Your first server with friends: six settings to sort out before inviting anyone
A server for friends takes five minutes to create. The problems show up in week two: someone invited a stranger, nobody knows who broke what, and there's no backup from before the damage. Half an hour of preparation avoids most of it.
1. The whitelist, from day one
This is the highest-return setting on the list. While the whitelist is on, only explicitly added usernames can connect — even if the server address gets passed around. Turning it on later, after a first incident, always costs more.
2. Difficulty and world rules
Difficulty, PvP, explosion damage, fire spread: these define the kind of game far more than the modpack does. Decide them before anyone has built a base — changing them afterwards always creates friction.
3. Backups, verified once
Knowing backups exist isn't enough: run a test restore in the first week, while the world still has no sentimental value. It's the only time getting it wrong costs nothing. The procedure is in the backups documentation, and this article covers the order of operations.
4. Two roles, not ten
A server for friends doesn't need a permission hierarchy. Two levels are enough: people who play, and one or two who can administer. Handing operator rights to everyone "because we trust each other" is the most common cause of accidental damage — usually with no ill intent at all.
The panel also lets you delegate access without sharing a password: see features.
5. Three rules written down somewhere
Not a charter. Three sentences in a pinned message: what nobody breaks, what nobody takes from other people's chests, and who to tell when something goes wrong. Written down, they head off the "but I thought…" conversation.
6. Somewhere to talk
In-game chat disappears when you log off. A Discord channel keeps announcements, makes it easy to organise sessions, and gives people a way to report a problem when the server isn't reachable. Ours is open if you want to ask something before starting — the link is at the top of the page.
On sizing the server
For a group of friends on vanilla, a small plan is plenty; a modpack changes things far more than the player count does. The RAM sizing article gives a starting point, the pricing grid the price that goes with it, and a refund remains available within 48 hours of ordering if the size turns out to be wrong. For creating the server itself, follow the getting-started guide.