NaehvA Guide to Proficient Server Managing
Are you new to the server owning community? Do you want to set up a good server, but don't know how? You've come to the right place! This guide will show you a proficient way at setting up a server! Let's get started!
First thing's first, the best way to run a server is by buying a host. In this guide, we are going to use MinecraftPanel provided by Fluctis Hosting as an example. MinecraftPanel, in my opinion, is the best.
What is MinecraftPanel?
MinecraftPanel is an easy way to manage your server which is provided by Fluctis Hosting. MinecraftPanel, opposed to the MultiCraft panel is very simple to navigate.
Where Do I Start?
Once you have purchased your server, and have logged into your MinecraftPanel, the first thing you are going to want to do is set your account password. You can do this by going to Account at the top of the page, like such:
After you've done this, you'll want to set your server so it uses Bukkit to run the server. You can do this by going to Configurationand clicking the drop down menu on Server Platform. If you need a visual example, here's one:
Setting to Bukkit
Next, you'll want to grab Essentials, and a permissions plugin. In this guide, we'll be using GroupManager as an example. When you get Essentials, I recommend these four only: EssentialsGroupManager, EssentialsSpawn, Essentials, and EssentialsChat, but before you start to configure GroupManager, there's a few things you'll want to do first.
Allowing GroupManager to Display Groups
It's obvious; nobody wants to have their ranks looking a little something like this: Default [Default]Notch. You want it to look a little more like this: [Default]Notch. In order to do this, you'll have to make sure a few things are set correctly! You can start with going into your Essentials.config, which can be found in your server's plugin folder. Next, make sure your settings are like so:
Chat Settings
Ignore the faction tags, originally it should look like this: Format: '<{DISPLAYNAME}> {MESSAGE}' Make sure that the format with the # sign keeps the # sign. This means that is a comment, and is not read as code.
Next, you'll want to make sure that "change-displayname" at the top of the file is set to true, even though it suggests false.
Setting up GroupManager
Now we get to the fun part! What's fun about it? Well, this is the simplest part! Yay! To begin, you'll need to go into your groups.yml file. This can be found in Plugins > GroupManager > Worlds > (World Name Here) > groups.yml. I suggest using Notepad++ whilst editing your .YML files. First off, a .YML cannot read a tab, and when you hit enter, naturally, Notepad++ will automatically tab. Just hit backspace and then space four times. Here's an example of a default rank from my server:
Default Example
groups:
Default:
default: true
permissions:
- factions.kit.default
- essentials.afk
- essentials.kit
- essentials.kits
- essentials.kits.starter
- essentials.back
- essentials.baltop
- essentials.balancetop
- essentials.bal
- essentials.balance
- essentials.pay
- essentials.depth
- essentials.compass
- essentials.sethome
- essentials.delhome
- essentials.home
- essentials.helpop
- essentials.list
- essentials.mail.send
- essentials.me
- essentials.msg.color
- essentials.suicide
- essentials.tpahere
- essentials.t
- essentials.tell
- essentials.r
- essentials.reply
- essentials.mail
- essentials.m
- essentials.msg
- -bukkit.command.kill
- essentials.spawn
- essentials.help
- essentials.motd
- essentials.tpa
- essentials.tpdeny
- essentials.tpaccept
- essentials.warp
- essentials.warps
- essentials.spawn
inheritance: []
info:
prefix: '[&ePlayer&r] '
build: false
suffix: ''
Allow me to explain how this works, piece by piece.
groups:, obviously, is stating that anything below it are defined ranks.
Default:, is the defined rank, and is what you refer to when promoting. eg: /manuadd Notch Default.
default: true This line states that this is the rank a player should automatically be when they join the server. Set this to false on any other rank(for obvious reasons).
Inheritance: This is what groups this group should be taking after. For example, if I were to have a Moderator rank, under inheritance, I would put default, so that the Moderator rank would inherit the permissions from the default rank, and I would not have to re-type all of the permission nodes again. For example:
Inheritance:
- Default
Permissions Nodes: A permission node is what you put down to allow the user to use that certain command. Yes, you have to manually type these in, but as long as you know the command name, you'll be fine. eg: - essentials.help
Info: This contains information such as prefixes and suffixes about the rank, and whether or not the rank is allowed to break/build block.
Prefix: This is displayed before the player's name.
Suffix: This is displayed after the player's name.
Build: True if player is allowed to break/build blocks, false if player is not allowed to break/build blocks.
Grief Prevention
We've all experienced it. You spend all this time working on something, only to come back to it, completely ruined; griefed. We all dread the word, especially when it follows "You've been", but what can we do to stop this? When making a server, it's always best to have plugins that will keep your spawn protected, and most importantly, your players satisfied. I suggest using WorldGuard to keep your precious creations zoned and protected, and CoreProtect to maximize protection!
Navigating the MinecraftPanel
I've saved this part for last because I'm not exactly sure how many of you plan to use this method of server hosting. So, let's learn how to navigate this panel!
Server Controls
These are the server controls. They are essential when making specific changes in your server. We'll be going through each of these controls and what you can do with them separately.
Web Console: I'm sure we all know what the console is. In case not, let me explain. The console is the server command prompt, and automatically overrides any permissions plugin that is in place, and can execute any command(except the ones which require you to be in the game).
World Manager: This is a simple area where you can delete worlds you don't need.
Backup Manager: By default, your server isn't going to create back ups. When you back up your server, you can find those back ups here, and you are able to restore a certain back up in case something happened.
Configuration: There are four tabs in configuration; General, Map, Animals/Mobs, and Player. Under the General tab, you'll find where you can set your server platform, message of the day(MOTD), maximum players, enable command blocks, define a resource pack, set your server wrapper, and tell whether or not your server is in online mode(premium). Under the Map tab, you'll find settings for your map such as, whether or not flight is enabled, whether or not the nether is allowed, generating structures(villages, etc.), what type of world it is(default, flat, etc.), which world is used by default(which world the player spawns in), what the level seed is, how far the spawn protection spans, and what the max build height is. Under the Animals/Mobs tab, you'll find simple settings for the game difficulty, enabling/disabling monsters, enabling/disabling animals, and enabling/disabling NPCs. Finally, under the Player tab, you'll find where you can enable PvP, the whitelist, and set the map to hardcore.
Updates: This is where you can update your server version, view bukkit builds, and view tekkit mods.
Plugins: From here you can edit the config.yml of your plugins, and add new plugins.
Legacy File Manager/File Manager: The Legacy File Manager allows you to browse and manage your server files the 'old fashion' way. File Manager allows a new way to browse and manage your server files.
Reset Configs: This one's a little self-explanatory.
Whitelist/Bans: Adding players to the Whitelist, will allow only those players to join the server when the whitelist is switched on. Adding players to the ban file, will obviously, ban those players.
Players: This will list the online players.
Server Ops: Adding player names here will make them operators on the server.
Schedule: With the schedule, you can add certain timed things such as, scheduled back ups, messages to the players, etc.
Log Viewer: This allows you to view logs from the console.
Usage Graphs: These graphs show player activity, and RAM usage by the hour.
Server Banner: This is a banner provided by Fluctis Hosting, which you can use in forum signatures, forum posts, etc.
Modpack Installer: This makes switching from bukkit to Feed the Beast easy! It will automatically install these mods for you!
Remote Toolkit: This is where you can change your username/password settings for your Remote Toolkit.
I hope that this guide has helped you in your quest to manage a server!
If you have any questions and/or comments, please feel free to post them below!
Create an account or sign in to comment.
