Step 1 – Open the Crafty Panel

Your server’s IP address and root password are shown in the Server Information section on the Overview tab of your server in the client portal. The application settings you entered when ordering, passwords included, are shown in the Minecraft Credentials card on the same tab. Crafty is accessible by IP address – open your browser and go to:

https://your.server.ip:8443

When your server is created it requests a Let’s Encrypt certificate for its own IP address, so the panel opens without a browser warning. If the certificate could not be issued (the server is not reachable from the internet on port 80), Crafty keeps a self-signed one and the browser warns – click Advanced and proceed to the site.

Log in with username admin and the Crafty Admin Password you chose when ordering the server. You should see the Crafty dashboard – an empty canvas ready for your first server.

If you placed the server behind a VyOS router on a private network, forward ports 22 (SSH), 8443 (Crafty panel), 25565 (Minecraft Java) and 19132/UDP (Minecraft Bedrock) to the server on the router’s Configuration tab (Port forwarding). Players need to be able to reach the Minecraft ports from the internet. Behind the router the server has only a private address, so it does not get the IP certificate, so Crafty keeps its self-signed certificate and the browser warns – click “Advanced” and proceed.

Firewall. If you turn on the Firewall for this server in the client portal, allow incoming TCP port 80 in its rules, along with 8443 (Crafty panel) and the game ports listed above. Certificates renew over port 80 – the IP certificate every few days – and without that rule the certificate expires and the browser starts showing a warning.

Step 2 – Create Your Minecraft Server

Click “Create New Server” in the Crafty dashboard. You will be asked to pick a server type:

Pick your Minecraft version, give the server a name, and click “Build Server”. Crafty will download everything and start the server automatically. First launch takes a few minutes.

Step 3 – Connect and Play

Wait until the server shows a green status in Crafty, then open Minecraft:

Java Edition

Multiplayer → Add Server → enter your server IP → Join. No port needed (25565 is the default).

Bedrock Edition (mobile, console, Windows 10/11)

Play → Servers → Add Server → enter your server IP and port 19132.

Everything Through the Panel

You do not need SSH or command line for day-to-day management. The Crafty panel at https://your.server.ip:8443 covers everything:

• Dashboard – start, stop, restart your server, see who is online, monitor CPU and RAM
• Terminal – run server commands (like /whitelist add Player) and see live logs
• Files – edit server.properties, upload plugins, browse world files
• Backups – create manual backups or schedule automatic ones
• Schedules – auto-restart the server every night, run backup before restart, broadcast messages to players
• Config – change how much RAM the server gets (JVM memory)

Common Settings

Go to Files tab, open server.properties, change what you need, save and restart:

Adding Plugins and Mods

Go to Files tab in Crafty, navigate to the right folder, upload the .jar file and restart:

• Paper / Spigot server → upload to plugins/ folder
• Forge / Fabric server → upload to mods/ folder

Where to find plugins and mods:

• Hangar – official Paper plugin repository
• Modrinth – plugins and mods
• SpigotMC – plugins
• CurseForge – mods for Forge and Fabric

Multiple Servers on One Machine

Crafty can run several Minecraft servers at once – for example a survival server and a creative server, or Java + Bedrock side by side. Each one needs its own port (25565, 25566, etc.).

Keep at least 1 GB free for the OS and Crafty itself. On a 4 GB server you can give about 3 GB total to Minecraft servers. If you add servers on non-default ports, open them in the firewall via SSH: ufw allow <port>/tcp

Most lag comes from two things: not enough RAM or too much world being loaded at once. Here is what to try, in order:

1. Lower view distance. Open server.properties in the Files tab and set view-distance=6 and simulation-distance=4. This is the single most effective change.
2. Check RAM allocation. Go to Crafty Config tab and make sure you are not giving the server more RAM than your server has. Recommended:

   2 GB server	1 GB for server	1-5 players
   4 GB server	2-3 GB for server	5-15 players
   8 GB server	5-6 GB for server	15-30 players
   16 GB server	10-12 GB for server	30+ players

3. Pre-generate the world. Lag spikes often happen when players explore new areas. Install the Chunky plugin and pre-generate a 5000-block radius – after that, exploration is smooth.
4. Upgrade your server. If you have 10+ players and are still lagging after the steps above, you need more CPU and RAM.

Fail2Ban – Brute-Force Protection

Your server comes with Fail2Ban pre-configured to protect SSH from brute-force attacks.

Useful commands:

# Check banned IPs
fail2ban-client status sshd

# Unban an IP
fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip 1.2.3.4

If you accidentally lock yourself out, open the Console on your server’s Overview tab in the client portal and unban your IP.

Service Management

You do not need SSH for normal use, but it is available for advanced tasks:

ssh root@your.server.ip

# Crafty service
systemctl status crafty
systemctl restart crafty
journalctl -u crafty -f

Java Versions

Three Java versions are pre-installed. New servers start with Java 25, which current Minecraft versions (26.1 and newer) require. For an older Minecraft version, open the server’s Config tab in Crafty and choose the matching Java in Override current Java Version:

• OpenJDK 25 – Minecraft 26.1 and newer, the default (path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk-amd64)
• OpenJDK 21 – Minecraft 1.20.5 through 1.21.x (path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64)
• OpenJDK 17 – Minecraft 1.17 through 1.20.4 (path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64)

Software Included

Resetting the Crafty Password

1. On the Crafty login page click Forgot Password. Crafty enables a temporary recovery account for 1 hour; your admin account keeps working.
2. Connect via SSH and read the temporary credentials from the Crafty log:

   journalctl -u crafty | grep -A2 anti-lockout-user | tail -3

3. Sign in as anti-lockout-user with that password, open Panel Settings > Users, edit admin and set a new password.

The temporary credentials are printed only to the server log, so only someone with SSH access to the server can use them.

• Crafty Controller Documentation: docs.craftycontrol.com
• All server.properties settings: minecraft.wiki
• Paper Plugins: hangar.papermc.io
• Plugins and Mods: modrinth.com