Reload server.properties
Every Minecraft server admin knows the pain: you tweak one line in server.properties, then realize the change only takes effect after a full restart. That means kicking every player offline, waiting through the shutdown, and hoping nothing breaks on the way back up. The Reload server.properties add-on exists to end that cycle. It adds a single command that applies your configuration edits on the fly, so your world keeps running while your settings catch up.
This is a server-side mod built for dedicated servers, and it supports both Fabric and Forge. That means whether your server runs on modern Fabric builds or a Forge setup, you can slot it in without rewriting your whole mod stack. It works across a wide range of Minecraft versions, so admins on older and newer releases alike can take advantage of live configuration reloads.
What the Mod Actually Does
At its core, the mod introduces one command: /properties reload. When you run it, the server reads your server.properties file again and applies whatever changed. You need permission level 2 or higher to use it, which keeps random players from messing with your configuration.
The command does not just silently apply changes. It reports back which properties were updated and which ones it could not touch. That feedback loop is genuinely useful, because it tells you immediately when a setting falls outside the mod's supported list, saving you from wondering why your edit did nothing.
Supported Properties You Can Reload Live
The mod covers a large chunk of the properties admins actually care about during a running session. As of Minecraft 1.18 and onward, the supported list includes:
- allow-flight, allow-nether, hardcore, and pvp
- difficulty, gamemode, and force-gamemode
- max-players, max-world-size, and player-idle-timeout
- motd and enable-status
- view-distance, simulation-distance, and entity-broadcast-range-percentage
- spawn-animals, spawn-monsters, spawn-npcs, and spawn-protection
- white-list and enforce-whitelist
- enable-command-block, function-permission-level, and op-permission-level
- enable-query, query.port, enable-rcon, rcon.password, and rcon.port
- online-mode, prevent-proxy-connections, and network-compression-threshold
- resource-pack, resource-pack-prompt, resource-pack-sha1, and require-resource-pack
- broadcast-console-to-ops, broadcast-rcon-to-ops, enable-jmx-monitoring
Timing Caveats Worth Knowing
Some properties only affect players who log in after the change. Gamemode, force-gamemode, max-players, online-mode, and the resource pack settings all fall into this category. If you want to change the game mode for everyone currently online, use /defaultgamemode instead.
A few entries come with extra notes. Changing rcon.password or rcon.port disconnects any connected RCON clients. The hardcore setting updates its heart icon and respawn menu only for players who log in afterward, though respawning itself behaves correctly right away. And function-permission-level only takes effect after you run /reload to refresh resource packs. The mod is transparent about all of this, which is exactly what you want from a tool that touches live server state.
Properties That Stay Unsupported
Not everything can be swapped mid-session. World-generation settings like level-name, level-seed, level-type, generator-settings, and generate-structures are off the table, along with server-ip, server-port, max-tick-time, rate-limit, snooper-enabled, sync-chunk-writes, text-filtering-config, and use-native-transport. If you need to change those, a restart is still the answer. Note that resource-pack-hash is deprecated in favor of resource-pack-sha1.
How to Install Reload server.properties for Minecraft
Setup is refreshingly simple, and the mod does not require Fabric API, which removes one common dependency headache.
- Confirm your server is a dedicated server. This mod does not run on singleplayer worlds or LAN-hosted games.
- Install Fabric or Forge on your server if you have not already.
- Download Reload server.properties from your preferred mod source.
- Drop the .jar file into the mods folder inside your server directory.
- Restart the server once so the mod loads, then use /properties reload whenever you edit your config.
If you would rather skip the manual file juggling, the foxygame.net launcher streamlines the whole process: it lists Reload server.properties in its add-on catalog and installs it into your server profile in one click, handling loader matching automatically.
Why This Mod Belongs on Your Server
Restarts are disruptive. They interrupt builds, pause fights, and risk players drifting away to other servers while yours reboots. Reload server.properties turns a five-minute maintenance window into a two-second command. For admins who tune settings often, testing difficulty changes, adjusting view distance during lag spikes, or flipping whitelist enforcement on the fly, that convenience adds up fast.
Just remember the login-based caveats for certain properties, keep the unsupported list in mind, and you will have a smoother, more responsive server without ever touching the stop button.