How to Make Yourself an Operator

An operator, or OP, can run commands in game: changing the gamemode, teleporting, setting the time, kicking players. On a new server nobody is an operator yet, including you. There are two ways to fix that, and the panel one takes about ten seconds.

1Open the Players Page

• Log in to your game panel and click your Minecraft server.
• Click Players in the left menu under GAME SERVER.
• The tabs across the top are Online, All players, Whitelist, Bans and Operators.

2Add Yourself as an Operator

• Open the Operators tab.
• Add your Minecraft username. Type it exactly as it appears in game, including capitals.
• The change applies to the running server, so you do not need a restart.

3Or Use the Console

• Go to the Console page.
• Type op YourUsername in the command box at the bottom and press Enter.
• The console confirms with Made YourUsername a server operator.
• To remove someone later, run deop YourUsername.

4Check It Worked

• Join the server and press T to open chat.
• Type /gamemode creative. If you switch to creative mode, you are an operator.
• If you get a message about not having permission, the name did not match. Check the spelling and try again.

Good to Know

• Operator is not the same as whitelist. The whitelist decides who may join. Operator decides who may run commands. See how to enable a whitelist.
• Give it out sparingly. An operator can do anything on your server, including changing the gamemode of other players and giving themselves items. Most servers want one or two.
• Plugins have their own permissions. If you run a permissions plugin such as LuckPerms, that plugin decides who can use plugin commands, and operator status does not always cover them.

Finished

You can run commands on your own server. To hand out narrower permissions rather than full operator, install a permissions plugin from the Plugins page.