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Knowledge base

Manage your Minecraft server: whitelist, op and bans

Decide who can join, make admins and remove players, with the commands you actually need.

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Updated 1 November 2026

Want to decide who can join your Minecraft server, who's an admin and how to remove someone? It takes a few commands. Type them in the console in SparkPanel (without the /) or in the game (with /, once you're op yourself).

Whitelist: only let your friends in

With a whitelist, only players on the list can join. Handy when your server is just for friends, a class or a club.

  1. Turn the whitelist on: whitelist on
  2. Add players by their Minecraft name: whitelist add PlayerName
  3. Remove someone: whitelist remove PlayerName
  4. See the list: whitelist list
Turn the whitelist on before you share the server address. In server.properties this is white-list=true; with enforce-whitelist=true, players who aren't on the list are removed right away. See server.properties explained.

Op: make someone an admin

A player with op (operator) can use commands, such as changing the time, kicking players or switching game mode.

  • Make someone op: op PlayerName
  • Take op away: deop PlayerName

Only give op to people you really trust: an op can do anything on the server, including breaking things. On Paper with plugins, a plugin like LuckPerms lets you choose exactly who can do what. See Install Minecraft plugins.

Kicking and banning

  • Remove someone from the server (they can come back): kick PlayerName reason
  • Keep someone out for good: ban PlayerName reason
  • Lift a ban: pardon PlayerName
  • Block an IP address: ban-ip PlayerName (careful: this affects everyone on that connection, such as a whole household)
  • See who's banned: banlist

A few more useful commands

  • list: who's online.
  • say Message: send a message to everyone from the console.
  • gamemode creative PlayerName or survival: change a player's game mode.
  • difficulty peaceful, easy, normal or hard: change the difficulty.
  • save-all: save the world right now, for example before a big change.

Frequently asked questions

I get "Unknown command" in the game. You're not op yet. Make yourself op from the console in SparkPanel first: op YourName.

Does the whitelist work for Bedrock players through Geyser? Yes, but Bedrock names often have a prefix, such as .PlayerName. See Let Bedrock players join with Geyser.

Where are these lists stored? In whitelist.json, ops.json and banned-players.json in your server's main folder. You can view them in SparkPanel under Files.