Minecraft Bedrock server.properties Explained

What each key setting in a Bedrock Dedicated Server's server.properties file does, sensible values, and which ones you change on the Startup tab instead.

4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

server.properties is the main settings file for a Minecraft Bedrock server, controlling everything from the game mode to how far players can see. This guide explains the settings that matter, gives sensible values, and flags the handful that the GuavaHost panel manages for you from the Startup tab.

Where it is and how to edit it

server.properties sits in the root folder of your server, next to the worlds, behavior_packs and resource_packs folders.

Stop the server from the Console tab.
Open the Files tab and click server.properties.
Change the value after the = sign. No spaces around it, no quotation marks.
Press Save Content.
Start the server again.

The file comes with a comment line (starting with #) above each setting describing what it does. Bedrock updates add and rename settings from time to time, so when this guide and those comments disagree, trust the comments in your own file.

Settings the panel manages

Four settings also appear on the Startup tab: Server Name, Gamemode, Difficulty and Allow cheats. The panel writes those values into server.properties each time the server starts, so if you only edit them in the file, your change can be put back on the next start. Change these four on the Startup tab.

The panel sets server-port the same way, to the port shown at the top of your server view. Leave it alone.

Server and player settings

Setting	What it does
`server-name`	The name your server reports to players' games when they look it up. Set it on the Startup tab.
`max-players`	How many players can be online at once. The default is 10.
`online-mode`	When `true`, every player must be signed in to a Microsoft (Xbox) account. Keep it `true`.
`allow-list`	When `true`, only players in `allowlist.json` can join. Add names before switching it on.
`player-idle-timeout`	Minutes before an idle player is kicked. `0` turns this off. The default is 30.

The allow-list has one trap: turning it on with nobody on the list locks everyone out, including you. Allowlist and whitelist explained shows the safe order.

Gameplay settings

Setting	Values	What it does
`gamemode`	`survival`, `creative`, `adventure`	Default mode for players. Set it on the Startup tab.
`force-gamemode`	`true`, `false`	Makes the server apply `gamemode` to players, even after the world was created.
`difficulty`	`peaceful`, `easy`, `normal`, `hard`	World difficulty. Set it on the Startup tab.
`allow-cheats`	`true`, `false`	Lets operators use commands such as `/give`, `/tp` and `/gamemode`. Set it on the Startup tab.
`default-player-permission-level`	`visitor`, `member`, `operator`	What new players can do when they first join.

A few notes:

Game mode not changing? With force-gamemode=false, changing gamemode after the world exists may not affect players. Set force-gamemode=true, or change individual players with the gamemode command.
Permission levels. visitor can walk around but not build or break, member can play normally, and operator can run commands. member is the usual choice for public servers; visitor is a good lockdown while you vet new players.

World settings

Setting	What it does
`level-name`	The folder name of the world to load, inside `worlds/`. It must match the folder exactly, spaces included. The default world folder is `Bedrock level`.
`level-seed`	The seed used when a brand new world is generated. Changing it does nothing to a world that already exists.

To switch between saved worlds, set level-name to another folder in worlds/ and restart. Take a backup on the Backups tab before you start moving worlds around.

Performance settings

Setting	Default	What it does
`view-distance`	32	The furthest a player can see, in chunks (16-block squares). The minimum is 5.
`tick-distance`	4	How far from players the world stays active: mobs, crops and redstone. Allowed values are 4 to 12.
`max-threads`	8	The most CPU threads the server tries to use.

tick-distance is Bedrock's version of simulation distance, and every step up makes the server simulate a much larger area. Leave it at 4 unless a farm or build needs more, and raise it one step at a time. Lowering view-distance to somewhere between 10 and 16 is a common way to take load off a busy server while keeping a decent view. The ideas behind both are the same as on Java; see View distance vs simulation distance.

Packs and content

Setting	What it does
`texturepack-required`	When `true`, players must accept the world's resource packs to join. When `false`, packs are optional.
`content-log-file-enabled`	When `true`, errors from addons are written to a log file. Handy while testing a new addon.

For installing addons in the first place, see Installing Bedrock addons, and for addons that need experimental features, Enabling experiments and Beta APIs on Bedrock.

Settings to leave alone

server-port and server-portv6. Players connect on the port shown at the top of your server view, which the panel manages. See Join your Minecraft Bedrock server.
enable-lan-visibility. LAN discovery does not matter on a hosted server.
Movement and anti-cheat settings such as the server-authoritative and player-movement options. Their names and defaults have changed across recent Bedrock versions, and wrong values cause rubber-banding.
compression-threshold and other network tuning.

Gotchas

Values are case sensitive, and true or false settings must be exactly true or false.
Most changes only apply after a full restart.
level-seed never reseeds an existing world. Point level-name at a new folder name to generate a fresh one.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

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server.properties
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tick-distance
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