How to whitelist a Minecraft server (Java and Bedrock)

Lock your Minecraft server to a list of approved usernames from the dashboard or the console. Works on Paper, Forge, Fabric, and Bedrock.

The short version

Turn the whitelist on from the Players tab of your server dashboard and add usernames there, or run /whitelist on and /whitelist add <name> from the console. It works the same on Paper, Forge, Fabric and Bedrock. Changes take effect immediately; there is no restart needed.

A whitelist locks a Minecraft server so only the players you have explicitly added can join. On Hostd, you can manage it from the dashboard or the console; both feed the same whitelist.json file under the hood.

#From the dashboard

Open Dashboard → your server → Players. Toggle Whitelist enabled at the top. Add players by username; we resolve to UUID automatically so a player can change their Minecraft name later without losing access. Remove with the × next to a row.

#From the in-game or web console

The vanilla commands all work:

/whitelist on
/whitelist add SomePlayer
/whitelist remove SomePlayer
/whitelist list
/whitelist off

Run them from the dashboard's Console panel or from in-game if you are opped. The dashboard Players tab updates within a few seconds because we re-read the file on every change.

#Common gotchas

  • Premium versus offline accounts. A whitelisted UUID is the premium (Mojang) UUID. If a player is on a cracked client, their UUID will be different and they will not match the whitelist entry even with the same username.
  • Bedrock uses allowlist.json, not whitelist.json. Same idea, different file and command (/allowlist add). The dashboard Players tab handles both transparently.
  • Whitelist persists across world resets. If you wipe the world to start fresh but keep whitelist.json, your old players still have access. Take it into account.

#Why whitelisting matters even with a private address

A private subdomain is not actually private; anyone with the address can attempt to join. If you have shared your address in a Discord server, on a forum, or with a player who has since left the group, the whitelist is your only line. Turn it on early.

#Where to go next

#Frequently asked questions

Does whitelisting kick players who are already online?

Turning the whitelist on does not remove people who are already connected. Run /whitelist reload after editing the list to apply it to the current session, or restart the server.

Why is my whitelist not working?

The usual causes are the whitelist being off despite names being on the list, a username typed with the wrong capitalisation on an offline-mode server, or a player who changed their Minecraft name since you added them. On online-mode servers the whitelist tracks UUIDs, so a name change follows the account automatically.

Can I whitelist people through Discord instead?

Yes. The Discord gate adds players to the whitelist automatically once they meet the role and account-age checks you set, which saves you from being the person who types usernames at midnight.

Written and maintained by the Hostd engineering team. Last updated 2026-05-23. Notice a mistake? Tell us.

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