How to make a Minecraft SMP server

1What's in the SMP template

What the Survival with friends template sets up

Server	Paper 26.2, build 129
Java	25
Memory	4 GB, 3 GB of it for Java
Rules	Normal difficulty, PvP off, up to 10 players
Plugin	Chunky 1.5.3 · GPL-3.0
Plugin	CoreProtect 24.1 · Artistic-2.0
Plugin	Simple Voice Chat 2.6.24 · all rights reserved
Checked	28 Sep 2026: created and started on Playkeeper 0.4.2, ready in 12 seconds with every plugin enabled

Chunky runs on 22% of plugin servers and CoreProtect on 16%, the most-installed plugins of their kinds (bStats, 28 Sep 2026).

2Open it in one click

Playkeeper runs your server on a VPS you rent. Install it with one command:

1. 1

   Open the template below

   Your dashboard shows the server, its rules and each plugin before anything installs.

2. 2

   Create and start it

   Playkeeper downloads each plugin from Modrinth and checks it against Modrinth's hash.

3. 3

   Send friends an invite link

   A friend types their Minecraft name and is on the allowlist, with no commands.

3Pre-generate the world before friends explore

New land is the heaviest work a server does. Generate it before the first evening together, so exploring doesn't lag for everyone. In the Console:

chunky radius 3000
chunky start

Or use Pre-generate on the World tab, which runs Chunky for you and pauses when the server runs low on memory.

4Undo griefing with CoreProtect

• /co inspect, then click a block, shows who placed or broke it and when.
• /co rollback u:Steve t:1h r:20 undoes what Steve changed in the last hour within 20 blocks.
• /co restore with the same filters undoes a rollback.

5Proximity voice chat

Simple Voice Chat sends voice on its own port. Playkeeper opens UDP 24454 on the machine; open it in your provider's firewall too. Friends add the Simple Voice Chat mod to their game to talk, and can join without it to just play.

6The same SMP by hand, with Docker

The itzg image, which Playkeeper runs servers in too, installs the plugins from Modrinth when it starts:

# Survival with friends: Paper 26.2 on Java 25, 4 GB in all
docker run -d --name smp -p 25565:25565 -p 24454:24454/udp \
  --memory 4G --memory-swap 4G \
  -e EULA=TRUE -e TYPE=PAPER -e VERSION=26.2 -e MEMORY=3G -e USE_AIKAR_FLAGS=TRUE \
  -e DIFFICULTY=normal -e PVP=false -e MAX_PLAYERS=10 \
  -e MODRINTH_PROJECTS=chunky,coreprotect,simple-voice-chat \
  -v smp-data:/data itzg/minecraft-server:java25