Minecraft spawn protection: how to change or disable it
Why players cannot build near spawn on your Minecraft server, and how to change or turn off spawn-protection in server.properties.
Updated · 1 min read
Spawn protection stops non-op players from breaking or placing blocks near the world spawn. If players complain they cannot build near spawn, set spawn-protection=0 in server.properties and restart.
How it works
spawn-protection=16
The value is a radius in blocks around the world spawn point. With the default of 16, the protected area is a square 33 blocks wide (16 in each direction plus the center block), from the bottom to the top of the world.
Inside that square, players who are not op cannot:
- break or place blocks,
- use some blocks such as buttons, levers and doors in certain versions.
Ops of level 1 or higher are not affected. Players can still walk around, fight and open chests normally.
Spawn protection only applies when at least one player is op. If ops.json is empty, spawn protection is not active at all.
Disable spawn protection
- Open the file manager and edit
server.properties. - Set:
spawn-protection=0
- Save and restart the server.
Make it bigger or smaller
Use any number. For example, to protect a 101 by 101 block hub:
spawn-protection=50
Move the world spawn
The protected area centers on the world spawn, not on where you are. To move it, stand where you want spawn and run in-game as an op:
/setworldspawn
New players will appear near this point. The spawnRadius game rule controls how spread out first-join spawns are; set it to 0 to spawn everyone at the exact point.
Better protection with plugins
Vanilla spawn protection is a simple square that blocks everything. On Paper, a region plugin such as WorldGuard lets you protect any shape, choose exactly what is blocked (PvP, building, mob spawning, explosions) and protect more than one area. If you use WorldGuard, set spawn-protection=0 so the two do not conflict.
Still cannot build?
- Check you are outside the radius, counted from the world spawn.
- Check for region or claim plugins blocking you.
- Make sure the player is not in adventure mode. See difficulty and game mode.