How to Make a Minecraft Anarchy Server

Pure anarchy or semi-anarchy

In pure anarchy there isn't a single rule or an admin playing with powers: anything the game allows goes, item duplication and hacked clients included. In semi-anarchy the game still has no rules, but the admin stops whatever breaks the server for everyone: lag machines, chat spam or bots that flood it.

Decide before you open and write it in the MOTD or on your Discord: in anarchy, changing the rules halfway through is what drives the most players away. And bear in mind that “no rules” applies to the game: threats, harassment, inciting hatred or anything illegal are still forbidden by law and by the Acceptable Use Policy of any host, NapNodes included.

The basic settings

All of this lives in server.properties. On NapNodes you don't need to open the file: in the panel, “Settings” → “The game” has every setting with a plain name and it saves itself as soon as you change it (it applies on restart).

1. No protected area at spawn

   “Spawn protection” at 0 (spawn-protection=0). Otherwise nobody who isn't an operator can dig or build around the starting point, and in anarchy a wrecked spawn is part of the game.

2. No whitelist

   “Whitelist” off (white-list=false): anyone with the address can join. If it's only for your group, leave it on and add your people on that same screen.

3. Allow flight

   “Allow flight” on (allow-flight=true). The game kicks anyone who flies without elytra or creative mode, and in anarchy lots of players use clients with fly; if you don't turn it on, the server itself kicks them.

4. Official accounts, yes

   Leave “Official Minecraft accounts only” on (online-mode=true). Anarchy doesn't mean anyone can join with someone else's name: without this, somebody joins as you and walks off with your inventory.

5. Difficulty and PvP

   “Difficulty” on Hard, which is what people expect. PvP comes enabled; since 1.21.9 it's a game rule (/gamerule pvp true in the “Console”, without the slash), not a line in server.properties.

The exploits Paper ships patched

On NapNodes, Minecraft servers are delivered on Paper, which fixes several game bugs that are part of the match on an anarchy server: TNT duping with pistons (the basis of machines that dig on their own), headless pistons, breaking bedrock and End portal frames, and dupes with tripwire hooks or the End portal.

You turn them back on in config/paper-global.yml, under unsupported-settings. Paper calls them “unsupported” on purpose: if something breaks with them enabled, nobody will help you on their Discord. Only open the ones you really want; opening bedrock, for example, lets people out onto the Nether roof by breaking the floor.

unsupported-settings:
  allow-piston-duplication: true            # dupe TNT (and carpets and rails) with pistons
  allow-headless-pistons: true              # headless pistons
  allow-permanent-block-break-exploits: true  # break bedrock and End portals
  allow-unsafe-end-portal-teleportation: true # dupe sand and more with the End portal
  skip-tripwire-hook-placement-validation: true # tripwire hook dupes

1. Make a backup

   In “Backups”, before touching anything. If you get the .yml indentation wrong, the server won't start and says so in the “Console”.

2. Edit the file

   In “Files”, open config/paper-global.yml, find unsupported-settings and set true on the lines you want, keeping the spaces at the start. Leave the rest of that section as it is.

3. Restart

   Changes to Paper's files are read on startup: “Restart” in the panel.

The Nether roof and anti-xray

The Nether roof (above the bedrock, from height 128 up) is, on many anarchy servers, the highway for travelling far without running into anyone. On Paper it's open by default. If you don't want it, in config/paper-world-defaults.yml set nether-ceiling-void-damage-height: 127 inside environment: anyone who goes above it takes damage as if they were in the void.

Paper's anti-xray hides ores from clients cheating with X-ray. On anarchy it's a choice: some servers leave it off because “anything goes” and others turn it on so ores are still worth something. You enable it in the same file, under anticheat: anti-xray: enabled: true. Mode 1 (engine-mode: 1) only hides what's covered and costs almost nothing; mode 2 fills the world with fake ores, fools cheaters more and needs more CPU (more in the anti-xray guide).

anticheat:
  anti-xray:
    enabled: true
    engine-mode: 1
environment:
  nether-ceiling-void-damage-height: 127   # 'disabled' leaves the roof open

Keeping the server standing

An anarchy server suffers more than a normal one: people travel very far with elytra (so new world is generated non-stop), there are farms and TNT machines, and someone will end up building something just to crash it. Three things help a lot: “View distance” at 8 and “Simulation distance” at 6 (in “Settings”); chunks: prevent-moving-into-unloaded-chunks: true in config/paper-world-defaults.yml, which holds back anyone flying faster than the server loads the terrain; and spark, which comes with Paper, to find out by name what's causing lag (explained in the spark guide).

The disk grows too: every area someone explores is saved forever. A world border keeps it in check: /worldborder set 60000 in the “Console” leaves a world of 30,000 blocks in each direction from the centre, plenty to get lost in. If you want shorter trips at the start, begin smaller and expand it when needed.

Even if on anarchy “nothing gets restored”, make backups in “Backups”: not to undo what players do, but in case the world gets corrupted or a config change goes wrong.

How much RAM and disk

For a group of friends, 4 GB (the Stone plan, with 20 GB of disk) works well. If it's going to be public with people exploring all over the map at once, 6 GB (Iron, 30 GB of disk): what weighs most here isn't plugins but the world being loaded and generated. On NapNodes your plan's RAM is yours alone, with no overselling, and if it falls short you upgrade without losing the world.

To try out the settings in this guide, the NapNodes free Minecraft server is a normal Paper server; with its 5 GB of disk and no backups, it's for testing with your friends, not for a public anarchy that's meant to last for years.

How it finds players

Server lists have an anarchy tag and that's how people search: sign up with your version, whether you allow hacked clients and a description of your rules (or of the lack of them). A MOTD that says “Anarchy · no rules · no resets” in one line and an easy address go a long way; the guide to getting players for your server explains it step by step.

Frequently asked questions