How to Op Yourself on a Minecraft Server

Operator (op) status is admin on a Minecraft server: it lets you run commands, change gamemode, kick players and manage the world. Here is how to op yourself and others, and how the permission levels work.

Quick answer

To op yourself on a Minecraft server, type op YourUsername in the server console — without a slash — or in your host panel's console. An existing operator can do the same in-game with /op YourUsername. Ops have full control of the server, so only op people you trust.

Op yourself from the console

The server console runs as the highest authority, so you op yourself from there — no permissions needed. In the console (or your host panel's console), type it without a slash:

op YourUsername

In-game, an existing operator uses /op YourUsername with the slash.

The first op on a fresh server

On a brand-new server nobody is an op yet, so you must use the console to op yourself the first time — you cannot op yourself from in-game until someone already has op. After that, ops can op others in-game.

Remove op

deop Username

Operator permission levels

server.properties has an op-permission-level from 1 to 4. Level 4 is full access (the default); lower levels restrict which commands ops can use:

• 1 — can bypass spawn protection.
• 2 — plus command blocks and some single-player-style commands.
• 3 — plus kick, ban and op/deop.
• 4 — everything, including stopping the server (default).

The ops.json file

Ops are stored in ops.json with each player's name, UUID and level. As with the whitelist, op players in-game or by console rather than editing the file, so the UUID matches — especially in online-mode.

Op yourself from the console first, then hand out op sparingly. An op can undo everything, so trust matters more than convenience.

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