Documentation

Everything you need to know about Tenebris Manager, from first launch to running multiple servers.

Getting Started

Tenebris Manager is a single self-contained .exe file. No installer, no admin rights, no dependencies to chase. Download it, double-click it, done.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
• Java installed for the Minecraft version you run: Java 8+ for 1.16.5, Java 17+ for 1.18+, Java 21+ for 1.20.5 and newer
• .NET 8 is bundled, so you don't need to install it separately

First launch

1. Purchase the app and download the EXE from the confirmation page
2. Put it anywhere you like: your Desktop, a dedicated folder, wherever
3. Double-click to open. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning since it's not a signed installer. Click More info then Run anyway
4. The app opens to an empty server list. Click + Add Server in the sidebar to add your first one

Adding a Server

Click + Add Server in the sidebar to open the server setup dialog. Each server you add is completely independent with its own console, schedule, and settings.

Required fields

• Name: any label you want, like "SMP 1.21", "Creative", or "Test"
• Server directory: the folder that contains your server JAR, server.properties, and your world data
• JAR file: the server JAR to launch, e.g. paper-1.21.11-127.jar

Optional but useful

• Java path: the app auto-detects Java on your system. If you have multiple Java versions installed and want a specific one, click Browse and point it at the right java.exe
• JVM arguments: set your memory allocation and any performance flags here, for example -Xmx4G -Xms1G -XX:+UseG1GC. These go in exactly as you'd type them on the command line
• Companion port / token: only needed if you're using the companion plugin for live stats. Set these to match your plugin config

Starting and stopping

Select a server from the left sidebar, then hit Start. The console tab activates automatically and you'll see output appear in real time as the server boots. The status indicator next to the server name turns green when it's running.

To shut down, hit Stop. This sends a graceful stop command and waits for the process to exit cleanly. Worlds are saved and players are disconnected properly.

Editing a server

Click Edit in the top-right of any server view to update any field: name, JAR, JVM args, or plugin connection. Changes take effect on the next server start, so no need to stop the server just to rename it.

Removing a server

Click Remove in the top-right. This only removes the entry from Tenebris Manager. Your actual server files, worlds, and plugins are never touched.

Console

The Console tab is the live feed of everything your server outputs. Every line is color-coded so you can scan boot logs, spot warnings, and catch errors without reading wall-to-wall text.

Sending commands

Use the input bar at the bottom of the console. Type your command and press Enter, no leading slash needed. say Hello world, op Steve, and whitelist add Alex all work as-is.

Live stats bar

When the companion plugin is connected, a stats bar appears below the server name showing real-time TPS, MSPT, and RAM usage. TPS should be at or near 20. Anything consistently below 18 means the server is under load.

Uptime counter

A live uptime timer runs next to the server name while the server is online. Useful for knowing how long it's been since the last restart without digging through logs.

Restart button

Hit Restart for a clean stop-then-start in one click. The app waits for the server to fully shut down before relaunching it, same as pressing Stop then Start manually but without the babysitting.

Players

The Players tab is your control center for everyone who touches your server. It's split into sub-tabs covering different aspects of player management.

Online

Shows everyone currently connected with their ping, game mode, health, hunger, and coordinates. Double-click any player to open their detail panel where you can kick, ban, op, deop, teleport, message them, or change their game mode without touching the console.

All Players

A persistent list of every player who has ever joined, with their last seen time. Great for looking someone up, checking if they've been on before, or finding a username when they're offline.

Whitelist

View and manage the server whitelist directly. Add a player by typing their username, remove them with one click, and toggle whitelist enforcement on or off without typing whitelist commands manually.

Banned Players

See every active ban with the reason and date. Pardon a player instantly without going through the console. If you prefer an audit trail, this tab keeps it clean and visible.

File Explorer

Browse, open, and edit your server files without leaving the app. The Files tab shows a full tree of your server directory: configs, world data, plugins, logs, all of it.

