How to Configure and Use Dynmap on a Minecraft Server

Dynmap® is a Bukkit plugin and a mod which can be used to view a live map of the server’s worlds in a browser. Think of like Google Maps but for your Minecraft server!

There are more optimized alternatives like BlueMap and squaremap, but Dynmap is still a popular choice for many Minecraft servers.

This guide will walk you through installation and usage of Dynmap on your Minecraft server!

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Installation

To install and configure Dynmap on your Minecraft server, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version of the Dynmap plugin from SpigotMC or the Dynmap mod from CurseForge (if you’re running a modded server).
2. Place the downloaded JAR file in the plugins/mods (depends on your server software; plugins for Bukkit-based servers, mods for Forge and Fabric) folder of your Minecraft server. Refer to this guide for help.
3. Restart the server. The plugin will automatically be installed and activated
4. When the server has fully started, stop the server to start configuring the plugin
5. Create a port in the “Network” on the game panel
6. Navigate to the plugins/dynmap folder in your server’s directory
7. Edit the configuration.txt file and set the port to the one created in the 5th step, and a URL path you want to use for the Dynmap web interface (e.g. /dynmap), and save
8. Start the server again. Dynmap will now be fully installed and configured

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Reverse proxy

To use a custom domain for Dynmap instead of a long numerical IP, you can use a reverse proxy which allows you to access Dynmap using a custom domain name!

1. Set up a server to act as the reverse proxy. This can be a dedicated physical or virtual machine from a public cloud provider.
2. Install a web server on the machine which you intend to run the reverse proxy on (e.g. Nginx, Apache, etc.): sudo apt update && sudo apt -y install nginx
3. Set up a DNS record for your custom domain to point to the IP address of the reverse proxy server.
4. Configure the web server on the reverse proxy server to act as the proxy for Dynmap. This will involve adding a configuration block to the web server’s configuration file that specifies the custom domain you want to use for Dynmap and the IP address and port of the Minecraft server where Dynmap is running.

server {                                                                                                                                                   

    server_name your-domain.com;

    listen 80;

    listen [::]:80;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/reverse-access.log;

    error_log /var/log/nginx/reverse-error.log;

    location / {

        proxy_pass http://YOUR-REVERSE-PROXY-IP-ADDRESS;

    }

} 

5. Restart the web server to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

6. Test the reverse proxy by accessing Dynmap using your custom domain.

Note that setting up a reverse proxy can be a complex process, and it is recommended that you have some experience with web servers and network configuration before attempting it. If you are unfamiliar with these topics, it may be helpful to seek the assistance of a qualified system administrator or engineer.

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Usage

To view the Dynmap map, open a web browser and go to the IP address of the server, followed by the port and the webprefix path (if you’ve set one in the configuration file), e.g. http://yourdomain.com:20029/dynmap; this will launch Dynmap’s web interface!

On the left side of the interface, you will see a list of available maps. You can switch between these maps using the dropdown menu at the top. On the right side of the interface, you will see a list of players currently online on the server. You can click on a player’s name to view their location on the map. You can also use the search bar at the top of the interface to search for specific locations or players on the map.

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Customization

Dynmap has a wide range of customization options, which can be accessed by clicking on the “Configure Dynmap” button at the top of the web interface. From here, you can adjust settings such as the map’s zoom level, the visibility of players and markers on the map, and the appearance of the map itself.

For more advanced customization options, you can edit the configuration.txt file in the plugins/dynmap folder on your server. This file contains detailed documentation for all available customization options.

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Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble using Dynmap, here are a few common issues and their solutions:

• If the Dynmap web interface is not loading, check the server.log file in the logs folder of your server for any error messages related to Dynmap. This can help identify the cause of the issue.
• If the map is not showing the correct area, check the worlds.txt file in the plugins/dynmap folder to ensure that the correct world is being mapped.
• If the map is not updating in real-time, check the updaterate option in the configuration.txt file. This setting determines how often the map is updated, and can be adjusted as needed.