How to ban players from your Minecraft server

Learn how to ban and unban players using Minecraft's built-in commands. Keep your server safe and fun with the ban and pardon commands.

2 mins read

Running a public Minecraft server—or any online community—is no small feat. To maintain order and ensure a fun experience for everyone, you need clear rules and the means to enforce them. When players break those rules, it’s time to bring out the banhammer.

Once the banhammer has spoken, the player will be removed from your server and prevented from rejoining—unless you choose to pardon them later.

Banning players

To ban a player, use the /ban <player> [reason] command.

<player> is the username of the player you want to ban.
[reason] is optional but highly recommended—it helps you track why the ban was issued and informs the player.

Examples:

/ban Steve
/ban Steve griefing
/ban Alex breaking rule #1

If the player is online when banned, they’ll be immediately kicked and shown the ban reason. If they try to reconnect, they’ll see the same message.

Tip: Always include a reason for the ban. It helps with record-keeping and transparency.

Pardoning players

If you decide a player deserves a second chance, you can lift their ban using the /pardon <player> command.

Examples:

/pardon Steve
/pardon Alex

This allows the player to rejoin your server as if they were never banned.

Viewing bans

To see who’s currently banned, use the /banlist command. You can view bans of players or IP addresses.

Examples:

/banlist
/banlist players
/banlist ips

FAQ

How do I issue a temporary ban?

Vanilla Minecraft doesn't support temporary bans. To add this feature on a Bukkit server, install a plugin like Essentials, which allows temporary bans and more advanced moderation tools.

Where are banned players stored?

Banned players are listed in the banned-players.json file in your server directory. This file includes their usernames, UUIDs, ban reasons and timestamps.