How to Play Minecraft Manhunt with Friends on Your Server (With and Without Plugins)

The usual rules

The runner has a single life: if they die, the hunters win. The runner wins by killing the Ender Dragon. Hunters respawn when they die, so it can be two, three or more against one.

The hunters always know which way the runner is; the runner doesn't know where they are. And the hunters set off a few seconds later, so the runner can get away. Everything else (whether beds are allowed in the Nether, whether hiding in caves counts, how many hunters) you decide before you start.

You need Minecraft Java on the server and for every player. There can also be more than one runner (two against four, for example): the rules are the same, in teams.

Without plugins: the locator bar

Since 1.21.6, Minecraft shows a dot above the experience bar for each player, in their direction, bigger or smaller depending on how far away they are and with an arrow if they're higher up or lower down. That's exactly what the Manhunt compass does, and it's on by default (the locator_bar rule).

The problem is that it also shows the hunters to the runner. An attribute fixes it: set the runner's receive range to 0 and they stop seeing everyone else, while the others still see them. With a few team commands and an effect for the head start, you have the whole Manhunt without installing anything.

Two things that change the game, and that everyone should know: the bar only shows players in the same dimension (if the runner goes into the Nether, the hunters can't see them until they go in too), and anyone sneaking, wearing a carved pumpkin or a mob head, or invisible doesn't show up on the bar. That's the runner's way of hiding; if you don't like it, ban it in your rules.

gamerule locator_bar true
team add hunters
team modify hunters color red
team modify hunters friendlyFire false
team join hunters Name1 Name2 Name3
team add runner
team modify runner color green
team join runner RunnerName
attribute RunnerName minecraft:waypoint_receive_range base set 0

1. Put everyone on their team

   With the commands above, swapping the names for the real ones. The colour makes the names show in red and green, and friendlyFire false stops the hunters hitting each other.

2. Take the bar away from the runner

   The last line: the runner no longer sees the hunters on their bar. The hunters still see the runner. If you ever want to give it back, the same command with 60000000 instead of 0.

3. Start the race

   Everyone together at the spawn point. When the runner says “go”, someone types effect give @a[team=hunters] minecraft:slowness 30 10 true and effect give @a[team=hunters] minecraft:blindness 30 0 true. The hunters are frozen in the dark for 30 seconds (change the 30 if you want more or less of a head start).

4. Play

   When the runner dies, the chat says so and the hunters win. If the runner kills the dragon, the runner wins. For a rematch with another runner, team join runner OtherName, the attribute at 0 for them and at 60000000 for the previous one.

With a plugin: the classic compass

If you want the Manhunt from the videos, with a compass, there are plugins that give one to the hunters and make it point at the runner. The good ones also point to the portal the runner went through when they change dimension (in the normal game, a compass spins in the Nether), and come with a command to start the game with a countdown.

There are lots of them, maintained by different people, so the key is to pick one that's up to date with your Minecraft version. Check the date of the latest version and the commands on its page: each one has its own (they usually start with /manhunt).

1. Search for “manhunt”

   In the NapNodes panel, inside the server, open “Mods & plugins” and search for “manhunt”. Only the ones that work with your version and your server type (Paper) show up.

2. Install it and restart

   It installs it with whatever it needs. Restart from right there so it loads.

3. Read its commands

   On its Modrinth page. Usually you pick who's the runner and who's a hunter with one command and start with another. Those commands have to be used by an admin: add them in “Settings”, in the “Operators” list.

Settings that make the game fairer

Whitelist: in “Settings”, turn on “Whitelist” and add only the people playing. Someone from outside joining and killing the runner ruins the game.

Difficulty: on “Normal” or “Hard”. On “Peaceful” there are no mobs, and the runner can't get ender pearls or blaze rods to reach the End.

Spawn protection: set it to 0 in “Settings”. Otherwise, around the start only admins can break blocks, and whoever isn't one starts out unable to chop the first tree.

Inventory: the classic way is that everyone loses their stuff when they die. If the hunters are suffering too much, you can turn on keep_inventory (gamerule keep_inventory true): it affects everyone, but it makes no difference to the runner, who only has one life.

A new world for each game: a Manhunt in an already explored world is no fun. In “Settings”, “World seed” (empty means random), and move the world folder aside as the reset the world guide explains. The old world stays in “Files” in case you want to go back.

How much server you need

A Manhunt without mods is Paper with one plugin at most, so it needs little: for 2 to 6 people, about 3 GB of RAM works fine. What weighs most is that each player runs off in a different direction and loads their own chunk of the world; if you notice lag, lowering the view distance in “Settings” helps more than adding RAM.

To try it, NapNodes' free server is a Paper Minecraft server with 3 GB, no card needed. It turns off after 20 minutes with nobody on and starts again with “Start”: for a game with friends it works well. It doesn't have “Backups”, so you move the old world aside by renaming its folder.

Frequently asked questions