@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ one document.
- [Phase 10 — GPU Passthrough Setup ](#phase-10--gpu-passthrough-setup )
- [Phase 11 — Create the VMs ](#phase-11--create-the-vms )
- [Phase 12 — Deploy Frigate in VM 101 ](#phase-12--deploy-frigate-in-vm-101 )
- [Phase 13 — Minecraft Server VMs (R720) ](#phase-13--minecraft-server-vms-r720 )
---
@@ -3261,6 +3262,219 @@ stats. Navigate to **System → Stats** to confirm:
---
## Phase 13 — Minecraft Server VMs (R720)
**What this phase does: ** Creates four Minecraft server VMs on a second,
separate Proxmox host — a Dell R720 — using the same wizard-driven VM setup
as Phases 11/12, but without any of the GPU passthrough, Coral USB, or raw
drive passthrough work. Minecraft needs CPU, RAM, and disk — nothing else.
**Hardware (this host, not the R730xd): **
| Component | Detail |
|-----------|--------|
| Server | Dell PowerEdge R720 |
| CPU | 2x Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2 (12c/24t each — 24 cores / 48 threads total) |
| RAM | 125 GiB |
| Storage | 5x spinning HDD behind PERC H710 (no SSD) — `local-lvm` |
| Network | `eno1` → `vmbr0` , single 1GbE link |
| Proxmox | VE 8.1.3 |
> **No GPU passthrough, no Coral, no raw disk passthrough on this host.**
> Skip `gpu-passthrough-setup.sh`, `build-bay-map.sh`, and `perc-nonraid.sh`
> entirely — those only apply to the R730xd's Frigate/storage workload.
> VM disks here are plain `local-lvm` virtual disks, same as VM 102 in the
> R730xd setup.
> **All HDDs, no SSD.** Minecraft autosaves and region-file writes are small
> and frequent. Expect more I/O wait under heavy load (many players, modded
> redstone/farms) than an SSD host would show. If a server feels laggy under
> load, check `iostat -x 2` on the Proxmox host before assuming it's CPU.
**Prerequisites: **
- VMs 101, 102, 106 removed from this host (freed full 24c/48t, 125GiB, and
all five disks for this phase)
- Ubuntu Server 24.04.4 LTS ISO uploaded to this host's `local` storage
(same download step as Phase 11, Step 11.1/11.2 — repeat on the R720)
---
### Step 13.1 — Create VM 201 (Survival/Paper #1) via the wizard
In the R720's Proxmox web UI, click **Create VM ** .
**Tab: General **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| VM ID | 201 |
| Name | mc-survival-1 |
**Tab: OS **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| ISO image | ubuntu-24.04.4-live-server-amd64.iso |
| OS Type | Linux |
| Version | 6.x - 2.6 Kernel |
**Tab: System **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Graphic card | Default |
| Machine | i440fx |
| BIOS | SeaBIOS |
| SCSI Controller | VirtIO SCSI Single |
| Qemu Agent | checked |
> **Why SeaBIOS/i440fx here instead of OVMF/q35 like Phases 11–
> were required for GPU passthrough on the R730xd. Nothing on this host is
> being passed through, so there's no reason to take on UEFI's extra
> complexity (Secure Boot prompts, EFI disk, etc.).
**Tab: Disks **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Bus/Device | SCSI / 0 |
| Storage | local-lvm |
| Disk size (GiB) | 20 |
| Cache | Write back |
| Discard | checked |
| IO thread | checked |
**Tab: CPU **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Sockets | 1 |
| Cores | 4 |
| Type | host |
**Tab: Memory **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Memory (MiB) | 8192 |
| Ballooning | unchecked |
> **Why disable ballooning?** Minecraft's JVM heap grabs and holds memory.
> Letting Proxmox reclaim "idle" RAM from the VM fights with the JVM and can
> trigger GC pauses or swapping inside the guest. Fix the allocation instead.
**Tab: Network **
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Bridge | vmbr0 |
| Model | VirtIO (paravirtualized) |
| Firewall | checked |
Click **Finish ** , then **Start ** the VM and install Ubuntu Server normally
(same installer flow as Phase 11 — set hostname `mc-survival-1` , enable
OpenSSH server during install).
---
### Step 13.2 — Repeat for VMs 202–
Same wizard steps as 13.1, changing only VM ID/name, cores, and memory:
| VM ID | Name | Cores | Memory | Disk | Notes |
|-------|------|-------|--------|------|-------|
| 201 | mc-survival-1 | 4 | 8192 MiB | 20G | Paper, vanilla-like |
| 202 | mc-survival-2 | 4 | 8192 MiB | 20G | Paper, vanilla-like |
| 203 | mc-modded | 6 | 12288 MiB | 30G | Forge/NeoForge modpack |
| 204 | mc-minigames | 2 | 4096 MiB | 15G | Creative/minigames |
This commits 16 of 24 cores and 32 of 125 GiB RAM — leaving headroom for
Proxmox itself and room to add a fifth server later without resizing
anything.
---
### Step 13.3 — Install Java and the server jar (inside each VM)
SSH into each VM and run:
``` bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y openjdk-21-jre-headless
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash minecraft
sudo mkdir -p /opt/minecraft
sudo chown minecraft:minecraft /opt/minecraft
```
Download the server jar as the `minecraft` user (Paper for 201/202/204,
the modpack's server pack for 203), accept the EULA:
``` bash
sudo -u minecraft bash -c '
cd /opt/minecraft
curl -o server.jar "<paper or modpack server jar URL>"
echo "eula=true" > eula.txt
'
```
---
### Step 13.4 — Create a systemd service per VM
``` bash
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/minecraft.service <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Minecraft Server
After=network.target
[Service]
User=minecraft
WorkingDirectory=/opt/minecraft
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -Xms2G -Xmx<HEAP> -jar server.jar nogui
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now minecraft.service
```
Set `-Xmx` to roughly RAM minus 1.5–
on the 8 GiB VMs, 10G heap on the 12 GiB VM, 2.5G heap on the 4 GiB VM).
---
### Step 13.5 — Open ports
One port per server, forwarded from the router/firewall to each VM's IP:
| VM | Port |
|----|------|
| 201 | 25565 |
| 202 | 25566 |
| 203 | 25567 |
| 204 | 25568 |
``` bash
sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp # adjust per VM
```
---
### Phase 13 complete — summary
| What is done | Status |
|---|---|
| VMs 201–
| Ubuntu Server installed in each, SSH access confirmed | ✓ |
| Java + server jar installed, EULA accepted | ✓ |
| systemd service running each server, restarts on crash | ✓ |
| Ports forwarded per server | ✓ |
---
## Troubleshooting
### GPU not passing through — still shows `nouveau`
Claude