Minecraft Server Admin

Scope: This skill is your in-game remote control for a Minecraft Java server. It sends commands through the RCON protocol to manage players, world state, and server communication in real time. It intentionally excludes server-infrastructure operations such as process lifecycle management, filesystem backups, plugin jar installation, and continuous uptime monitoring; use a dedicated PaperMC ops skill for those. This skill does NOT require minecraft-bridge — it communicates directly with the server's admin console over a separate TCP connection.

Architecture:

OpenClaw → RCON TCP (port 25575) → Minecraft Server Console

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Prerequisites

Enable RCON on the Server

Edit server.properties:

enable-rcon=true
rcon.port=25575
rcon.password=STRONG_PASSWORD_HERE
broadcast-rcon-to-ops=false

Restart server after changing these values.

Environment Variables

MC_RCON_HOST=localhost        # Server IP or hostname
MC_RCON_PORT=25575            # RCON port (must match server.properties)
MC_RCON_PASSWORD=yourpassword # RCON password (must match server.properties)
MC_SERVER_LOG=/path/to/server/logs/latest.log  # optional, for log analysis

Verify Connection

node ~/.openclaw/skills/minecraft-server-admin/scripts/rcon.js "list"
# Expected: "There are N of a max of M players online: ..."

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Operation Categories

PLAYER MANAGEMENT

For any player-related command, use: scripts/rcon.js "<command>"

Listing & Checking

• "who is online" → /list → parse player count and names
• "is [player] online" → /list then check if name appears

Access Control ⚠️ Requires confirmation before executing:

• kick: /kick <player> [reason]
• temp ban: /ban <player> [reason] + calendar note
• permanent ban: /ban <player> [reason]
• ban IP: /ban-ip <player|ip> [reason]
• unban: /pardon <player> or /pardon-ip <ip>
• whitelist add: /whitelist add <player>
• whitelist remove: /whitelist remove <player>
• op player: /op <player> ⚠️ HIGH PRIVILEGE — always confirm
• deop player: /deop <player>

Item & State Management

• give items: /give <player> <item_id> [count]
• clear inventory: /clear <player> [item] [count]
• set gamemode: /gamemode <survival|creative|adventure|spectator> <player>
• teleport: /tp <player> <x> <y> <z> or /tp <player> <target_player>
• set health/hunger: /effect give <player> minecraft:regeneration ...
• heal player: /effect give <player> minecraft:instant_health 1 10

WORLD MANAGEMENT

Time & Weather

• day: /time set day
• night: /time set midnight
• sunrise: /time set 0
• clear weather: /weather clear [seconds]
• rain: /weather rain [seconds]
• thunder: /weather thunder [seconds]

World State

• save world: /save-all (always do before maintenance)
• save-off (for backup): /save-off then backup then /save-on
• change difficulty: /difficulty <peaceful|easy|normal|hard>
• set game rule: /gamerule <rule> <value>
  • Examples: keepInventory true, doDaylightCycle false, doFireTick false
• find structure: /locate structure minecraft:<structure_name>
• fill area: /fill <x1 y1 z1> <x2 y2 z2> <block> ⚠️ Confirm range before running

Entity Management

• kill all mobs: /kill @e[type=!player] ⚠️ Confirm — kills all non-players
• kill specific type: /kill @e[type=minecraft:zombie]
• remove dropped items: /kill @e[type=minecraft:item]

BROADCAST & COMMUNICATION

• server message: /say <message> (prefixed with [Server])
• title on screen: /title @a title {"text":"<msg>","color":"gold","bold":true}
• subtitle: /title @a subtitle {"text":"<msg>"}
• private message: /msg <player> <message>
• actionbar: /title @a actionbar {"text":"<msg>"}

PERFORMANCE MONITORING

When asked about server performance:

1. Execute /list → check player count
2. Read MC_SERVER_LOG file (last 200 lines) if path set
3. Look for patterns in references/log-patterns.md
4. Report: TPS warnings, error frequency, player activity spikes

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Safety Protocols

Confirmation required for all destructive/high-privilege commands:

⚠️  Dangerous Operation
Command: /ban SomePlayer griefing and harassment
Server:  ${MC_RCON_HOST}:${MC_RCON_PORT}
Effect:  Permanently bans SomePlayer from server

Type 'confirm' to proceed, or 'cancel' to abort.

Operations requiring confirmation:

• ban, ban-ip — permanent account restriction
• op — grants admin privileges
• fill — large area modification
• kill @e — entity mass-removal
• stop — server shutdown
• save-off — pauses auto-save (dangerous if forgotten)

Audit logging: After each operation, append to OpenClaw Memory:

## Server Admin Log [ISO timestamp]
- Command: /ban PlayerX "repeated griefing"
- Executed by: [OpenClaw user]
- Result: success

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Response Formatting

Player List (/list response)

Parse and present as:

👥 Players Online (3/20):
  • Steve — [show coords if available]
  • Alex
  • Notch

Kicked/Banned confirmation

✅ Done: PlayerX has been banned
   Reason: griefing
   Effective immediately
   To undo: /pardon PlayerX

Error Responses

• Connection refused → check RCON settings, server running?
• Authentication failure → wrong MC_RCON_PASSWORD
• Command returned empty → server may not have recognized command (check version)

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Log Analysis

When user asks about server health or player history:

1. Check MC_SERVER_LOG is set and file exists
2. Read the last N lines: tail -500 <log_file>
3. Apply patterns from references/log-patterns.md
4. Summarize findings:

📊 Server Log Summary (last 2 hours)
  Player logins: 14
  Player logouts: 12 (2 still online)
  Errors/Warnings: 3
    - [15:42] Can't keep up! Running 2500ms behind
    - [16:10] Saving chunks for level 'world'
  Suspicious activity: none detected

Additional Resources

• references/commands.md — All vanilla commands with syntax and permission level
• references/log-patterns.md — Common log patterns and what they mean
• scripts/rcon.js — RCON client (used by all commands above)
• scripts/log-analyzer.js — Log parsing utilities