Change your Minecraft server port

Your Minecraft port is an allocation on the machine, not just a line in a config file, so you change it on the Ports and network page rather than in server.properties. Here is how, and why you cannot simply pick any number.

6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

Why you might want to

Most people never need to. The reasons that come up genuinely:

• You want players to type a bare address. Minecraft Java's default port is 25565, and a client given only an address assumes that port. Before you chase this, note that an SRV record gets you the same result on any port and gives you a proper domain as well: connect Minecraft with a custom domain and SRV record is usually the better answer.
• Something else wants a specific port. A Dynmap web map, a voice chat plugin, an RCON connection or a query tool each need a port of their own, and occasionally the one they default to is the one your game is on.
• You are building a network. A proxy owns the address players connect to, and the backends sit on their own ports behind it. See running a network with Velocity or BungeeCord.
• You were told to. Some older guides tell you to edit server-port by hand. On a hosted server that is not how it works.

What is not a reason: trying to fix players who cannot connect. A port change will not fix that, and usually makes it worse because half of them have the old address. Work through the friends cannot connect checklist instead.

Where your port actually comes from

Your server runs on a machine alongside other servers, and every port on that machine can only be used by one of them at a time. So a port is something that gets handed to your server, not something your server declares.

That is why server-port is shown with a lock on the Server properties page under Minecraft tools. GuavaHost sets it from your allocation and rewrites it every time the server starts, so if you edit the line by hand on the Files tab it will be overwritten on the next boot. Editing server.properties notes the same thing about the handful of locked settings.

It is also why address already in use happens when two things try to claim one port: there is no sharing. Address already in use explains the usual causes.

Your current port is visible in two places: at the top of the server page next to Address, and in the Ports & network card on your Overview as Server address. Both have a copy button. Find your server IP and port covers sharing it, and server address, IP and port explained covers what each part means.

Change it

1. Open your server at customer.guavahost.com and go to the Overview.
2. On the Ports & network card, click Manage.
3. If the port you want is not already on your server, click Add a port. You can let us pick the next free one, or choose a number from the list of free ports on your machine.
4. Next to the port you want players to use, click Make main. That is the one that becomes your connect address.
5. Restart the server. Port changes apply the next time your server starts, so this step is not optional.
6. Copy the new Server address and send it to your players. The old one will not work, and that is the part people forget.

The full ports page, including notes, game port assignment and the limits, is covered in adding and managing your server ports.

Two things to know while you are in there:

• You can remove a port you no longer want, but the server has to be stopped first, because a running server holds its ports until it exits. The main port cannot be removed.
• Add a note to each port, like "Dynmap web" or "voice chat", so that in three months you still know what the spare one is for.

Why you cannot just pick any number

A few reasons, all of them boring and all of them real:

• Someone else may already have it. The ports on your machine are shared out between the servers on it. If a port is taken, it is not available to you, which is why the page shows you the free ones rather than a blank box.
• Low numbered ports are reserved. Anything below 1024 belongs to system services and is not handed out.
• Each server has a limited number of ports. Up to six, which is plenty for a game port plus a map, voice chat, RCON and query, but it does mean you clear out ports you are not using.
• The machine keeps some back. Not every free looking number is in the pool.

So the practical answer is: open the page, see which free ports your machine offers, pick one of those.

After the change

• Tell everybody. Update your Discord, your server listing, your website. An old address in a pinned message will generate "the server is down" reports for weeks.
• Check your extra ports still line up. If you had RCON or query pointed at a specific port, confirm they are still pointed where you expect under Game ports. What is RCON explains that one.
• Update an SRV record if you have one. An SRV record contains the port, so a port change breaks it until you edit the record at your DNS host. DNS changes take a little while to spread.
• Check anything with the address written into it. Server list sites, a status bot in Discord, a bookmarked direct connect entry. A Discord bot that monitors your server will need the new address too.
• Watch the Console on the next start. The startup line tells you which port the server bound to, which is your confirmation that the change took.

If players cannot connect afterwards

Work through it in this order:

1. Did you restart after making the change? Nothing applies until the server starts again.
2. Does the address at the top of the server page match what you sent out? Copy it with the button rather than typing it.
3. Are players typing the port? If the port is not 25565, Minecraft Java needs ip:port in the server address field, with a colon and no spaces.
4. Is the server actually Online? Check the Console for a startup error rather than assuming it is the port.
5. Did you remove the old port while something still pointed at it? Put it back, or update the thing that points at it.

If the server itself is refusing to start after a port change, address already in use and server stuck starting or offline are the two guides that cover it.

Common questions

Why does editing server-port in server.properties do nothing?

Because your port is an allocation on the machine, and the panel writes that value into the file every time the server starts. The setting is shown locked on the server properties page for exactly that reason, so change the port on the ports and network page instead.

Can I get port 25565 so players do not have to type a port?

Only if it is free on your machine, and on a shared machine it often is not. The better fix is an SRV record on your own domain, which lets players type a clean address with no port at all regardless of which port you are actually on.

Will changing the port affect my world or my plugins?

No. The port is only the door your server listens on, so your world, plugins and configs are untouched. The only thing that changes is the address players use, which you then have to share.

Do I need a separate port for a web map or voice chat?

Yes. Those run their own listeners alongside the game, so each needs its own port added on the ports and network page. Adding a live map with Dynmap walks through that for a map, and the same pattern applies to Simple Voice Chat.

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

• port
• minecraft
• java
• server.properties
• network

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