How to Run a UHC on Your Minecraft Server with Friends (No Plugins)

What a UHC is

It's normal survival with three rules: health doesn't regenerate when your food bar is full (only golden apples, potions and little else heal you), there's a world border that keeps shrinking to force everyone to meet, and players can't hurt each other during the first few minutes (the “grace period”). Whoever dies is out and watches as a spectator.

You can play solo or in teams, from 4 to 30 people or more, in a brand-new world. Hunger Games is the same thing with a different start: everyone begins around some chests in the middle and the map is smaller.

Before you start: new world, whitelist and a pre-generated map

1. A new world

   A UHC is played in a world nobody has touched. If the server already has your usual one, set it aside as the guide to resetting the world explains: it stays saved and you can go back to it afterwards.

2. Whitelist and operators

   In “Settings”, turn on “Whitelist” and add the players; in the “Operators” list, only whoever is going to run the match. An operator who plays can cheat without meaning to: it's better if someone who isn't playing runs it.

3. Generate the map first

   With everyone running in different directions, the server has to create the world in lots of places at once, and that means lag right at the exciting part. With the Chunky plugin (from “Mods & plugins”) you generate it beforehand: chunky center 0 0, chunky radius 1000 (half the border you're going to set) and chunky start. It's step by step in the guide to pre-generating the world.

4. Test it with two people

   Play a five-minute match with all the commands below before the day of the event. What fails with two people fails with twenty.

The UHC rules, with today's names

Type them in the panel's “Console” exactly as shown, without the slash; in game, an operator types them with the slash in front. They apply instantly, no restart needed.

Watch out for old guides: since 1.21.11 the rules are lowercase with underscores and several were renamed (naturalRegeneration is now natural_health_regeneration), and since 1.21.9 PvP is a game rule, no longer a server.properties option.

difficulty hard
gamerule natural_health_regeneration false
gamerule pvp false
gamerule locator_bar false
gamerule keep_inventory false
gamerule show_death_messages true
gamerule spectators_generate_chunks false

1. natural_health_regeneration false

   The rule that makes a UHC a UHC: health no longer comes back by itself.

2. pvp false

   The grace period starts: nobody can damage another player until you turn it off.

3. locator_bar false

   Since 1.21.6 the locator bar shows which way the other players are. In a UHC it ruins everything: turn it off.

4. keep_inventory false and show_death_messages true

   When you die you drop everything (it's the loot for whoever wins the fight) and the chat says who fell and how.

5. spectators_generate_chunks false

   Players who are already out fly around the map as spectators; this way they don't make the server generate new terrain.

The shrinking border (and the ticks trap)

The border is a square centred wherever you say. worldborder set 2000 leaves a map 2,000 blocks across (from -1000 to 1000 from the centre). To make it shrink little by little, you give it a size and a time: worldborder set 100 3600s takes it down to 100 blocks over an hour.

The trap: since 1.21.11, a time with no letter is ticks (20 per second), not seconds. worldborder set 100 3600 would close the map in 3 minutes with everyone outside. Always add the “s” at the end. Only in versions before 1.21.11 was a bare number seconds.

Anyone left outside the border keeps losing health until they get back inside. worldborder get shows you how big it is at any moment.

worldborder center 0 0
worldborder set 2000
worldborder set 100 3600s

Teams and everyone's health on show

To play in teams, you create each one with its colour, turn off friendly fire and add each player (one name per line). To play solo, skip the teams.

Showing everyone's health in the player list (the Tab key) and under their name makes every fight visible: that's what makes a UHC fun to watch.

team add red
team modify red color red
team modify red friendlyFire false
team join red PlayerName
team add blue
team modify blue color blue
team modify blue friendlyFire false
team join blue OtherPlayer

scoreboard objectives add health health
scoreboard objectives modify health rendertype hearts
scoreboard objectives setdisplay list health
scoreboard objectives setdisplay below_name health

Match day, step by step

1. Everyone in and reset

   Once everyone is online: gamemode survival @a, effect clear @a, clear @a, time set day and weather clear. That way nobody starts with an advantage.

2. Spread them across the map

   spreadplayers 0 0 300 900 true @a sends them to random spots at least 300 blocks apart and less than 900 from the centre, each team together. For solo, change true to false.

3. Start shrinking the border

   worldborder set 100 3600s, with the “s”. Announce it in chat with say The UHC has started! The border closes in one hour.

4. End of the grace period

   After 15 or 20 minutes: gamerule pvp true and say Grace period is over!. The game doesn't do it on its own: whoever runs the match types it, with a clock next to them.

5. The dead watch

   Without hardcore mode, whoever dies respawns. Switch them to spectator with gamemode spectator PlayerName. If you want it to happen automatically, create the world in hardcore: the hardcore server guide explains how.

6. When it's over

   For the rematch, another new world. If you liked the map, save a copy in “Backups” first.

Variant: Hunger Games

Everything above works almost the same. The start changes: instead of spreading everyone out, you place them around some chests with items in the middle (you prepare them in creative beforehand, or upload a downloaded Hunger Games map like any other world: the guide to moving your world to the server explains it) and count down in chat.

The border, smaller (300 or 500 blocks) and closing sooner, in 20 or 30 minutes. And a short grace period: a minute or two for everyone to run away or rush for the chests.

What server you need

With the map already generated, what weighs most is how many people play at once. Without mods or lots of plugins, the NapNodes RAM calculator gives 3 GB for up to about 8 players at once (the smallest Minecraft plan); with more people, try it with your own number.

To test the rules a day before, the NapNodes free Minecraft server works, no card needed: 3 GB of RAM and 5 GB of disk. It shuts down by itself after 20 minutes with nobody online and has no backups, so for the event with everyone, a plan is better: the RAM is yours alone (no overselling) and it stays on while you play, with no queues.

Frequently asked questions