How to make yourself an operator on your Minecraft server

Operator (OP) permissions give full control over your Minecraft server, including access to admin commands. Only grant operator to people you trust.

Before you start

You need one of the following:

• Access to your server console in the hosting panel.
• An existing operator who can run the command for you in-game.

Make sure you know your exact in-game name. Java Edition usernames are case-sensitive. Bedrock Edition uses your Xbox Gamertag.

Make yourself operator (console)

1. Open your server console in the hosting panel.
2. Run the command below, replacing <username> with your in-game name.

op <username>

Example:

op Steve

Make yourself operator (in-game)

If you are already an operator, or an existing operator is online, run the same command in chat:

/op <username>

Confirm operator status

You can verify operator access by running a command such as:

/gamemode creative

If it works without an error, you have operator permissions.

Remove operator permissions

To remove operator permissions, use:

/deop <username>

FAQ

Where are operators stored?

Operators are stored in the ops.json file in your server directory.

What operator level should I use?

Vanilla Minecraft uses operator level 4 by default. You can edit ops.json to assign a lower level if you want to limit what an operator can do.

The /op command did not work

Check these common issues:

• The username is misspelled or has the wrong capitalization.
• The player has never joined the server before, so their account is not recognized yet.
• You are not running the command from the console or as an existing operator.

You can list current operators with:

/ops