Setting up a CraftBukkit based Minecraft server on OSX (Nov 2013)

Since I have my regular Codeclub Wednesday session later today, I finally got around to figure out how to run a Minecraft server (I have a number of kids that are starting to get bored with Scratch and REALLY like the idea of programming Minecraft)

There are a couple Minecraft servers out there (including an official one), but the CraftBukkit seems really powerful and very plugin-friendly (see http://plugins.bukkit.org/)

Here are the steps required to get an Minecraft CraftBukkit  server up and running:

1. download the CraftBukkit 1.7.2 development version from http://dl.bukkit.org/downloads/craftbukkit/
2. follow the instructions from http://wiki.bukkit.org/Setting_up_a_server
3. move the downloaded craftbukkit-1.7.2-R0.1-20131204.020906-17.jar into the BukkitServer folder and rename it craftbukkit.jar (you can delete the one originally downloaded)
4. execute ./start.command from a terminal window in the BukkitServer folder
5. open your Minecraft client (downloaded from https://minecraft.net/download) and connect to localhost (you will need a valid/paid account in https://minecraft.net)

This should be a 5m job. It took me longer because (in Nov 2013) the version that is downloaded from http://dl.bukkit.org/downloads/craftbukkit/ is the 1.6.x and the https://minecraft.net/download version of client is using the 1.7.2 version.

Here are the install instructions from http://wiki.bukkit.org/Setting_up_a_server

 

Here is the version I downloaded from: http://dl.bukkit.org/downloads/craftbukkit/ 

Here is the 'lost connection' problem I was having when using the 1.7.2 client to connect to the 1.6.x server

Here is the Bukkit server started using ./start.command

Which can be connected using the Minecraft client, by choosing the Multiplayer Mode option:

... then the Direct Connect option:

 ... then Join Server using localhost (or 127.0.0.1)

... which will connect us to the local CraftBukkit server :)

 The CraftBukkit server console should log the client connection:

 In the CraftBukkit server console, use help  go get a list of available commands:

 For example we can use say "Hello World" to send a message to all current users

... which will be displayed on their screen:

I don't think the kids I'm currently teaching have ever accessed a Minecraft server they controlled, so it should be interesting to see their reaction :)