Setting up a server/Debian

A simple Minetest server can be started in any Debian (Ubuntu, Linux Mint or derivative distribution) that has the minetest package by going to its “Server” tab, however such a game only remains available for the duration of the host's playing session.

This guide is aimed at providing a more permanent, minimal server environment setup without a graphical desktop environment.

Installing Minetest version 5 from Buster Backports

As of August 2019, minetest is available in version 0.4.17 in Debian Buster (Stable), and also in version 5.0.1 in Buster Backports.

The two versions are not compatible, and installing both version on the same system would be tricky. Since most servers probably use the newest versions, and players too, the version from the backports comes as a natural choice.

First, add the Backrpots repositories as explained on Debian Wiki.

Then install the minetest packages you need from it.

# apt install -t buster-backports minetest-server

Manage the server startup

Systemd is the default and currently prefered solution to manage services on Debian.

systemd

Since version 0.4.10+repack-3 the Debian minetest-server package automatically creates a system-wide, unprivileged user called Debian-minetest. The home directory of this user is /var/games/minetest-server. You can do all the configuration in /etc/minetest/minetest.conf. All log files are written to /var/log/minetest.

It should already be started. Check whether its running (or why it doesn't start) with

# systemctl status minetest-server

Start the server with

# systemctl start minetest-server

Stop the server with

# systemctl stop minetest-server

You can disable the server on boot with

# systemctl disable minetest-server

You can start multiple servers with different configurations by using systemd's template unit feature.

# systemctl start minetest-server@pvp.service

Provided that you also saved the configuration file for this server in /etc/minetest/pvp.conf, the server will now use this second configuration and log everything to /var/log/minetest/pvp.log. Simply replace pvp after @ with your desired name.

sysV-init

If systemd is not your default init system and you still prefer to use the old sysV-init style configuration, you can use the service command to start or stop your server.

# service minetest-server start

or:

# service minetest-server stop

Further information

• For a detailed explanation of the server configuration file, see the minetest.conf page.
• Use a different database backend for your world.
• One-line script for installing/compiling Minetest Git, for Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
• Debian Wiki Minetest page
• Guide to create fast minetest server on Debian
• Server commands page for a list of useful commands.
• Item strings for the itemstrings for use with the /give and /giveme commands.
• See the Privileges page for detailed information on the privilege system.

A few tips

• The .minetest directory contains game data (worlds, config, debug.txt).
• File structure with the folders Minetest adds after some usage as client and server, as well as the positions (…) that costum made content goes could look like this.

minetest/
├── bin/
├── builtin/
├── cache/
│   ├── media/
│   └── tmp/
├── client/
│   ├── serverlist/
│   └── shaders/
│       ├── …
├── doc/
├── fonts/
├── games/
│   ├── minetest_game/
│   ├── minimal/
│   └── … (installed extra games)
├── locale/ (lots of language folders)
├── mods/
│   └── … (installed extra mods and modpacks)
├── textures/
│   ├── base/
│   │   └── pack/
│   └── … (installed extra texturepacks)
└── worlds/
    └── … (saved worlds. Some with exclusive world mods)