to configure:

Server port (default: 25565)
Game mode
Difficulty
Max players
Message of the day (MOTD)
And more...

More to read: https://docs.papermc.io/paper/reference/server-properties/

Finding Java and Minecraft Versions

Amazon Corretto Versions

Visit: https://aws.amazon.com/corretto/

Available major versions:

Java 25 (Latest): 25
Java 21 (LTS, Recommended): 21
Java 17 (LTS): 17
Java 11 (LTS): 11
Java 8: 8

The script automatically downloads the latest build of the specified major version.

Minecraft/PaperMC Versions

Visit: https://papermc.io/downloads/paper

Check available versions and builds via API:

# Get builds for a specific version
$version = "1.21.11"
$builds = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://fill.papermc.io/v3/projects/paper/versions/$version/builds"

# Get the latest stable build
$stableBuild = $builds | Where-Object { $_.channel -eq "STABLE" } | Select-Object -First 1
if ($stableBuild) {
    Write-Host "Latest stable build: $($stableBuild.build)"
    Write-Host "Download URL: $($stableBuild.downloads.'server:default'.url)"
}

Troubleshooting

Script Execution Policy Error

If you get the error "running scripts is disabled on this system", you have two options:

Option 1: Bypass for Single Execution (Recommended)

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\setup-papermc.ps1

Option 2: Unblock and Change Execution Policy

The script is not signed, so you need to unblock it first:

# Unblock the downloaded script
Unblock-File -Path .\setup-papermc.ps1

# Change execution policy (allows unblocked local scripts)
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Then run the script normally.

Download Fails

Check your internet connection
Verify the Java and Minecraft versions are valid
Check if antivirus is blocking downloads

Server Won't Start

Verify Java is installed: Check java/bin/java.exe exists
Check if port 25565 is already in use
Review logs in server/logs/latest.log
Increase memory allocation if server crashes

Java Version Compatibility

Paper Version	Recommended Java Version
1.7.10 to 1.11	Java 8
1.12 to 1.16.4	Java 11
1.16.5	Java 16
1.17 to 1.19	Java 17
1.20 to 1.21.1	Java 21
26.1+	Java 25

Examples:

# For Minecraft 1.20.4
.\setup-papermc.ps1 -MinecraftVersion "1.20.6" -JavaVersion "21"

# For Minecraft 1.19.4
.\setup-papermc.ps1 -MinecraftVersion "1.19.4" -JavaVersion "17"

# For Minecraft 1.16.5
.\setup-papermc.ps1 -MinecraftVersion "1.16.5" -JavaVersion "16"

Advanced Configuration

JVM Performance Tuning

The script uses Aikar's Flags, a set of optimized JVM parameters designed specifically for Minecraft servers. These flags improve:

Garbage collection efficiency
Memory management
Overall server performance and TPS (ticks per second)

Reference: https://docs.papermc.io/paper/aikars-flags

Port Forwarding

To allow external connections:

Forward port 25565 (TCP/UDP) on your router

Configure Windows Firewall:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Minecraft Server" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 25565 -Action Allow

Installing Plugins

PaperMC supports Bukkit, Spigot, and Paper plugins:

Find plugins at:
- https://hangar.papermc.io/ (Official PaperMC plugin repository)
  - /tpa: https://hangar.papermc.io/JustPlayer/JustPlayer-TPA
  - /nv: https://hangar.papermc.io/samurainumber1/SimpleFullbright
- https://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins
  - /tpa: https://dev.bukkit.org/projects/just-tpa
- https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/
Download the plugin .jar file (make sure it's compatible with your Minecraft version)

Install the plugin:

# Place the .jar file in the plugins directory
Copy-Item -Path "path\to\plugin.jar" -Destination "server\plugins\"

Or simply drag and drop the .jar file into the server\plugins\ folder

Restart the server to load the plugin
Configure the plugin (if needed) by editing files in server\plugins\<plugin-name>\

Backup Your World

# Create a backup
Compress-Archive -Path "server/world*" -DestinationPath "backup-$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd').zip"

CI/CD

This repository includes GitHub Actions workflow that tests the script on Windows:

.github/workflows/test.yml

The workflow runs on every push and pull request to verify the script works correctly.

Resources

License

Code

This project's code is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Icon

The server icon (server-icon.ico and server-icon.png) is sourced from Windows 95 Network Neighborhood PNG Icon by SatelliteDish555 on DeviantArt. The icon is used under fair use and is not licensed under Apache License 2.0.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 2 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
server-icon.ico		server-icon.ico
server-icon.png		server-icon.png
setup-papermc.ps1		setup-papermc.ps1

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PaperMC Minecraft Server Setup for Windows

Features

Requirements

Quick Start

Configuration

Command Line Parameters

Available Parameters

Examples

Directory Structure

Usage

First Time Setup

Re-running the Setup Script

Starting the Server (After Initial Setup)

Stopping the Server

Server Configuration

Finding Java and Minecraft Versions

Amazon Corretto Versions

Minecraft/PaperMC Versions

Troubleshooting

Script Execution Policy Error

Download Fails

Server Won't Start

Java Version Compatibility

Advanced Configuration

JVM Performance Tuning

Port Forwarding

Installing Plugins

Backup Your World

CI/CD

Resources

License

Code

Icon

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