How to set up a whitelist on a Minecraft Spigot server

Introduction

A whitelist is a crucial security feature for Minecraft server administrators that helps maintain a controlled and safe gaming environment. This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about implementing and managing a whitelist on your Spigot server.

Basic Whitelist Commands

Enabling the Whitelist

/whitelist on

This command activates the whitelist feature, immediately restricting server access to only whitelisted players.

Adding Players

/whitelist add <player_name>

Adds a specific player to the whitelist. Make sure to use the exact Minecraft username.

Removing Players

/whitelist remove <player_name>

Removes a player from the whitelist, preventing them from joining the server.

Advanced Whitelist Management

Using whitelist.json

The whitelist is stored in whitelist.json in your server directory. You can manually edit this file for bulk changes:

[
  {
    "uuid": "player-uuid-here",
    "name": "player_name"
  }
]

Reload Command

/whitelist reload

Refreshes the whitelist after manual file edits. Useful when making bulk changes.