Deploying the server

The server binary, mc4-server is just a monolithic executable. You can deploy it pretty much however you want. That said, there are a couple data files to be aware of, and I've found it useful to create a systemd unit file, build helper scripts, etc. to aid in the process.

TL;DR

• Compile with helper script: ./build-generic-x86_64.sh -C .. -j4
• Look at the README for a list of dependencies to install
• Copy mc4-server, defs.json, and config_example.ini to your target
• Configure TLS parameters in config_example.ini
• Modify mc4-server.service to fit your system and systemctl enable it
• systemctl start to get going!

Build

Build using the Makefile in the server/ directory. For deployment, using TLS is strongly recommended. If you need a certificate, get one from Let's Encrypt (instructions). If for some reason you aren't using TLS, be sure to remove the -DTLS option from any build scripts you use.

Build scripts are provided for several target architectures (build-*.sh). They do nothing more than set $CXX and $CPPFLAGS to optimize for the target (and set -DTLS of course!). These scripts run make and pass along all arguments. For example:

$ ./build-aws-graviton2.sh -C .. -j4
$ cp ../mc4-server /path/to/target/mc4-server
$ cp ../defs.json /path/to/target/defs.json
$ cp ../config_example.ini /path/to/target/config.ini

(The -C flag tells make where to find the Makefile and source code.)

Files

In addition to the mc4-server binary, the server uses some data and config files. These are:

defs.json

Node, item, and craft definitions. By default, the server looks for this in its current directory. The path to this file can be configured.

config_example.ini

Config file, which should be named config.ini or something more appropriate once you've put your options in it. mc4-server must be told where to find this file:

$ ./mc4-server --config-file config.ini

test_map.sqlite

SQLite database containing map, player, and any other server state. The name and location of this file can be configured.

TLS certificate

See config_example.ini for an explanation of required TLS options.

Configuration

The server can be configured using an ini file (see config_example.ini) or on the command line. For example:

$ ./mc4-server --config-file config_example.ini
$ ./mc4-server -o server.port=8081
$ ./mc4-server --config-file config_example.ini -o "server.motd=-- Welcome to the server.\n-- Have a nice day."

Note that command line options are processed in the order given, so if you want to override an option from the config file, put your override after the config file.

By default, the server will run on port 8080 and store data to an SQLite database in test_map.sqlite.

$ ./mc4-server

Installation

While you can run the server directly from a command shell, in a screen session, etc., it is generally desirable to run it as a service. A systemd unit file is provided for this purpose: mc4-server.service. Edit this file to point to your binary and config files, customize it further to fit your system setup, then copy it to /etc/systemd/system/:

# cp mc4-server.service /etc/systemd/system/
# nano /etc/systemd/system/mc4-server.service
# systemctl enable mc4-server
# systemctl start mc4-server
# systemctl status mc4-server

Connect!

Hop on the web client and put in the address of your server, something like

wss://host.example.com:8080/

depending on configuration. You can connect as guest, register an account, etc. -- the game is ready to go!

Privileges

Players have privileges that determine what they may do in game, such as fast, fly, creative, or teleport. By default, all guests and newly-registered players get interact, shout, and touch; these allow basic interaction with the game and can be revoked as a means of moderation. You must have the grant privilege to grant most privileges (or grant_basic for some of the lower-level ones). There's one exception: the grant privilege itself and the omnipotent admin privilege require the admin privilege to grant. If you register an account on your new server, there's no way to get that privilege. The current workaround to solve that is to set player.default_grants="admin interact shout touch" temporarily, register your account, then unset it.

$ sudo systemctl stop mc4-server
$ ./mc4-server --config-file config.ini -o player.default_grants="admin interact shout touch"
(register your new account)
(Ctrl-C)
$ sudo systemctl start mc4-server