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.

A death counter makes the stakes visible and works in every Java world. Type these two lines in the Console:

scoreboard objectives add deaths deathCount
scoreboard objectives setdisplay list deaths

From then on, the player list under the Tab key shows how often each player has died. Write sidebar in place of list to show it at the side of the screen for everyone. On a server with several lives per player, it shows how many each one has used.

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.

Many hardcore SMPs bend the rules a little. These are the variants groups ask about, with a way to run each:

Whatever you pick, put it in the rules before the first night. How to set up a Minecraft SMP has more on writing rules players accept.

• 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.

For a one evening event in the style of UHC, where the last player alive wins:

1. Start a new hardcore world, whitelist the players and pre-generate the area inside the border.
2. Turn off natural healing, so health only comes back from golden apples and potions: gamerule natural_regeneration false, or naturalRegeneration on versions before 1.21.11.
3. Set the playing field: worldborder set 2000 makes a square of 2000 by 2000 blocks around the centre of the world.
4. When the event starts, shrink it: worldborder set 100 3600 brings the border down to 100 blocks over one hour, which forces everyone together.
5. Players who die stay as spectators and can watch the final fight.

More commands for events like this are in Minecraft server commands.

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.