I noticed that the server would crash very frequently just starting the EXE so I did some more research.  I found that you might want to start the Minecraft server from the command line to add extra parameters like memory usage.

But the first thing I changed was to uninstall Java and install the 64-bit version of Java.

Then I started creating a batch file to start Minecraft server.  Here are my steps:

  • check if java is part of the system path
    • open a command prompt
    • type “java –version”
    • if the command runs, java is part of the system path
  • Download JAR version of server from minecraft.net.
  • Create batch file to start server with additional memory
      cd \
      cd C:\minecraft
      java.exe -server -d64 -Xms1G -Xmx2G -jar “C:\minecraft\minecraft_server.1.8.3.jar”
      pause
  • Configure server.properties
    • Install Notepad++
    • I changed the following:
      • gamemode=1
      • enable-command-block=true
      • max-players-10
      • view-distance=7
      • white-list=true
      • server-name=Woicik KidsWorld
    • I stop and restarted the server for the changes to take effect
  • Add players to be ops by using the command /op playername
  • Add players to whitelist by using the command /whitelist add playername
  • transfer existing world
    • copy the folder that is the world
    • edit the server.properties value level-name=kidsworld
    • restart server

 

The last thing I did was setup a manual backup routine.  I used a program called Beyond Compare to copy the C:\Minecraft folder to my Dropbox account.  I had to allow the software to have access but then the rest of the comparison was straightforward.