Most common errors - an encyclopedia
Let's face it: errors are annoying. In this article, we will guide you in interpreting and fixing an error on your Minecraft server.
In this guide, we will separate the most common errors into the categories of startup, minor, and connection errors. Find your error here based on when it happens and what gametype you are using.
Generally speaking, make sure these configurations are present, and your proxy should work fine!
We will work on updating this section with more errors soon
Then restart all related servers
In file manager, you can sometimes find crash reports in a server named crash reports. There, you will find many reports, each with a date. Navigate to the day of the crash. The log there will show the error(s) leading up to the crash as well as system details. For this section, it is good to know what each of these letter mean: 'U' = Unloaded 'L' = Loaded 'C' = Constructed 'H' = Pre-initialized 'I' = Initialized 'J' = Post-initialized 'A' = Available 'D' = Disabled 'E' = Errored
Here's an example:
The first thing to do when no fixes work is to try reinstalling (make a backup first).
For special joining problems, consult the Minecraft help forum or contact Minecraft support.
If you still cannot fix your error, open a live chat 👍
In this guide, we will separate the most common errors into the categories of startup, minor, and connection errors. Find your error here based on when it happens and what gametype you are using.
⬆️ Startup errors ⬆️
General - Java + Bedrock
| General Startup Errors | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| EULA Error | When first starting your server, you will need to accept the Minecraft EULA (basically their terms of service). It will throw the error and crash once upon startup saying, You need to agree to the EULA in order to run the server. Go to eula.txt for more info. A window should pop up asking you to accept Minecraft EULA. Either press "I agree" there, or navigate to eula.txt in the file manager and set eula to true. |
| Permission Denied | If you are experiencing an error such as /entrypoint.sh: line 12: ./bedrock_server: Permission denied, then you must navigate to the file indicated by the error, right-click or click the three dots next to the file, go to permissions, and change the number to 755. |
| Failed to bind port | When this happens, you will most likely receive an error such as: |
| Unable to read world format | When you have an error about the server not being able to load the world file, it means that either your world is corrupted or not compatible with your gametype. For example, don't attempt to use a Java world on a Bedrock server. To fix this, you can let the server generate its own world by deleting your current world file, convert the world to a different format if you have the tools for it, or import a new non-corrupted and compatible world. |
Java Startup Errors
| Java Startup Errors | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Unable to access server.jar file | This error is quite common. It means that your server.jar file is either missing, named wrong, or not understandable. If your server file is named something like paper-1.17.3-21.jar, make sure to rename it server.jar. If your server file is missing or corrupted, make sure to either upload/re-upload it manually or reinstall your server. This also applies to the Error: Invalid or corrupt jarfile server.jar error. |
| Java version error | It's easy to notice this error if you see something like this on the console: Minecraft 1.17 requires running the server with Java 16 or above. Download Java 16 (or above) from https://adoptopenjdk.net/ or Unsupported Java detected (60.0). Only up to Java 13 is supported. |
However, if you're running Forge, for example, it's a little harder to notice. You can tell it's a Java version error when you see a bunch of errors resembling  To fix this error, go to startup on the control panel and change to the appropriate Java version on the top right. (Java 8-11 until 1.17. For 1.17+ use Java 16-17) | |
| Crash: out of memory | When your server freezes, everyone is kicked, and the console is not responding, it's most likely because your server has passed its RAM limit. When this happens, stop the server (you may have to wait a few minutes for it to stop) or kill it if you're impatient (not recommended). Always make sure to allocate the necessary RAM for your server, optimize its memory consumption, and restart it when the RAM gets high. |
| Crashing mods/plugins | If your startup error is not one stated in this section, it is most likely an error originating from one of your server's mods or plugins. Locate the mod/plugin that is mentioned in the error and either find an updated/fixed version or delete it. |
Bedrock Startup Errors
| Bedrock Startup Errors | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Failed to open curl lib from binary | When you receive this error it means your ipv4 and ipv6 are the same. Simply change the ipv6 to another port in server.properties to fix it. |
| Pocketmine errors | For most Pocketmine startup errors, make sure you have the right PHP version for your version. You can change it in startup. |
| Nukkit errors | Make sure to choose your language upon startup, which can be mistaken for the server not starting. For example, for English type eng. |
| Bedrock server ./bedrock_server: Permission denied issue ( Vanilla Bedrock ) | Go to the bedrock_server file, right click it and click on Permissions, then set the number in the box that appears to 755. The server should now boot. |
Proxy errors
Generally speaking, make sure these configurations are present, and your proxy should work fine!
