Minecraft Server Rules: Templates to Copy and How to Enforce Them

Few, clear and with their punishment

Rules that work fit on one screen. If there are twenty, nobody reads them, and when you punish someone they'll say they didn't know. Better six or seven that cover what really breaks a server: griefing, stealing, cheating, how people treat each other and spam.

Each rule, concrete: «don't steal» leaves doubts (what about an unprotected chest in the middle of the road?); «don't open chests that aren't yours without permission» doesn't. And with its consequence written next to it or at the end, so punishing isn't a matter of opinion.

Write them in your own tone. The rules of a server for four friends look nothing like those of one open to everyone, and copying a big server's rules makes a small one feel cold.

If you'd rather pick them one by one, the server rules generator lets you tick the ones you want, with their punishments, and copy them ready to paste.

Template for an SMP with friends

For an SMP with friends with a whitelist, a little is enough: whatever prevents the usual fights. Copy it and change what doesn't fit.

1. What someone else builds isn't touched without their permission, not even to «improve» it.
2. Other people's chests aren't opened without permission.
3. No PvP without warning: if you want to fight, agree on it first.
4. Big farms (iron, mobs, villagers) are talked about before building them: they lag everyone.
5. No hacks or X-ray. Performance mods, minimaps or shaders are fine.
6. Whatever someone breaks by accident gets repaired or reported.
7. Questions and arguments go in the group chat, not in the game chat.

Template for an open survival server

Strangers join an open server, so the rules have to make clear what gets punished and how. This one has the punishment ladder at the end (explained in the next section).

1. Respect: no insults, harassment, racism, sexism or homophobia, in chat or in builds.
2. No griefing: don't break, burn or change what isn't yours, even if it isn't protected.
3. No stealing: don't open chests or take other people's items without permission.
4. No cheating: hacks, X-ray, autoclickers and exploiting game bugs (duplicating items) are banned. If you find a bug, tell a moderator.
5. No spam or advertising: not for other servers, not for websites.
6. One account per person. Dodging a punishment with another account makes it longer.
7. What a moderator says in the moment goes; if you disagree, talk about it later on Discord.

Punishments: warning, kick, 3-day ban and permanent ban. Serious griefing, cheating and harassment can go straight to a ban.

Template for a server with kids

If kids play (a family, class or club server), the rules are also for the adults running it: what's talked about and with whom. More ideas for setting it up in the server for kids guide.

1. We speak nicely to everyone. If someone bothers you, tell an adult, don't answer back.
2. We don't break what someone else made, not even as a joke.
3. No personal details: no address, school, phone number or photos.
4. Nobody is invited to the server without asking an adult.
5. No fighting between players except in the place set up for it.
6. If something goes wrong (a house is lost, things disappear), tell someone: almost everything can be fixed.

Punishments, step by step

A fixed ladder saves arguments: warning, kick, temporary ban, permanent ban. Whoever punishes doesn't decide each time, they follow the ladder, and whoever gets punished knows what comes next.

Write down what skips the ladder. Griefing a whole base, cheating and harassment don't deserve three warnings: they go straight to a ban.

Keep a record of every punishment (who, when, why). With two or three moderators, otherwise each one keeps their own count. A private Discord channel is enough.

The commands to kick and ban, also for a set time, are in the ban and kick guide.

Where to put them so they get read

On Discord, a rules channel where only you can write, with the message pinned. If your Discord server is a community server, Discord lets you ask people to accept the rules before they can write.

In game, with the EssentialsX plugin: the /rules command shows whatever you write in a text file. That way nobody can say they didn't have them at hand. Without plugins, a written book you give them with a command works too: the book generator writes its /give for you.

And a short line in the message shown in the server list, if the server is open: «Read /rules». How to change it, in the MOTD guide.

1. Install EssentialsX

   From the panel's “Mods & plugins”, on a Paper server. If you don't know it, the EssentialsX guide covers the rest. Restart so it creates its folder.

2. Write the rules

   In “Files”, open (or create) plugins/Essentials/rules.txt and paste your rules, one per line. It accepts colours with &: &c red, &a green, &l bold.

3. If there are many, use chapters

   A line starting with # opens a chapter (#Chat, #Building) and is read with /rules Chat. If the file starts with #, /rules shows the list of chapters first.

4. Let everyone use it

   With LuckPerms, give the permission to everyone's group: lp group default permission set essentials.rules true. The LuckPerms commands generator includes it among the basic permissions.

5. Test it

   Join with an account without op and type /rules. If you don't see a change you just made, restart the server.

Getting them followed without always being online

A rule the server already prevents doesn't need watching. Before opening, lock down through configuration everything you can:

If it's for friends, the whitelist: only the people you add can join, and almost every rule becomes unnecessary.

No PvP: since 1.21.9 it's turned off with gamerule pvp false in the “Console” (not in server.properties). The details and PvP zones, in disabling PvP.

No griefing: with GriefPrevention everyone protects their land, and with a chest-locking plugin nobody opens what isn't theirs. Whatever slips through you undo with CoreProtect, which also tells you who did it: so punishing isn't one person's word against another's.

No X-ray: Paper has its own anti-xray, off by default. For other cheats, the anticheat guide.

Moderators without op: with LuckPerms you give them kick, ban and CoreProtect, and nothing else. An op can wipe the world with one command. How, in the LuckPerms ranks guide.

And a safety net under everything: scheduled backups. The protecting your server from griefers guide has all of this in order.

If you sell anything, one more rule: Mojang's

Your server's rules are above the players, but Mojang's are above yours: you can't sell in-game advantages. If you're thinking of paid ranks or a store, first check what you can sell on a Minecraft server.

Frequently asked questions