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Modern Minecraft servers require Java 17 or newer. ServerPilot launches your server by calling the java executable directly, so Java must be installed on your machine before you can start any server. This page walks you through choosing a distribution, installing it, verifying the installation, and pointing ServerPilot to your Java binary if needed.

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Why Java 17 or Newer?

Minecraft 1.17 and later — along with popular server platforms like Paper — are compiled for Java 17+. Attempting to start a modern server with Java 8 or 11 will cause an immediate crash. Java 21 is currently the most widely used LTS release and is the recommended choice for new installations.

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Choosing a Java Distribution

Eclipse Temurin is the recommended distribution for Minecraft server hosting. It is fully open-source, carries no commercial license restrictions, and ships long-term support (LTS) builds that receive regular security patches. You can use it freely for any purpose without registering or accepting Oracle’s terms.

Eclipse Temurin (Recommended)

Open-source, free, no license restrictions. Maintained by the Eclipse Adoptium working group. Includes Windows installers that automatically configure your PATH.

Oracle Java

The official Oracle JDK. Free for personal and development use. Provides Windows installers and auto-PATH setup. Review Oracle’s license terms if using in a commercial context.

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Installing Eclipse Temurin

1

Download the installer

Go to https://adoptium.net/ and click Latest LTS release. The site will automatically recommend the correct Windows x64 .msi installer. Download it.
2

Run the installer

Double-click the downloaded .msi file. When prompted, keep the default options — in particular, leave Add to PATH and Set JAVA_HOME checked. These settings let java be found from any Command Prompt window.
3

Verify the installation

Open Command Prompt (Win + R → type cmd → press Enter) and run:
java -version
You should see output similar to:
openjdk version "21.0.x" 2024-xx-xx
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-21.x.x+xx
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-21.x.x+xx (build ...)
If you see this, Java is installed correctly and ServerPilot can find it automatically using the default java executable name.

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What If java Is Not Found?

If Command Prompt says 'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, the Java binary was not added to your system PATH. This can happen if you unchecked the PATH option during installation, or if you installed Java to a non-standard location. You have two options: Option 1 — Repair or reinstall with PATH enabled. Re-run the Temurin installer, select Modify, and ensure the Add to PATH feature is checked. Option 2 — Set the Java path manually in ServerPilot. Find the full path to your java.exe on disk. It typically looks like: 
C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-21.0.x.x-hotspot\bin\java.exe
Then configure ServerPilot to use that path directly (see below).
ServerPilot defaults to calling java (i.e., it expects Java to be on the system PATH). You can override this in two places:
  • Global default — Open Settings and set Default Java Path to the full path of your java.exe. Every new server you add will inherit this value.
  • Per-server override — In the Server Modal (Add or Edit Server), set the Java executable field for that specific server. This overrides the global default for that server only.
Setting the path per-server is useful when you run multiple servers on different Java versions simultaneously — for example, a 1.20 Paper server on Java 21 and a legacy 1.12 Forge server on Java 8.

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