Fix "You need to agree to the EULA" on a Minecraft server

Your server wrote a file called eula.txt and stopped until you change one word in it. This takes about twenty seconds in the panel.

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

In the Console tab you will see something close to this, then the server goes back to Offline:

[main/WARN]: Failed to load eula.txt
[main/INFO]: You need to agree to the EULA in order to run the server. Go to eula.txt for more info.

Nothing is broken. The server did exactly what it was designed to do.

Why the file exists

Minecraft's server software ships with a licence agreement, and Mojang requires that whoever runs a server confirms they have read it. Rather than a popup, which a server has no way to show, the server writes a plain text file on its first start and refuses to continue until that file says yes.

That is why this always happens on the first boot of a brand new server, and again after a reinstall that replaced the file. It is a one-off per install, not something that comes back.

The agreement itself is Mojang's, not ours, and it is worth a read if you plan to run a public server, because it has real rules about what you can charge players for. More on that below.

Fix it in the panel

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your server.
2. Open the Files tab.
3. In the server's main folder, find eula.txt and click it to open the editor.
4. Change the last line from eula=false to eula=true.
5. Press Save.
6. Press Start at the top of the server page.

The whole file is three lines and looks like this before you edit it:

#By changing the setting below to TRUE you are indicating your agreement to our EULA (https://aka.ms/MinecraftEULA).
#Fri Oct 17 09:14:22 UTC 2026
eula=false

Change false to true and leave everything else alone. The two lines beginning with # are comments and have no effect.

Watch the Console as it starts. You should see it move past the EULA check, generate or load the world, and finish with a line like Done (8.412s)! For help, type "help". That line means the server is up and joinable.

If you cannot find eula.txt

The file is only written on the first start attempt. If the folder is empty, press Start once, let the server fail, then look again. It will be there.

A few other possibilities:

• You are looking in a subfolder. eula.txt sits in the server's root folder, alongside server.properties, not inside world or plugins.
• The server is not Minecraft Java. Bedrock servers have no EULA file, so if you are running Bedrock this is not your error.
• The server has not finished installing. If the status shows Installing, wait for it to finish before pressing Start.

Edit config files in the panel file manager covers the editor itself, including saving and when a restart is needed.

Most installs do this for you

On most new Minecraft Java servers you will never see this message, because the install accepts the EULA as part of setting the server up, and some setups expose it as a value in Startup settings on the Settings tab instead of a file.

You are most likely to meet it when you:

• Reinstall the server from Reinstall server on the Settings tab, which rebuilds the base files. Reinstalling your server covers what that keeps and what it replaces.
• Change server software or version in a way that replaces the jar and its files.
• Upload a server folder from somewhere else, bringing an eula=false file with it. Worth checking after any migration.
• Delete the file by accident while clearing out old files.

If this is your very first server and you are working through setup, Minecraft Java: first steps has it in sequence with everything else you need on day one.

The server stops immediately, and that is the point

The timing confuses people. The server does not start, run for a while and then stop. It stops within a second or two of starting, before it loads a world, before plugins, before anything.

So if your console shows a handful of lines and then nothing, and the status flips straight back to Offline, the EULA line is worth checking before you go looking for a crash. It is the cheapest thing on the list.

Other causes look similar and need different fixes. Why your server says Starting or is stuck offline covers the ones that are not the EULA, and Your server stops seconds after starting: reading exit codes shows how to tell them apart from the console.

What you are agreeing to

Two parts of the agreement come up often enough to mention, because they shape what public servers can do.

• You cannot sell things that give players an advantage in gameplay. Cosmetics, ranks with cosmetic perks and access to extra content are generally fine. Selling power, such as better gear or stronger abilities, is not.
• You cannot charge for access in a way that looks like selling Minecraft. Donations and cosmetic purchases are fine, selling the game is not.

The exact wording is Mojang's and it changes from time to time, so read the current version at the link in the file rather than taking a summary from anywhere, including this guide. It is worth doing before you plan a shop or a donation system on a public server.

Common questions

Where is eula.txt on a GuavaHost server?

It is in the server's root folder, which is what the Files tab opens on, sitting next to server.properties. If it is not there yet, press Start once so the server writes it, then refresh the file list.

Do I have to accept the EULA every time the server restarts?

No. It is a one-time change per install. The only reason it comes back is that something replaced the file, such as a reinstall, a software change, or a folder you uploaded from another host.

Is there a way to accept it without editing a file?

Some setups put the EULA agreement in Startup settings on the Settings tab as a value you can switch there instead. If you see it listed, changing it there has exactly the same effect as editing the file.

My server still will not start after setting eula=true. Why?

Then the EULA was not the only problem, and the console now holds a different error. Read the last ten or twenty lines on the Console tab and look for the first line containing ERROR or Exception, because that one names the real cause.

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

• minecraft
• java
• eula
• startup
• troubleshooting

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