We will work on updating this section with more errors soon
``bukkit.yml connection-throttle to -1
spigot.yml bungeecord to true
server.properties online-mode to false
IP forwarding to true on bungeeThen restart all related servers
🤏 Minor errors 🤏
| Minor Errors | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Plugin/mod errors | When you receive an error that doesn't prevent the server from starting, it's probably a mod or plugin problem. The plugin/mod will then most likely be disabled or not work properly. The problem could originate from a problem in its configuration (check the site you downloaded it from for instructions), but it could also be because it's outdated or just badly made. Check the configuration, in particular if the error points to one setting, get an updated version, or just delete it if it never worked. |
| Timings URL's do not get created | Make sure that you have a timings history and interval set to the recommended amount in paper.yml, and ensure the timings URL is set to the default one. The default is https://timings.aikar.co/ |
| Missing required core mod or plugin ( Java ) | If your console is showing this error, it means that you have a mod/plugin that requires a missing core mod/plugin. To fix this, either remove the dependent mod/plugin or install the mod/plugin it requires to run (it will say on the console or on the site you downloaded it from) |
| Can't keep up, is the server overloaded? | During this error, you will find a TPS (ticks per second) drop, meaning lag. To fix this, you will need to locate the source of the lag see our server optimization article. |
| Incompatible protocol version (PMMP | When a plugin has an incompatible protocol version, it means it is outdated. If you download your plugins from Poggit, make sure to select the right version for your server on the plugin page (top right). |
| Failed loading error | Failed loading /home/container/bin/php7/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-zts-20190902/opcache.so: /home/container/bin/php7/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-zts-20190902/opcache.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory: you can ignore this, it will not affect your server at all. |
🌐 Connection errors 🌐
| Minor Errors | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Outdated server | This means your server is running an older version of Minecraft than the one you are trying to connect with. Either update your server, downgrade your Minecraft client, or add a multi-version support plugin such as ViaVersion |
| Outdated client | This means your server is running a newer version of Minecraft than the one you are trying to connect with. Either downgrade your server, update your Minecraft client, or add a multi-version support plugin such as ViaBackwards. (requires ViaVersion) |
| Invalid IP | This means you entered something other than an IP in the server address field when adding the server. Make sure you put in an IP with numbers and dots. |
| Banned by an operator | 🔨 You've been banned! Contact a server administrator to have them unban you. If you have console access, use /pardon or /unban. If your IP is banned, use /pardon-ip or unban-ip. |
| The server is whitelisted | Add your in-game name to the whitelist with whitelist add on the console. You can also turn off whitelist with whitelist off or by changing whitelist to false in server.properties and restarting the server. |
| Bad login | Make sure you're not attempting to log in too fast, and that you're using a Minecraft version that is compatible with the server. This could also be caused by a bad internet connection. |
| The authentication servers are currently down for maintenance | This error, or com.mojang.authlib.GameProfile ... lost connection: Disconnected could mean a few things. The authentication servers could really be offline (in that case, wait), or your firewall could be blocking the connection. In that case use this tutorial. If this doesn't fix itself, consider changing online-mode to false in server.properties, allowing anyone to join. |
| Failed to Verify Username/Invalid session | When you get this error, it means you need to log back in. Log out of your Minecraft launcher then log back in again. If you're using a non-premium version of Minecraft, make sure to set online-mode to false in server.properties and restart your server. |
| Connection refused ( if it's you ) | First, check if other players are having this problem. Make sure you're using the correct IP and port. Make sure your antivirus or firewall aren't blocking the connection. Make sure your network is strong and not blocking the 25565 port. |
| Connection refused ( if it's not just you ) | Check the server console for errors, make sure your server is set to a compatible gametype |
| io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutException | This means your computer/internet cannot handle connecting to the server. Consider using a stronger computer, closing other programs, or getting better bandwidth. |
| java.net.SocketException: Connection reset | This could be caused by your internet or errors/intensive computing on your server. Check your server console for errors. |
| java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 503 | This happens when Minecraft.net is down. Wait, and keep up with Minecraft news (through social media). |
| java.lang.NullPointerException | This means your Minecraft client has crashed. Try to find the Java crash log to identify the issue (named something like hs_err_pid...txt on your desktop). Worst case scenario you will have to rename the .minecraft folder and relaunch Minecraft so that it creates a new folder (then copy your Minecraft saves there). |
| Unable to connect to world (bedrock) | Make sure you're putting in the correct IP and port. If you are, make sure your server is set to a compatible gametype and check for console errors that could be interfering with your connection. |
| You need to authenticate to Microsoft services (bedrock) | To fix this error, simply reload Minecraft, log out and log back in to Minecraft using your Microsoft account. It should then be fixed. If not, it could be because authentication servers are down and you need to wait. |
| Failed to open curl lib from binary, use libcurl.so instead__ and a few other lines ( Vanilla Bedrock ) | This seems to happen when the user has multiple different server files in the same dir, namely, server.properties. Make a copy of the original, and then delete server.properties, and start the server. If it still does not work, simply change the ipv6 to another port in server.properties, restart the server, and attempt to join |
| Internal server error (PMMP) | This error will kick players out of a Pocketmine server, or even force it to stop. It's often caused by a plugin, so identify which one by looking at the error on the console and checking its configuration and version. Always make sure your plugins work and are compatible with your server. |
| Pocketmine server Pings, works but you cannot join | Please use the update feature to repair your servers config or replace your config with one found here: download. Alternatively you can find the "Network" area inside the pocketmine.yml and change the "max-mtu-size" to 1450 |
Not finding your error? Try to understand the cause by reading your logs or crash report.
💥 Reading a crash report 💥
In file manager, you can sometimes find crash reports in a server named crash reports. There, you will find many reports, each with a date. Navigate to the day of the crash. The log there will show the error(s) leading up to the crash as well as system details. For this section, it is good to know what each of these letter mean: 'U' = Unloaded 'L' = Loaded 'C' = Constructed 'H' = Pre-initialized 'I' = Initialized 'J' = Post-initialized 'A' = Available 'D' = Disabled 'E' = Errored
Here's an example:
| State | ID | Version | Source | Signature |
|:----- |:---------- |:------------ |:-------------------------------- |:--------- |
| L | minecraft | 1.12.2 | minecraft.jar | None |
| L | mcp | 9.42 | minecraft.jar | None |
| L | FML | 8.0.99.99 | forge1122.jar | None |
| L | forge | 14.23.5.2847 | forge1122.jar | None |🤔 Other errors 🤔
The first thing to do when no fixes work is to try reinstalling (make a backup first).
For special joining problems, consult the Minecraft help forum or contact Minecraft support.
If you still cannot fix your error, open a live chat 👍
Updated on: 08/03/2023
Thank you!