Introduction
What Basalt Server is, what it keeps identical to vanilla, and what it adds for operators.
Basalt Server is a complete reimplementation of the Minecraft: Java Edition server, written in C++23 and shipped as one native binary per platform. There is no JVM anywhere: nothing to install next to it, no Java process behind it, and no version of anything to keep matched.
It targets Minecraft 26.3 (protocol 777). The first line it prints on start says exactly which build you are running.
Vanilla parity#
A Basalt Server with no plugins plays like the official one: same seed, same world; same drops, damage, redstone and mob behaviour, quirks included. Where vanilla does something that looks wrong, Basalt does the same thing.
Every option that makes it differ is off by default and marked NO VANILLA (or NOT VANILLA) in the comments of the generated file, so a fresh install changes nothing you did not ask for.
Where Basalt differs on purpose
A few defaults are not vanilla's because they are plain upgrades: max-players ships at 80 instead of 20, the world format is Linear instead of Anvil (see Worlds), and the configuration is TOML split into one file per domain instead of server.properties.
What an operator gets#
- One binary, one directory. Everything the server writes lives next to the binary. See Installation.
- Configuration that explains itself. Every file in
config/is generated with a comment per option and vanilla's values. Options added by an update are appended as comments, and most files can be reloaded without a restart. See Configuration. - Several clients, one server. The same worlds and players are reachable from the current Java Edition client, from older Java clients (translated at the edge) and from Bedrock Edition.
- Several worlds and dimensions declared in
worlds.toml, each with its own settings, including more than one Overworld with its own Nether and End. See Worlds. - Permission groups, commands, MOTD, tab list, scoreboard and boss bar configurable in files, with no plugin needed. See Groups and permissions.
- A remote management API and RCON, off the public interface by default. See Operations.
- Plugins in Lua, in a sandbox with an instruction and memory budget per plugin, so a broken one cannot take the process down. See Plugins.
Mojang content#
Basalt ships none of Mojang's content: no structures, loot tables, data packs, textures or jars. After you accept the Minecraft EULA, the server downloads the official server archive from Mojang, verifies its SHA-1 and unpacks only the data it needs into a local cache. That happens once per version.