Change the difficulty, game mode and player slots

Three of the most asked-for changes, in the two places they live.

Difficulty and player slots: Settings

1. Settings, Server.
2. Difficulty: peaceful, easy, normal or hard. Player slots: how many can be online at once.
3. Save and restart. Both are read when the server starts.

difficulty hard in the Console changes it at once without a restart; the setting in the panel wins again on the next start, so change both if you want it to stick.

Game mode: a command

The default game mode for new players is a command in the Console:

defaultgamemode creative
gamemode survival Steve

defaultgamemode sets what new players start in and saves with the world. gamemode <mode> <player> changes one player now. Hardcore is a world setting chosen at creation; the Hard mode and Hardcore presets set it up for you.

Good to know

• Slots are not a RAM setting. A 2 GB server can list 100 slots; it just cannot hold 100 players. See Allocate RAM.
• Spawn protection, command blocks, flight and view distance are on the same settings page.
• The Commands tab keeps the commands you run often as one-click buttons.