How to Change Max Players on Your Minecraft Server

Would you like to allow more or fewer players to join your Minecraft server at the same time? The max-players setting determines how many players may be connected simultaneously. This number is also known as the number of player slots. By default, the maximum is set to 20 players. In this guide, we explain how to change this number for your Minecraft server.

Changing the maximum number of players

1. Log in to the game panel and go to your Minecraft server.
2. Stop the Minecraft server if it is currently running.
3. Open the Files page.
4. Open the server.properties file by clicking the file name.
5. Find the line that begins with max-players=.

Tip Use Ctrl+F on Windows and Linux or Cmd+F on macOS to find the setting more quickly.

6. Change the number after the equals sign (=) to the maximum number of players you want to allow. To allow up to 100 players, for example, use:

max-players=100

7. Save the file.
8. Start the Minecraft server using the green start button. The new maximum number of players will take effect once the server has fully started.

How many players can my Minecraft server handle?

The max-players setting only changes how many players are allowed to connect. Increasing this value does not automatically provide your Minecraft server with additional processing power or memory.

The number of players your server can handle without lag depends on factors such as your server plan, server software and the use of worlds, plugins and mods. Increase the maximum gradually and monitor the CPU and RAM usage in the game panel.