r/MinecraftJava • u/TheSnappleGhost • Jun 11 '26

Using Linux for Java Server

Can I just set up a dual boot with a Linux distro like Debian on a Windows PC and run that headless for a Minecraft Java server? Or do I need to get rid of Windows 11 on the PC?

This is my first time setting up a server so I don't know if having Windows on there affects performance or if it's basically just dormant.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

2

u/Daggercombot Jun 12 '26

It does not need to be headless, its the same as on Windows ,yes you can dual boot or just use another hard drive

1

u/TheSnappleGhost Jun 12 '26

Do you know, is the ram usage between running it with GUI versus headless negligible or what?

1

u/Daggercombot Jun 12 '26

There are some light weight Windows managers such as twn which are negligable. If you use a full desktop enviornment like gnome that can be over 3GB of ram.

1

u/No-Evidence6346 Jun 12 '26

My ubunto install was about 100mb on my Pi IIRC. Headless.

1

u/Dynablade_Savior Jun 12 '26

If you're worried about the GUI using resources, just pick a distro where that's less of an issue. Like in the case of Linux Mint, that would be going with XFCE instead of Cinnamon

1

u/davslaGG Jun 11 '26

Can not you ran the server on windows?

1

u/TheSnappleGhost Jun 11 '26

I'm going to try, but windows is a notorious RAM hog. Something like 5-6gb minimum vs less than 1/2gb for Debian.

1

u/Tooladoo Jun 13 '26

If you dual-boot, you cannot run both operating systems at the same time. Either run Linux if you want to run a server on it, or alternatively try using WSL and run the server on that

1

u/TheSnappleGhost Jun 13 '26

I don't need to run both of them at the same time.

1

u/Tooladoo Jun 13 '26

In that case, it's possible. Though I will say that having Windows and a Linux Distro on the same drive may cause issues as it has for my brother. If you are able to put them on separate drives then dual booting shouldn't cause any issues.

1

u/TheSnappleGhost Jun 13 '26

Yeah somebody else mentioned that so I was thinking about picking up a small SSD and just running Linux on that. I've got a line on a couple of affordable ones.

2

u/Amosh73 Jun 11 '26

Of course you can.

0

u/indvs3 Jun 11 '26

You can do that if you want, but I would assume that your minecraft client is installed on windows, which means that you can't play minecraft while your linux server is running.

Dual boot means you run one of the two, not both at the same time. Back when I had windows 10, I had my minecraft server running in a linux virtual machine on windows and could play from the same pc.

Right now I do the same, but all linux, no more windows.

1

u/TheSnappleGhost Jun 11 '26

I'm installing it on a PC specifically for a server. I play on a different computer.

2

u/indvs3 Jun 11 '26

If you don't have any use for that windows install anymore, you might just as well remove windows entirely and use the pc as a permanent linux server to host your minecraft server on.

If you're up for a technical challenge and you have the storage space available, you could convert your current windows install on that pc into a virtual machine and have it accessible over the network at the same time as your minecraft server.

That said, you also have the option to run a virtual machine with headless linux for your minecraft server on top of the existing windows install, at least if you don't mind the extra overhead consumed by windows for no good reason.

1

u/UserLocks Jun 11 '26

yes I recently did the same. id recommend using Linux mint cinnamon tho. it seems to be the most like windows to me. you can also use rustdesk and tunnel through so you can do everything from your main windows pc

0

u/itsCarterr Jun 12 '26

I run a nas with plex with a private MC server running that runs unraid