- Start boots the server. Minecraft is playable after 10-60 seconds, big modpacks after a few minutes, Steam games after 1-3 minutes.
- Restart sends stop, waits for the process to end, then starts again. Use it after changing configs or installing plugins.
- Stop shuts down cleanly: the game saves the world and player data first. Always prefer this.
- Kill ends the process immediately without saving. Anything the game has not written to disk yet is lost, and worlds can end up half-written. Use it only when Stop does nothing for more than a minute or two.
The server stops itself right after starting
Read the console. Common reasons: EULA not accepted (Minecraft), not enough memory for a modpack, a broken plugin or mod, a corrupt world, a typo in a config file. Our troubleshooting guide walks through the first five checks.
The server is "starting" forever
Steam games download updates first, so give ARK or Palworld up to ten minutes. Minecraft that stays on starting for minutes is usually pre-generating a big world or loading hundreds of mods; watch the console for progress lines.