Editing files

Click any file to open it in the built-in editor. Common formats get automatic syntax highlighting: .properties, .yml, .yaml, .json, .toml, and .txt. Make your changes and hit Save. The file is written directly, no copy-paste required.

Common use cases

• Edit server.properties to adjust MOTD, max players, difficulty, view distance, and game rules
• Tweak plugin configs in plugins/PluginName/config.yml without hunting through File Explorer
• Read logs/latest.log for historical output that's no longer in the live console
• Edit ops.json or whitelist.json directly if you need bulk changes

Scheduled Restarts

Set it and forget it. The Schedules tab lets you configure automatic restarts on a fixed interval so your server stays fresh and memory usage stays sane without you having to be around for it.

Setting up a schedule

1. Open the Schedules tab for your server
2. Choose a restart interval: every 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h, or a custom time
3. Optionally configure a warning message and how many minutes before the restart it broadcasts (e.g. warn at 15 min and 5 min)
4. Toggle the schedule on. The next restart time updates live

Warning broadcasts

When a warning is set, Tenebris Manager automatically sends a say command to your server at the configured intervals before restarting. Players see a message in chat like "Server restarting in 10 minutes". No plugins required for this, it's all handled by the app.

Pausing schedules

Toggle the schedule off without deleting it. The config stays saved so you can turn it back on whenever you're ready. Handy during maintenance or events when you don't want an unexpected restart mid-activity.

Per-server schedules

Every server has its own independent schedule. If you run a survival SMP and a creative server, you can have them restart at completely different intervals without any conflict.

Chat History

The Chat tab gives you a searchable archive of everything said in your server's public chat. Great for moderation, context, or just nostalgia.

What's recorded

• Every public chat message with the player name and timestamp
• History is kept separately per server so your SMP and creative logs don't mix
• Data is stored locally in the app's data folder and never leaves your machine

Browsing and moderation

Scroll through the log, or filter by date and player. If a player says something that gets reported, you can check the exact wording and time without asking them to screenshot it. Having the actual record makes moderation decisions cleaner and harder to dispute.

Worlds & Plugins

A live view of what's running on your server. Less about management, more about visibility: know exactly what's loaded without having to read boot logs every time.

Worlds

Every loaded world is listed with its name. If you're running a multi-world setup with Multiverse or a custom dimension, this is a quick sanity check that all your worlds loaded correctly after a restart.

Plugins

All installed plugins with their version numbers. If something isn't working after an update or restart, checking this tab first saves you from digging through boot logs. Any plugin that failed to load won't appear here, so look in the console for the red error to find out why.

Companion Plugin

The companion plugin is a small Bukkit/Spigot/Paper plugin that runs on your server and exposes a local API that Tenebris Manager connects to. It's what enables live stats, player details, chat history, and the worlds and plugins views. The core app works fine without it; the plugin just gives you the full picture.

Installation

1. In the app, go to the Downloads tab and download TenebrisManagerPlugin.jar
2. Drop the JAR into your server's plugins/ folder
3. Restart the server. The plugin creates its config automatically on first run

Configuration

After the first restart, edit plugins/MinecraftManager/config.yml:

port: 25580
token: "change-this-to-something-secret"

The port is where the plugin listens for the app. Keep it as 25580 unless that port is already taken. The token is a shared secret between the plugin and the app. Set it to anything unique and private, then open your server's Edit dialog in Tenebris Manager, enter the same port and token, and hit Save. The app connects on the next server start.

What it enables

• Live TPS, MSPT, and RAM usage in the stats bar
• Player health, hunger, coordinates, and game mode in the Players tab
• Player avatars and 3D skin renders
• Chat history logging
• Loaded worlds and installed plugin list
• LuckPerms permission group display (if LuckPerms is installed)

Compatibility

• Paper or Spigot 1.16.5 through the latest release
• Java 8 or newer on the server side
• LuckPerms is optional. The plugin works without it

Firewall note

The plugin only listens on localhost by default, so it's not accessible from outside your machine. If you're running the app and the server on different machines, you'll need to allow the plugin port through your firewall and update the connection host in the app accordingly.

