Getting started with your Minecraft server

Purchasing a server from Lilypad was the right choice! This article should cover the basics of setting up your Minecraft server, so that you and your friends can start playing together straight away.

You now have access to our industry-leading control panel, available at panel.lilypad.gg – if you click on that link, and then the Login with Billing button, you should see your server available to manage:

1. Software/modpack installation

Lilypad supports a wide variety of server versions and modpacks, so you have full control over what you run on your server. If you have a pre-made modpack you wish to install from CurseForge, Modrinth, or a variety of other platforms we support, you can do so in one click via the Modpacks tab in the panel. If you want to create a custom modpack, we recommend doing this with the CurseForge app.

You can read more on installing pre-made and custom modpacks here.

Alternatively, you can install Forge, Fabric, Paper (plus derivatives) or the Vanilla server software via the Software tab — read more here.

2. Server configuration & whitelist

We automatically enable a username-based whitelist/allowlist on all servers created with us, so please run whitelist add <player> in the console to add your account (and others') to the list, replacing <player> with your in-game username, e.g. whitelist add PLAYERNAME

Keep in mind any commands run via console don't need a slash / at the beginning like in-game commands do.

If you're running a private server, we recommend keeping the whitelist enabled for security reasons otherwise random players can join your server, however if you have adequate protections set up you can run whitelist off in the console to disable it.

You may also want to grant yourself OP/operator permissions on your server, which you can do by running op <player> in the console. You can remove a player's privileges with the deop <player> command, or remove them from the whitelist with whitelist remove <player>

There may be some options worth configuring in your server.properties file which can be accessed in the Files tab of the panel. More info on that is available in this article.

3. Joining your server

You can copy the IP address and port from the top-right of the console:

And connect to it via your Minecraft client, using the version you installed:

Once your server is set up, you can share this with friends and they'll be able to connect if they have the correct mods installed.

Updated on: 01/01/2026