Minecraft Server OP (Operator)

What is an OP?

An operator has elevated permissions on the server. There are 4 OP levels:

OP Levels

Level Permissions Typical for
1 Bypass spawn protection Trusted players
2 Cheats + Command Blocks Moderators
3 /kick, /ban, /op Admins
4 /stop, all commands Server owner

Granting OP

/op <PlayerName>          # Grant OP (level from server.properties)
/deop <PlayerName>        # Remove OP

Setting OP Level

In server.properties:

op-permission-level=4    # Default level for /op

Or manually in ops.json:

[
  {
    "uuid": "xxx-xxx-xxx",
    "name": "PlayerName",
    "level": 4,
    "bypassesPlayerLimit": true
  }
]

Important OP Commands

Command Level Description
/gamemode 2 Change game mode
/give 2 Give items
/tp 2 Teleport
/kick 3 Kick player
/ban 3 Ban player
/op 3 Grant OP
/stop 4 Stop server

Alternative: LuckPerms

For finer control we recommend LuckPerms over the built-in OP system:

  • Group-based permissions
  • Per-player individual permissions
  • Web editor for easy management
  • Supports prefixes and suffixes