How do I disable the End (or the Nether) on my Minecraft server?

On some servers you want the End (or the Nether) closed for a while: because you plan to open the dimension at an event, because players are not ready for it yet, or because you want to reset the End after an Ender Dragon fight. The two dimensions are disabled in different places: the End in bukkit.yml, the Nether in server.properties.

Disabling the End

1. Go to the game panel, click your server and stop it.
2. Open File Manager and click the file bukkit.yml.
3. Search (Ctrl+F) for allow-end: and change the value from true to false.
4. Click Save file and start the server.

Players who activate an End portal now simply stay in the Overworld; the portal does nothing. The file bukkit.yml only exists on Paper, Purpur and Spigot; on vanilla, Fabric and Forge there is no setting for the End and you use a plugin or mod, or put a WorldGuard region around the portal.

Disabling the Nether

1. Open the Properties page in the panel and set ALLOW-NETHER to no, or set allow-nether=false in server.properties.
2. Save and restart the server.

This setting works on every server type. Nether portals can still be built and lit, but no longer teleport.

What happens to players who are already there?

Players who were in the End or the Nether when you disabled the dimension are placed at the Overworld's world spawn at their next login. They keep their inventory; whatever they left lying or built in the dimension stays in the world file until you delete the folder. Warn players in advance so nobody is left with a full chest in the End.

Resetting the End or Nether

Want a fresh End (a new Ender Dragon and unlooted End Cities)? Delete the dimension's folder while the server is stopped: world_the_end for the End and world_nether for the Nether (on Paper; on vanilla they are the folders DIM1 and DIM-1 inside world). At the next start the server generates the dimension again. Make a backup first; deleting is final. More about resetting worlds is in our blog article on resetting your Minecraft world.

Opening the dimension for some players only

Disabling a dimension is all or nothing. To open the End only to players who reached a certain goal (a level or an advancement, say), leave the End enabled and manage access with a plugin: WorldGuard with the flag entry deny on the region around the portal and a permission for those who may enter, or an advancement plugin that unlocks the portal. Multiverse can also control access per world through permissions.

Common questions

• The End is off, but players still get in through a plugin. Teleport plugins (/warp, /tp to an End coordinate) bypass the portal setting; restrict those commands through LuckPerms.
• I do not see a bukkit.yml. You run vanilla, Fabric or Forge. Switch to Paper through the version selector or use a mod.
• I want the End back on. Set allow-end: true again and restart; the existing End folder is loaded again if it was not deleted.

Stuck? Open a ticket.