How do I fly on my Minecraft server?

Flying in Minecraft happens in three ways: in creative mode (double-tap the jump key), in survival with a plugin command such as /fly, or with an elytra. On a server, two things get in the way: the setting allow-flight and the anti-cheat that kicks players for flying. This article covers all three routes and the kick message Flying is not enabled on this server.

Step 1: allow flying in server.properties

By default a server kicks anyone who hovers in survival for more than a few seconds, even with a legitimate fly plugin. To prevent that:

1. Go to the game panel and click your server.
2. Open the Properties page and set ALLOW-FLIGHT to yes, or set allow-flight=true in server.properties through File Manager.
3. Restart the server.

This setting is only about the built-in kick; it does not give anyone the ability to fly. Creative mode always works, with or without it.

Flying in creative

As an operator, give yourself creative mode with /gamemode creative (or from the console: gamemode creative PlayerName). Double-tap the space bar to lift off and double-tap again to land. How to switch modes for yourself and others is in changing gamemode. You need OP for that.

Flying in survival with /fly

Want to fly in survival, for example as staff or as a perk for donors? Install EssentialsX. It adds /fly (toggle for yourself) and /fly PlayerName for others. Operators can use it right away; regular players need the permission essentials.fly, and essentials.fly.others to toggle it for someone else. Grant permissions with a plugin such as LuckPerms; how that works is in our blog article on LuckPerms permissions. Speed is adjusted with /flyspeed 1 to 10.

Flying with an elytra

An elytra does not require any setting: it is normal gameplay. A server-side anti-cheat can, however, flag fast elytra flight with fireworks as cheating. If players get kicked while gliding, check your anti-cheat's configuration (for example the elytra checks) before blaming the server.

The message "Flying is not enabled on this server"

This is the built-in kick. Causes, in order of likelihood:

• allow-flight is still false: enable it and restart.
• The player stands on a block that the server does not consider solid (some mod blocks, or lag), so the server thinks the player is hovering. Enabling allow-flight fixes that too.
• Lag: with heavy lag the server sees player movement out of sync and interprets it as flying. See our article on TPS and lag.

Preventing flying for regular players

With allow-flight=true, cheating clients with a fly hack are no longer kicked by the server itself. If you allow flying for staff, add an anti-cheat plugin (for example Vulcan, Grim or Matrix) that checks movement per player and respects the permission for legitimate flying. That gives you the best of both: staff and donors fly, cheaters are still caught.

Not working? Check the console for the exact kick reason and open a ticket if needed.