XrayYou can enable/disable certain optional startup parameters that may benefit your server through your control panel. You can view and enable/disable these options on the Configuration > Startup Parameters page of your control panel – You will need to input your new startup parameters into the “Startup Command” field to make the changes, and then save and reboot your server to complete this process.
Listed below are some additional startup parameters that you can include with your servers normal startup;
Parameter: –forceUpgrade
What it does: Force upgrades all chunks in the world to the chunk data formatting of the selected server version on server restart. Useful for updating worlds to newer versions – ie a 1.12.2 and older world to 1.13.2 or a 1.13.2 world to 1.14+ (always run the force upgrade from 1.12.2 and older on 1.13.2 first before going to 1.14+). This means that the server is not upgrading the chunks when they are loaded in ingame for the first time, which can cause much higher CPU usage and performance drops (which is currently a particular issue in general on 1.14-1.14.2).
Available with:
– All Minecraft 1.13 and newer server options (Vanilla/Spigot/PaperSpigot).
– The ‘Default’ option, as this runs on the latest Vanilla release.
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Potential issues with this parameter: There are some instances, particularly with much larger worlds on 1.14+, where this will freeze the server on startup. If this is the case disable it and run the server as normal – some chunks will have been force upgraded, others will upgrade when that chunk is loaded in ingame for the first time.
Disable this after it has been used once – it does not need to be ran every time the server restarts.
Parameter: –eraseCache
What it does: This will erase your server cache, as the name suggests, which is particularly useful if your server is having lighting issues.
Available with:
– All Minecraft 1.14 and newer server options (Vanilla/Spigot/PaperSpigot).
– The ‘Default’ option, as this runs on the latest Vanilla release.
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Parameter: -DIReallyKnowWhatIAmDoingISwear
What it does: This disables the delay on startup when starting a CraftBukkit/Spigot/PaperSpigot etc.. server on an outdated build.
Available with:
– All Spigot/PaperSpigot options.
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Potential issues with this parameter: Disabling this feature makes it less obvious when a new build for the server version being used is available. It is always strongly recommended to keep up to date with your server build – sticking with an outdated build will mean that you are missing patches/fixes for issues, and will mean that you will get very limited support for any issues you face as the first suggestion for any issues on a Bukkit server will always be to make sure your server build and all plugin versions are up to date.
Parameter: -Dfml.queryResult=confirm
What it does: This will auto-confirm the pause during startup on a Forge server when you load the world you were using with a different set of mods, where it asks you to run ‘/fml confirm’ to continue loading the world.
Available with:
– All Forge-related options (modpacks, plain Forge, SpongeForge, MCPC+, KCauldron etc…).
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Potential issues with this parameter: Auto-enabling this feature and then loading your server up with the same world and any mod changes will mean that your world is backed up on server startup and loaded by default with no warning. Worlds have a high chance of developing issues when loaded on a different set of mods (including updated mods, as any mod update could make major changes). If you do not have enough free disk space to store another world backup this will also cause the server to crash continuously until the disk space is increased or excess data is freed up so the backup can be created on startup (see the next optional parameter as well).
Parameter: -Dfml.doNotBackup=true
What it does: This disables the automatic backup created on startup when loading the same world on a different set of mods.
Available with:
– All Forge-related options (modpacks, plain Forge, SpongeForge, MCPC+, KCauldron etc…).
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Potential issues with this parameter: Disabling this feature means that, unless you have created your own backup prior to changing the mods on your server, you will not have a rollback point if the change of mods causes serious issues in your world and may mean that you have to create a new world in order to use the new set of mods. This will however mean that the server won’t enter a crash loop if there isn’t enough free disk space, as mentioned regarding the above parameter (these two parameters can be used together or separately).
Parameter: -Dfml.readTimeout=120
What it does: This will extend the timeout period for player connections from the default 30 seconds to 2 minutes. This can help if the connection is particularly slow (whether this be due to hosted location, issues clientside or due to the mods being used) and is causing players to time out on log in.
Available with:
– All Forge-related options (modpacks, plain Forge, SpongeForge, MCPC+, KCauldron etc…).
– The ‘Custom Server JAR’ option.
Potential issues with this parameter: While it can’t cause any issues it should be noted that if players are still timing out on connection when this is set to 2 minutes then there are likely other issues happening causing the problem – increasing this beyond 2 minutes is pointless.
Players should also add this parameter to their launchers startup options as there are two timeouts – serverside and clientside. If it is their launcher timing them out and not the server then it may be needed on their end.
On the ‘Custom Server JAR‘ option it is also noted which versions of MineCraft these parameters are relevant for – for example the Forge parameters will have no effect at all on a Vanilla or Bukkit setup, and the –forceUpgrade option will do nothing on any version but 1.13+.
If there are any other optional parameters that we have missed that may be useful please submit a support ticket letting us know what it is, what it does and what versions of MineCraft it is for and we will add this when possible.
Note in the ticket title or first line of the title that it is a ticket for Richard regarding startup parameters!
Hectar Carson
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