Quickly Set Up a Minecraft Server on macOS + Docker

Setting Up a Minecraft Server is a Hassle

It’s nostalgic to think about the days of doing all sorts of things like Forge and Java. Fortunately, now you can run a Minecraft server, backups, and other features with just docker compose up. I think this is good enough for quickly setting up a server.

Install Orbstack

This phrase might sound unfamiliar, but just think of it as Docker.

OrbStack · Fast, light, simple Docker & Linux

Say goodbye to slow, clunky containers and VMs. The fast, light, and easy way to run containers and Linux. Develop at lightspeed with our Docker Desktop alternative.

orbstack.dev

You can consider this a replacement for Docker Desktop that works on macOS.

Create a Docker Compose

We will create a Docker compose file.

version: "3.8"
networks:
  mc-network:
    name: mc-network
    driver: bridge
services:
  mc:
    image: itzg/minecraft-server:latest
    tty: **true**
    stdin_open: **true**
    ports:
      - "25565:25565"
      - "25575:25575"
    environment:
      EULA: "TRUE"
      TYPE: "FABRIC"
      VERSION: "1.20.1"
      
      # Various settings. Server configurations are specified as environment variables. Refer to the official documentation.
      FABRIC_LOADER_VERSION: "0.16.10"
      MEMORY: "16G"
      MAX_PLAYERS: "100"
      MOTD: "{Server Name}"
      ICON: "{Any Icon}"
      OVERRIDE_ICON: "true"
      ONLINE_MODE: "true"
      USE_AIKAR_FLAGS: "true"
      TZ: "Asia/Tokyo"
      FORCE_GAMEMODE: "true"
      SIMULATION_DISTANCE: "32"
      VIEW_DISTANCE: "32"
      SPAWN_PROTECTION: "0"
      PREVIEWS_CHAT: "true"
      ALLOW_FLIGHT: "true"
      RCON_PASSWORD: "admin"
    volumes:
      - "./data:/data"
    networks:
      - mc-network
  rcon-web:
      image: itzg/rcon
      restart: "always"
      ports:
        - "4336:4326"
        - "4337:4327"
      environment:
        RWA_USERNAME: admin
        RWA_PASSWORD: admin
        RWA_ADMIN: "TRUE"
        # Refers to the hostname of 'mc' compose service below
        RWA_RCON_HOST: mc
        # Must match the RCON_PASSWORD configured for the container
        RWA_RCON_PASSWORD: "admin"
      networks:
        - mc-network
  backups:
    image: itzg/mc-backup
    restart: "always"
    environment:
      INITIAL_DELAY: "1m"
      BACKUP_INTERVAL: "3h"
      RCON_HOST: mc
      RCON_PORT: "25575"
      RCON_PASSWORD: "admin"
    volumes:
      - ./data/world:/data
      - ./backups:/backups
    networks:
      - mc-network
# Volume settings (You don't have to change this if you don't care)
volumes:
  mc: {}

Sample Images Used in YAML

This is just one example, so you can add various things to this or perhaps you only need the server part.

itzg/minecraft-server:latest

• The Minecraft server runs completely on this one image. https://docker-minecraft-server.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#using-docker-compose

itzg/mc-backup

• This image creates backups at regular intervals. There is a unique communication form called RCON (Remote Console) used by Minecraft, which saves the world automatically.

qiita.com

qiita.com

itzg/rcon

• This allows you to use rcon on the web.
• You can send commands from the web and perform various operations, making it very convenient.
• It makes server management easier. You might also consider integrating with Cloudflare Tunnel.