How to Enable Hardcore Mode on Your Minecraft Server
Learn how to enable hardcore mode for permanent death on your Minecraft server.
Hardcore mode is the ultimate survival challenge — when players die, they're permanently set to Spectator mode and cannot respawn. The difficulty is automatically locked to Hard, making every encounter a life-or-death decision.
⚠️ Warning: In hardcore mode, death is permanent. Players who die will become spectators and cannot rejoin as living players. Make sure everyone on your server understands this before you enable it.
Enabling Hardcore on a New World
Open the panel and stop your server
Access the XGamingServer panel and stop your Minecraft server.
Open Files
Go to Files.
Edit server.properties
Open server.properties and set hardcore= to true.
Save the file
Click Save.
Delete your existing world
Delete your existing world folder to generate a new hardcore world.
Enabling Hardcore on an Existing World
Converting an existing world to hardcore requires editing the world's data file directly:
Open the panel and stop your server
Access the XGamingServer panel and stop your Minecraft server.
Navigate to your world folder
Go to Files and navigate to your world folder.
Download the level.dat file
Download the level.dat file.
Open the file in an NBT editor
Upload it to an NBT editor like irath96's WebNBT.
Edit the hardcore value
Find the hardcore value and change it to 1, then save.
Upload the modified file
Upload the modified level.dat back to your world folder, replacing the original.
Start your server
Start your server.
💡 Tip: Consider downloading a backup of your world before enabling hardcore on an existing save, in case you want to revert later.
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