How to Force Gamemode on Your Minecraft Server
Learn how to force all players to use a specific gamemode when they join your Minecraft server. Covers Survival, Creative, Adventure, and Spectator mode enforcement.
Force gamemode automatically resets every player to your server's default gamemode when they join. This is useful for survival servers where you don't want players keeping Creative mode between sessions, for adventure map servers where everyone needs to be in Adventure mode, or any situation where you need consistent gamemode enforcement.
Enabling Force Gamemode
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 force-gamemode= to true.
Save and start your server
Click Save and start your server.
How It Works
When force-gamemode is enabled, the server checks each player's gamemode when they connect. If their current gamemode doesn't match the server's gamemode= setting in server.properties, the server automatically switches them.
For example, with these settings:
gamemode=survival
force-gamemode=true- A player who logged off in Creative mode will be placed into Survival when they reconnect
- A player who was given Spectator mode by an admin will rejoin in Survival
- A player already in Survival won't notice any difference
This applies every time a player joins, not just their first time. Even OP players are affected on login, though they can change their gamemode again with commands after joining.
Available Gamemodes
| Value | Gamemode | Description |
|---|---|---|
survival | Survival | Resource gathering, crafting, health, and hunger. The standard Minecraft experience. |
creative | Creative | Infinite blocks, flight, instant breaking, no damage. Great for building servers. |
adventure | Adventure | Players can interact with the world but can't break or place blocks without the right tools. Used for adventure maps and custom content. |
spectator | Spectator | Invisible, can fly through blocks and observe. Rarely used as a default gamemode. |
Controlling Gamemode with Plugins
The force-gamemode setting is a blunt tool — it forces the same gamemode on every player at login. For more flexibility, consider using plugins through Plugins:
- Per-world gamemodes — Plugins like Multiverse let you set different gamemodes for different worlds (e.g., Survival in the main world, Creative in a building world)
- Permission-based gamemodes — LuckPerms combined with EssentialsX lets you grant
/gamemodeaccess to specific ranks - Area-based gamemodes — WorldGuard can force gamemodes in specific regions
📝 Note: Players with OP permissions can still change their gamemode using
/gamemodeafter joining. If you want to prevent this entirely, use a permissions plugin to restrict the command.
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