Whitelist, OP and permissions on a Minecraft server
Who can join, who can use admin commands, and how to give players single permissions without handing over full control.
Three separate mechanisms run on a server, and it helps to tell them apart before you set anything up:
- the whitelist decides who can join at all,
- operator permissions decide who can use admin commands,
- plugin permissions let you hand out single abilities without giving away full control.
The most common mistake on servers for friends is making everyone an operator so they can "change a few things". An operator can do anything, including wiping the world with one command.
Whitelist: who can join
A server with a public address will sooner or later get uninvited visitors. A whitelist solves that in a minute. In server.properties:
white-list=true
enforce-whitelist=trueThen add players in the panel console:
whitelist add Nick
whitelist remove Nick
whitelist listThe second setting matters: without it, players already on the server stay even after you remove them from the list. With it they are disconnected right away. You can also manage the whitelist in the Player list tab.
Operators and their four levels
Operator permissions have four levels, set with op-permission-level in server.properties:
| Level | What it gives |
|---|---|
| 1 | bypassing spawn protection |
| 2 | command block commands such as teleport and time |
| 3 | kicking and banning players |
| 4 | everything, including stopping the server |
You give operator status with op Nick and take it away with deop Nick. The rule is simple: the operator is you and maybe one trusted person, not the whole group.
Permissions without handing over control
Usually you do not want to give someone everything, just one thing: teleporting home, building at spawn or kicking a troll. That is what permission plugins are for, above all LuckPerms. You create groups such as player, builder and moderator and give each of them single permissions, so every player gets exactly what they need.