I've been hosting and setting up game servers since I was around 13 years old. Recently, I decided it was time to properly take a deep dive into Linux, specifically Ubuntu servers, since this is something I'm genuinely interested in and…

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I set up Ubuntu Server 24.04 in a virtual machine and started building everything from scratch. Along the way, I found myself constantly forgetting certain commands, especially the ones I use most often for Minecraft server hosting and general troubleshooting.

So I created this personal cheat sheet. It's mainly focused on Ubuntu servers running Minecraft, but I also use it as a general Linux refresher. Hopefully, it can help others as well.

Ubuntu / Minecraft Server Cheat-Sheet

Term explanation

vim - terminal text editor

curl - tool to download files from the internet

screen - keeps a program running in a detachable terminal session

tail - displays file output in real time

ssh - log into a remote machine securely

Navigation & files

ls -la - list all files including hidden (with permissions)

cd / - go to root directory

cd .. - go up one folder

cd ~/mcserver - go to Minecraft server folder

pwd - show current directory

cat file.txt - display file contents

rm -f paper.jar - delete file forcefully

nano filename - edit file (Ctrl+O save, Ctrl+X exit)

ip a - show IP addresses (Windows ipconfig equivalent)

Screen commands

screen -S name - create and enter a new screen session

screen -ls - list active screen sessions

screen -r name - reattach to a session

screen -r 1234.mc - reattach using PID

Ctrl + A then D - detach without stopping the server

screen -X -S 1234.mc quit - kill a specific session

screen -wipe - clean up dead sessions

SSH commands

ssh user@ip - connect via SSH

ssh -p 2222 user@ip - connect using custom port

ssh-copy-id user@ip - enable passwordless SSH login

exit - disconnect from SSH

scp paper.jar user@ip:~/mcserver/ - upload file to server

scp user@ip:~/mcserver/logs/latest.log - download file

sudo systemctl status ssh - check SSH status

sudo systemctl start ssh - start SSH service

sudo ufw allow ssh - allow SSH through firewall

RAM / CPU

free -h - show RAM usage

htop - live CPU & memory usage

Downloading files

curl -L -o filename URL - command

-L - follow redirects

-o - output file name

Vim basics

vim file.txt - open file

i - insert mode

Esc :wq - save & quit

Esc :q! - quit without saving

Tail log stuff

tail -f logs/latest.log - live console (Ctrl+C = stop)

tail -f /var/log/syslog - show system messages

tail -f /var/log/auth.log - show who logged in

tail -f plugins/*/debug.log - show plugin debug

tail -f logs/latest.log | grep ERROR - show only errors

MC start one liner

screen -S mc && java -Xmx6G -Xms6G -jar paper.jar --nogui

What are Aikar's flags?

A set of JVM arguments that optimize Java’s garbage collector for Minecraft servers.

Without them: lag spikes & crashes.

With them: much smoother performance and stable TPS.

Starting the MC server with Aikar's flags

java -Xmx6G -Xms6G \

-XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 \

-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+DisableExplicitGC \

-XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=8M \

-XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4 \

-XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 \

-XX:G1RSetUpdatingPauseTimePercent=5 -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 \

-XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1 \

-jar paper.jar --nogui

I'm currently documenting my Linux and game server hosting learning publicly while working toward junior hosting & support roles. If this cheat sheet helped you, feel free to comment or reach out!