This docker image provides a size optimized vanilla Minecraft server
docker run -d -p 25565:25565 -e EULA=true colincoleman/minecraft-docker:latest
To accept the Minecraft EULA (and have the server actually start) pass in the parameter EULA and set it to true -e EULA=true
By default the server runs with -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M as suggested on the Minecraft Server instrutctions.
If you want to run a bigger server (or are a JVM Ninja with special experimental options skills) pass in
the parameter JAVAOPTIONS e.g -e JAVAOPTIONS='-Xmx2G -Xms2G'
By default the server's data folder is stored inside the container and will only last as long as the container.
If you wish to upgrade your Minecraft server without losing all your hard work spent finding all those diamonds
then the best way is to mount a volume to the container e.g -v $PWD/minecraft-data:/home/minecraft/data
This also give you easy access to the items in the data folder to allow you to do things like change the MOTD
Instead of remembering and typing long chains of parameters and docker options you can create a docker-compose.yml file
(example here)
and simply run the command docker-compose up to bring up the server with a specified data folder and then use the
command docker-compose down to stop and get rid of the container. Later when you wish to restart the server you can
run docker-compose up again and the world persisted on your local volume will be attached to a new container running a
Minecraft server