How to make a hardcore Minecraft server

1. Open Settings and go to Server settings.
2. Search for hardcore and switch on Hardcore. The panel warns you: death becomes permanent for players.
3. Save.
4. Start a new world with the switch on, as in the next section.

In server.properties this is the line hardcore=true, if you would rather edit the file in Files.

Hardcore always plays on the hard difficulty. In a hardcore world the hearts in every player's health bar have the hardcore look, so everyone can see the mode is on.

A world stores whether it is hardcore at the moment it is created. The surest way to a real hardcore world is therefore a new one, generated while the Hardcore switch is already on. It is also the fairest: in an old world some players already have diamond gear and others do not.

Make a backup of the old world first, then follow change your server's seed to start the new world, with a seed you pick or a random one.

Pre-generate the land around spawn before you open the server, so the first night is not also the laggiest one: see pre-generate your world.

A player who dies on a hardcore server does not respawn. They become a spectator: they can fly through the world and watch the others, but cannot touch anything, pick anything up or be seen.

Their items drop where they died, just like in normal survival, so the others can pick them up. The world itself goes on for everyone who is still alive.

Hardcore is only as strict as you want it. To give someone a second chance, an operator types this in the console, without a slash:

gamemode survival Name

The player is back in survival where they are standing as a spectator, with an empty inventory. Teleport them to a safe place first if they are floating over lava: tp Name OtherPlayer puts them next to another player.

Many hardcore SMPs have a fixed rule for this, such as a revival ritual that costs the group a rare item, a vote, or no revivals at all. Decide before you start and write it down, so nobody feels treated unfairly later.

• Whitelist on, so only the players you invited are part of the story: whitelist and operator levels.
• Keep inventory off, which is the default. With it on, a death costs nothing but the life itself; see keep inventory and game rules.
• Locator bar off, a game rule, if finding each other should take effort.
• Death messages on, so everyone sees in chat how someone died.
• Few operators. An operator can switch their own game mode, which spoils the game if it is used for anything but a revival you agreed on.
• Automatic restart at a quiet hour, so a restart never catches someone in the middle of a fight: schedule automatic restarts.

A backup does not bring back a single player; restoring one puts the whole world back in time for everyone. Use backups for what they are for: a crash, a corrupted world, or griefing. Make one before every big change, as in back up and restore your server.

Lag can kill in hardcore. A server that stutters during a fight costs lives, so keep an eye on the TPS and see reduce lag if it drops.