How to Disable the Nether on a Minecraft Server

To disable Nether Minecraft server access on 1.21.11 or newer, type gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals false in the console. Players can no longer use Nether portals to get there, and the change applies without a restart. On 1.21.8 and older, set allow-nether=false in server.properties instead. On Paper you can also stop the Nether from loading at all.

Why server owners close the Nether

• Pacing a season. The Nether is where progression speeds up: blaze rods, Nether highways, fortresses. Closing it for a while keeps the early game alive longer.
• Performance. Each block in the Nether is eight in the overworld, so a short Nether trip can drop a player thousands of blocks away, where the server must load or generate terrain. Fewer far-off trips mean fewer generation spikes.
• Theme servers. Creative builds, skyblock-style maps, minigames and servers for younger kids often have no use for the Nether at all.
• Safety while you prepare. If you want to pre-generate the Nether or set its border first, keep it closed until that work is done.

Which method your version uses

In 1.21.9 Mojang removed several server.properties lines and turned them into game rules so they can be changed while the server runs. allow-nether was one of them. Then 1.21.11 renamed every game rule from camelCase to snake_case. That gives three cases:

The startup log prints your version in the first lines. PaperMC's release notes for 1.21.9 say existing allow-nether settings are migrated automatically, so a server that had the Nether off before the update should still have it off. Check anyway after any update; our guide on updating a Minecraft server covers what else to test.

Disable Nether Minecraft server access, step by step

1. Open the server console. On TheGameHosting, open your server in the panel and go to the Console tab.
2. Check your version in the startup log or with the version command.
3. On 1.21.11 or newer, type gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals false. On 1.21.9 or 1.21.10, type gamerule allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals false.
4. Query the rule (type its name with no value) and check that the console answers false.
5. Test it: walk into a lit Nether portal in survival and confirm that you stay in the overworld.
6. On 1.21.8 or older instead: stop the server, open server.properties in the Files tab, set allow-nether=false, save and start.

gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals false
gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals

gamerule allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals false

allow-nether=false

Game rules need permission level 2, so in game you have to be an operator and add a slash (/gamerule …). See how to OP yourself if the command is refused.

If the command is rejected or portals still work

• An error about an unknown or incorrect argument: you typed the name for a different version. Swap between the snake_case and camelCase names in the table above. Names are case sensitive.
• Portals still send players through: check that you set the rule in the overworld, update Paper, and look for a portal or multiworld plugin that teleports players on its own.
• The setting came back after a restart: on 1.21.8 or older you edited the file while the server was running and it was overwritten. Stop first, then edit.

Paper: remove the Nether completely

The game rule only blocks portals. The Nether world still exists and loads. Paper added a separate option for 1.21.9 for servers that want the whole dimension gone: enable-nether in paper-global.yml, described in the Paper docs as “whether the nether dimension is enabled and will be loaded”. It lives under misc:

misc:
  enable-nether: false

Restart after changing it. This also saves the memory and disk the Nether would use. The Paper project also fixed an early issue where the game rule was ignored by portals; their fix checks the rule in the world the player is leaving, so on Paper set it in the overworld (the console does that by default). Run the latest Paper build.

What about the End?

There is no matching game rule for the End in vanilla. On Paper and other Bukkit-based servers, bukkit.yml has allow-end, which the Paper docs describe as “whether to load end-type dimensions”:

settings:
  allow-end: false

Keep in mind the chain: eyes of Ender need blaze powder, and blaze rods only come from the Nether. With the Nether closed, players cannot reach the End the normal way anyway.

Open the Nether later as an event

Because it is now a game rule, you can change it live. Many SMPs keep the Nether closed for the first week so everyone builds a base first, then announce an opening. Type gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals true at the planned time, or let the panel do it for you. If you also want to lock the world size for the season, combine it with a world border, and see our SMP server guide for more season ideas.

Control your Nether from the panel with TheGameHosting

On a TheGameHosting Minecraft server you change the game rule in the Console tab, edit paper-global.yml or bukkit.yml in Files, and switch between Paper, Purpur, Fabric and other versions in the Version tab. For a Nether opening night, create a task in the Schedules tab that sends the command at the right time, even while you sleep: the server runs 24/7 without your PC. Plans start at $1.90 USD/month; see plans and pricing and use FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

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