Server Properties

The Properties tab is a structured view of your server.properties file with a friendlier interface. Toggle booleans with a checkbox, adjust numbers with a field, no raw file editing required.

Settings you'll actually use

• motd: the message displayed on the server list. Supports color codes using the § symbol
• max-players: hard cap on simultaneous players
• view-distance: chunk render distance. Lower this first if TPS is suffering
• simulation-distance: how far out entities and farms are simulated. Has a bigger performance impact than view distance
• difficulty: peaceful / easy / normal / hard
• pvp: enable or disable player combat globally
• online-mode: set to false for offline/cracked servers (not recommended)

Performance Tips

Tenebris Manager shows you TPS, MSPT, and RAM usage. Here's how to make sense of those numbers and what to do when things go wrong.

Reading TPS and MSPT

TPS (ticks per second) should be 20.0. Anything above 18 is fine. Sustained drops below 15 mean the server can't keep up and players will notice lag. MSPT (milliseconds per tick) is how long the server takes to process each tick. At 20 TPS that's 50ms per tick. If MSPT is consistently above 45ms, you're close to falling behind.

JVM argument recommendations

For a typical Paper server with 4-6 players, these are a solid starting point:

-Xmx4G -Xms2G -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled
-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions
-XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5

Adjust -Xmx and -Xms based on how much RAM your machine has. Don't allocate more than roughly 70% of your total system RAM to the server.

Quick fixes for lag

• Drop view-distance from 10 to 6-8 in server.properties
• Drop simulation-distance to 4-6. This has the biggest impact on farm lag
• Restart the server regularly (use the scheduler). Java garbage collection behaves better on a fresh process
• Check for entity pileups with /minecraft:kill @e[type=!player]. Mob farms that get out of control will tank TPS hard

RAM guidance

A vanilla server with a handful of players runs fine on 1-2 GB. A Paper server with 10+ plugins and an active playerbase needs 3-6 GB. Too little RAM causes constant garbage collection pauses; too much can actually hurt performance due to longer GC cycles. Watch the RAM bar in the stats strip. If it's consistently near the cap, bump up -Xmx.

Settings

App theme

Open settings from the gear icon in the bottom-left. Switch between dark and light mode at any time. The change is instant, no restart needed.

Server edit dialog

Every field you filled in when adding a server can be changed at any time through the Edit button in the top-right. Name, JAR path, JVM arguments, Java path, companion plugin port and token are all editable and take effect on the next start.

Data location

The app stores its configuration and data in %AppData%\TenebrisManager. If you want to move to a different machine, copy that folder and everything carries over: server configs, settings, chat history, all of it.

Removing a server

Click Remove in the server view. You'll be asked to confirm. The app entry is deleted but your actual server files are never touched. Tenebris Manager only stores a reference to your server directory, not the files themselves.

FAQ

The app says "Java not found" - what do I do?

The app tries to auto-detect Java on startup. If it fails, open the server's Edit dialog and manually set the Java path to point at your java.exe. You can find it by running where java in a command prompt.

The companion plugin connects but TPS shows as 0

Check that the port and token in the Edit dialog exactly match what's in plugins/MinecraftManager/config.yml. Token comparison is case-sensitive. Restart the server after changing the config file.

Can I run multiple servers at the same time?

Yes. Each server in the sidebar operates independently. Start as many as your machine can handle, just make sure each server is on a different port in server.properties so they don't conflict.

Will this work with Forge or Fabric?

The base app (console, file explorer, restarts) works with any server JAR: Forge, Fabric, Vanilla, Paper, Spigot. The companion plugin is Bukkit/Spigot/Paper only, so live stats and chat history won't be available on Forge or Fabric.

Is the companion plugin open source?

Not currently, but it's a small plugin that exposes a lightweight local REST API. If you have concerns, check your firewall to confirm it's only listening on localhost.

I bought it but lost the download link

Check your email inbox for the purchase receipt. The download link is included there. If you genuinely can't find it, open a support ticket and include your order details.