Players often ask me how to make their own server. It’s actually pretty easy and I’ve made it even easier by preparing a download that has all the files you need to get ready. All you need to do it click and play!
First thing you need to do is download this file to a place you can find it. (You may need to disable your anti-virus to download it)
Then, if you are using Windows, double-click on the file. It should open up a window with a folder in it called MyServer. Drag that folder out onto your desktop. Then go to your desktop and open that folder. Double-click on the Run.bat file (It may just show as Run). You should see a small window open with a bunch of text going by. If this window stays open then you are good to go! (If the window closes see the last paragraph.) Open your Minecraft and use localhost as the IP and you will then be joining your new server. The small window that opened is called the console and is where you need to enter some commands. To op yourself go to the console and type op 'playername'. You are now op. When you are done playing you can type stop either in game or in the console and the server will close.
If you are using a Mac unzip the file to your desktop, open it and double-click the start_server.command then follow the same instructions as above for Windows users. If you use Linux let me know and I will help you on that.
Your new server has some plugins already that are ones I always use. They are: Essentials, CoreProtect, GroupManager, WorldEdit and WorldGuard. I also recently added Lockette, Factions and ChestShop since they are almost always requested. You can remove any of them if you wish. Learn how to use them by clicking on their links or by going to http://plugins.bukkit.org and searching for them. You can also search for other fun plugins and download them to the MyServer/plugins folder then restart your server. Just remember that plugins can cause lag and not all are updated to work with the latest version of Minecraft.
Your server can only be reached by you at this point. No one else can get to it yet. If you want to open it to friends you have a lot more work to do. You have to do something called Port forwarding. That is where you tell your router which computer in your house to send the Minecraft players to. You need to have access to your router with the username and password. Click here for a video on how to do that.
Now, if your server did not start and the little window closed quickly there is more you have to do. You need to install Java 7 SE on your computer. You can download that here then run the installer and you should be good to go. Try running your Minecraft server again. It should work.