Whitelisting: Keeping Your Server Private

A whitelist is the simplest and most effective way to keep your server private. It creates an "exclusive" list of players, and anyone not on it simply can't join. It's perfect for private survival worlds with friends.

1. Turning It On

You can toggle the whitelist in the Settings > Game tab of Mission Control, or just type this in the Console:

whitelist on: Lock the doors. Only people on the list can join.
whitelist off: Open the gates. Anyone can join (as long as they have the address).

2. Managing Your List

The most common commands you'll use in the Console:

whitelist add <player>: Invite someone new.
whitelist remove <player>: Take someone off the list.
whitelist list: See who’s currently allowed in.
whitelist reload: If you manually edited the whitelist.json file, run this to refresh the server.

3. The "Kick or Stay" Setting

In your Settings tab (under Properties), there's a setting called Whitelist Enforcement. It decides what happens if you remove someone while they are already playing:

True: They get kicked instantly the moment you remove them.
False: They can stay until they log off, but they won't be able to get back in later.

4. The "Grey-list" Approach

Building a public server but want to prevent griefing? Many owners use a "Grey-list":

Anyone can join and walk around the world.
Only "Whitelisted" (or ranked) players can actually build, break blocks, or use items.
Tip: You can set this up easily using LuckPerms.

Got a player who's breaking the rules? Check out our Banning Guide for more permanent access control.