How to Schedule Server Restarts for Your Minecraft Server
You can keep your server running 24/7 without hiccups with just a little bit of maintenance. Regular restarts help clear out memory leaks, refresh server performance, and prevent random crashes before they happen.
For most servers, restarting once a day during off-peak hours is a good rule of thumb. If you’re running a heavier modpack or see a lot of players online, you might want to restart twice a day
Log in to your Nexus Hosting Account.
Once on the dashboard, find and select your intended Minecraft server.
Select the Schedules icon from the sidebar.
You’ll see any scheduled events you’ve set up here. Click Create schedule to start a new one.
Give your schedule a clear name (for example, “Automatic Server Restarts”).
Next, configure how often it should run using the Cron job syntax:
A cron job consists of five fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week).
For instance, 0 3 means “run at 3:00 AM every day,” while /5 * means “run every 5 minutes.”
If you need help, toggle SHOW CHEATSHEET for examples. You can also read more about the Cron job scheduling format here.
A good default is to run backups once a day during off-peak hours when the fewest players are online. For example, 4:00 AM (server time) is often a quiet period. The corresponding cron schedule would be 0 4 *.
When you’ve set your cron schedule and reviewed the toggles, click Create schedule.
Your new schedule now appears in the list. Select it, then click New Task.
Select the Send command action. Then add a payload using the command say followed by a warning message to your players. Copy and paste the line multiple times if you want to spam the chat a bit, to ensure everyone sees the warning.
If you add the server restart before creating the server message, it will always run the restart first. The server message needs to be the first task on the schedule.
Click Save Changes when you are done.
Within the same schedule, click New Task again. From the ACTION dropdown, choose Send Power Action. Then select Restart the server from the Payload drop-down menu.
If you’d like to warn your players that a restart is coming, add a reasonable time offset (in seconds). In the example below, you’ll see we set the time offset to 120 seconds. This means the server will wait to execute the restart for 2 minutes after the previous task (which will be a server message) executes.
Click Create Task once you’re done.
All set! You can click Run Now to test the schedule. It should immediately broadcast the message and then restart the server after your chosen offset time. The next scheduled run time is displayed under the schedule name (verify this to make sure your cron job is set up right).
For most servers, restarting once a day during off-peak hours is a good rule of thumb. If you’re running a heavier modpack or see a lot of players online, you might want to restart twice a day
Step 1: Log In
Log in to your Nexus Hosting Account.
Step 2: Select the Server
Once on the dashboard, find and select your intended Minecraft server.
Step 3: Access the Scheduler
Select the Schedules icon from the sidebar.
Step 4: Create a New Schedule
You’ll see any scheduled events you’ve set up here. Click Create schedule to start a new one.
Step 5: Configure Your Schedule
Give your schedule a clear name (for example, “Automatic Server Restarts”).
Next, configure how often it should run using the Cron job syntax:
A cron job consists of five fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week).
For instance, 0 3 means “run at 3:00 AM every day,” while /5 * means “run every 5 minutes.”
If you need help, toggle SHOW CHEATSHEET for examples. You can also read more about the Cron job scheduling format here.
A good default is to run backups once a day during off-peak hours when the fewest players are online. For example, 4:00 AM (server time) is often a quiet period. The corresponding cron schedule would be 0 4 *.
When you’ve set your cron schedule and reviewed the toggles, click Create schedule.
Step 6: Add a Server Message Task to Run Before Restart (Optional But Recommended)
Your new schedule now appears in the list. Select it, then click New Task.
Select the Send command action. Then add a payload using the command say followed by a warning message to your players. Copy and paste the line multiple times if you want to spam the chat a bit, to ensure everyone sees the warning.
If you add the server restart before creating the server message, it will always run the restart first. The server message needs to be the first task on the schedule.
Click Save Changes when you are done.
Step 7: Add the Restart Task
Within the same schedule, click New Task again. From the ACTION dropdown, choose Send Power Action. Then select Restart the server from the Payload drop-down menu.
If you’d like to warn your players that a restart is coming, add a reasonable time offset (in seconds). In the example below, you’ll see we set the time offset to 120 seconds. This means the server will wait to execute the restart for 2 minutes after the previous task (which will be a server message) executes.
Click Create Task once you’re done.
Step 9: Test the Restart Schedule
All set! You can click Run Now to test the schedule. It should immediately broadcast the message and then restart the server after your chosen offset time. The next scheduled run time is displayed under the schedule name (verify this to make sure your cron job is set up right).
Updated on: 05/05/2025
Thank you!