How to Ban and Unban Players on Your Minecraft Server

Ban, unban, and manage banned players on your Minecraft Java server. Includes username bans, IP bans, and editing banned-players.json.

Banning removes a player and prevents them from rejoining. Minecraft supports two ban types: username bans (most common) and IP bans (catches alt accounts from the same connection).

Ban a Player

Open the Console

In the XGamingServer Panel, click Console in the sidebar.

Run the ban command

ban PlayerName Reason for the ban

The reason is optional but recommended — it's shown to the player when they try to reconnect.

If you have OP permissions, you can ban from in-game chat:

/ban PlayerName Toxic behavior in chat

Unban a Player

pardon PlayerName

The player can immediately reconnect.

IP Bans

For repeat offenders who keep making new accounts, ban their IP address instead:

ban-ip 123.45.67.89 DDoS attempts

Or ban by username (the server looks up their last known IP):

ban-ip PlayerName Multiple alt accounts

To unban an IP:

pardon-ip 123.45.67.89

Tip: Banning by username is preferred for normal cases. IP bans catch alt accounts from the same connection, but they also block legitimate players sharing that IP (e.g., siblings on the same home network, university dorms).

Command Reference

Command	Description
`ban <player> [reason]`	Ban a player by username
`ban-ip <ip\|player> [reason]`	Ban an IP address
`pardon <player>`	Unban a player by username
`pardon-ip <ip>`	Unban an IP address
`banlist players`	View all banned players
`banlist ips`	View all banned IP addresses
`kick <player> [reason]`	Kick (temporary, can rejoin immediately)

Edit Ban Files Directly

Ban lists are stored as JSON files in your server root:

File	Contents
`banned-players.json`	Username bans
`banned-ips.json`	IP address bans

You can edit these directly via Files in the panel:

[
  {
    "uuid": "069a79f4-44e9-4726-a5be-fca90e38aaf5",
    "name": "BadActor",
    "created": "2026-01-15 12:34:56 +0000",
    "source": "AdminName",
    "expires": "forever",
    "reason": "Griefing spawn"
  }
]

After editing, use banlist players in the Console to verify, or restart the server.

Temporary Bans

Vanilla Minecraft doesn't support temporary bans natively — bans are always permanent until manually removed. For tempbans, install a plugin:

EssentialsX — /tempban <player> <duration> <reason> syntax
LiteBans — Advanced ban management with web UI
AdvancedBan — Tempbans, mutes, warnings, kicks

Best Practices

Practice	Why
Always include a reason	The reason is shown to the banned player and helps with appeals
Use username bans by default	Cleaner — IP bans catch innocent users on shared connections
Document bans externally	Keep a Discord channel or spreadsheet of bans with dates and reasons
Warn before banning	For minor offenses, kick first with a warning

How to Ban and Unban Players on Your Minecraft Server

On this page