How to run Minecraft as a Windows Service with FireDaemon Pro.

Minecraft is a sandbox and adventure game that takes place in a randomly generated world which is 3 times bigger than the surface area of the earth.

The Minecraft dedicated server can be run as a Windows service using FireDaemon Pro. This allows you to start and run the dedicated server automatically when Windows boots and before login. FireDaemon Pro also allows you to start multiple instances of the game server, monitoring them and automatically restarting those instances in the event they crash. FireDaemon Fusion can also be used to manage your Minecraft service, plus other Windows services via your web browser. Minecraft windows server is currently in alpha so this guide will focus on the more stable java version of Minecraft server.

Step 1: Download and Install Java

Step 2: Download and Install the Minecraft Dedicated Game Server

1. Download the Minecraft server files via the Minecraft website. Save to "C:\Minecraft"
2. Open windows explorer and go to "C:\Minecraft", then run "server.jar" there to download some files.
3. Open "server.properties" and edit to your liking.
4. Open "eula.txt" and change "false" to "true" (without double quotes).

Step 3: Check How Much Free (Unused) Ram is in Your Computer

Open windows command prompt and type the following:

systeminfo |find "Available Physical Memory"

Take note of how much free ram is available because you'll need that in the next step.

Step 4: Set Up Minecraft as a FireDaemon Pro Service

1. Download and install FireDaemon Pro. 
2. Double click the FireDaemon Pro icon on your desktop, then click on the New (i.e. +) button in the toolbar (or type Ctrl + N) to create a new service. 
3. Enter the information into the fields as you see below. 
4. Adjust the path names to suit your installation. Note the required parameters.

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Note: You must choose "C:\Minecraft" as the working path.

The most important field on the tab is the Parameters. The Parameters define the initial setup of your server.

If your server has more than 10GB of free (unused) RAM, then use these parameters:

-Xmx10G -Xms10G -Xmn1280m -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:+UseNUMA -XX:+CMSParallelRemarkEnabled -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=30 -XX:GCPauseIntervalMillis=150 -XX:+UseAdaptiveGCBoundary -XX:-UseGCOverheadLimit -XX:+UseBiasedLocking -XX:SurvivorRatio=8 -XX:TargetSurvivorRatio=90 -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -Dfml.ignorePatchDiscrepancies=true -Dfml.ignoreInvalidMinecraftCertificates=true -XX:+UseFastAccessorMethods -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+OptimizeStringConcat -XX:+AggressiveOpts -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=2048m -XX:+UseCodeCacheFlushing -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=20000 -XX:ParallelGCThreads=10 -jar server.jar --nogui

If your server only has 5GB of free (unused) RAM, then use these parameters:

-Xmx5G -Xms5G -Xmn640m -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:+UseNUMA -XX:+CMSParallelRemarkEnabled -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=30 -XX:GCPauseIntervalMillis=150 -XX:+UseAdaptiveGCBoundary -XX:-UseGCOverheadLimit -XX:+UseBiasedLocking -XX:SurvivorRatio=8 -XX:TargetSurvivorRatio=90 -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -Dfml.ignorePatchDiscrepancies=true -Dfml.ignoreInvalidMinecraftCertificates=true -XX:+UseFastAccessorMethods -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+OptimizeStringConcat -XX:+AggressiveOpts -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=2048m -XX:+UseCodeCacheFlushing -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=10000 -XX:ParallelGCThreads=10 -jar server.jar --nogui

If your server only has 1GB of free (unused) RAM, then use these parameters:

-Xmx1G -Xms1G -Xmn128m -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:+UseNUMA -XX:+CMSParallelRemarkEnabled -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=30 -XX:GCPauseIntervalMillis=150 -XX:+UseAdaptiveGCBoundary -XX:-UseGCOverheadLimit -XX:+UseBiasedLocking -XX:SurvivorRatio=8 -XX:TargetSurvivorRatio=90 -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=15 -Dfml.ignorePatchDiscrepancies=true -Dfml.ignoreInvalidMinecraftCertificates=true -XX:+UseFastAccessorMethods -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+OptimizeStringConcat -XX:+AggressiveOpts -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=2048m -XX:+UseCodeCacheFlushing -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=2000 -XX:ParallelGCThreads=10 -jar server.jar --nogui

Depending on how much free ram you have, the above commands need to be added in their entirety. They allow your Minecraft to run as an optimized service.

Next, click on the FireDaemon Pro Settings tab:

Enter appropriate values in the fields on the Settings tab as follows:

Now click on the Environment tab. This is where you enter environment variables specific to your Minecraft instance. The names and values of the environment variables are below; adjust your paths to suit your installation:

If you installed Java Server (JRE), the value should be:

MC_JAVA_HOME: C:\jdk1.8.0_271

If you installed Java SE, the value should be:

MC_JAVA_HOME: C:\jre1.8.0_271

Lastly, click the Save and Close (ie. the tick) button on the toolbar. If the service's Startup Type is set to Automatic or Automatic (Delayed-Start), it will start immediately.

Step 5: Verify that Minecraft is Running Correctly

The Minecraft game server's status can easily be checked on the main FireDaemon Pro Services List - look for a Running Status value and a numeric Process ID (PID) value.

If the service's Interact with Desktop setting is enabled, the game status can also be verified by switching to Windows Session 0 to view the game's messages.