How to Add Someone to Your Minecraft Whitelist

Q: How do I add someone to my Minecraft server whitelist?

Open the server console and type whitelist add Name with their exact Java username. In-game, an operator types /whitelist add Name. Check it with whitelist list.

Q: Does the player need to be online to be whitelisted?

No. whitelist add works for players who are offline. The server looks up the account by name and saves its UUID.

Q: How do I whitelist a friend who plays on Bedrock?

On a Java server with Geyser and Floodgate, use fwhitelist add Gamertag. On a Bedrock Dedicated Server, use allowlist add Gamertag.

To whitelist someone Minecraft server consoles need a single command: whitelist add Name, with the player’s exact Java username. They do not have to be online. On TheGameHosting you type it in the panel’s Console, and your friend can join a few seconds later.

This guide is only about adding (and removing) people. If you still need to switch the list on, or want the full picture of whitelist.json, enforce-whitelist and the “not whitelisted” error, read our complete Minecraft server whitelist guide or the short walkthrough on how to enable the whitelist.

What you need before you add someone

Their exact username. Ask your friend to copy it from the Minecraft Launcher or from their profile on minecraft.net. Capital letters do not matter, but every other character does.
Their edition. Java players go in with whitelist add. Friends on a phone, Xbox, PlayStation or Switch who join through Geyser need a different command, covered below.
Somewhere to run the command. The server console works always. In-game chat works only if you are an operator.

The whitelist matches the account’s UUID, not the text of the name. The server looks the name up once and stores the ID. That is why a typo matters, and also why a friend who later changes their username stays on the list.

How to whitelist someone Minecraft server side, step by step

Open the console. In the TheGameHosting panel, select your server and click Console. The server must be running.
Type the command without a slash. In the console, commands run with full rights and need no /: whitelist add FriendName.
Read the reply. “Added FriendName to the whitelist” means it worked. “Player is already whitelisted” means they were on the list already.
Repeat for each friend. The command takes one name at a time, so send one line per person.
Check the list. Run whitelist list and make sure every name is there and spelled right.
Send them the address. Your friend adds the server IP and port shown in the panel under Multiplayer and joins.

Code

whitelist add FriendName
whitelist add SecondFriend
whitelist list

That is all it takes. The change is saved to whitelist.json right away, so it survives a restart. You do not need whitelist reload; that command is only for when you edit the file by hand.

Add someone from in-game chat

If you are playing, you can do the same thing from chat with a slash: /whitelist add FriendName. According to the Minecraft Wiki, the command needs permission level 3, which an operator has by default. If chat answers that you do not have permission, you are not OP yet; our guide on how to OP yourself on a Minecraft server fixes that in a minute.

A handy trick before you lock a server that already has a group playing: the command also accepts a target selector, so whitelist add @a adds every player who is online right now. Run it, check with whitelist list, then switch the list on.

Where you type it	Add	Remove
Server console (panel Console)	`whitelist add Name`	`whitelist remove Name`
In-game chat (OP)	`/whitelist add Name`	`/whitelist remove Name`
Bedrock player via Floodgate	`fwhitelist add Gamertag`	`fwhitelist remove Gamertag`
Everyone online now	`whitelist add @a`	—

Whitelist someone who plays on Bedrock

If your Java server lets console and phone players in with Geyser and Floodgate, those friends have no Java account, so whitelist add cannot find their name. Floodgate has its own command for this, documented on the GeyserMC wiki:

Code

fwhitelist add BedrockGamertag

Type the gamertag without the dot prefix Floodgate puts in front of Bedrock names; the command handles it. If Geyser is not installed yet, follow let Bedrock players join your Java server with Geyser first.

Running a pure Bedrock Dedicated Server instead? There the list is called an allowlist and the command is allowlist add. The steps are in how to whitelist a Bedrock server.

Remove someone from the whitelist

Run whitelist remove Name in the console. What happens next depends on one setting in server.properties:

With enforce-whitelist=false (the default), the player keeps playing until they disconnect, then cannot come back.
With enforce-whitelist=true, they are kicked as soon as they are removed.

If you need them gone right now on a server without enforcement, kick them as well with kick Name. Removing someone from the whitelist does not take away operator status: if they are OP, they can still connect on Java, so run deop Name too.

If your friend still cannot join

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
“You are not whitelisted” after adding them	Typo, so another account (or none) was added	`whitelist remove` the wrong entry, add the exact name again
Name is on the list but they are refused	They play Bedrock through Geyser	Use `fwhitelist add`
You edited `whitelist.json` and nothing changed	The server keeps the list in memory	Run `whitelist reload`
Entries stop matching after a settings change	The server was switched to offline mode, which uses different UUIDs	Keep `online-mode=true`; see offline mode explained
“Connection timed out”, no whitelist message	Wrong address or the server is off	Not a whitelist problem; check the IP and port in the panel

Let a co-admin add players without your login

On a server you share with friends, you will not always be the one online when someone new wants in. In the TheGameHosting panel, open Users and invite your co-admin with their own email. They get access to the Console (and whatever else you allow) without your password, so they can run whitelist add any time. The server stays on 24/7 in Dallas or Amsterdam, with no ports to open and no limit on player slots.

Plans start at $1.90 USD/month on our Minecraft server hosting page, and every plan runs on the same AMD 9950X/7950X3D hardware. Compare RAM sizes on plans and pricing and use the code FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

FAQ

How do I add someone to my Minecraft server whitelist?

Open the server console and type whitelist add Name with their exact Java username. In-game, an operator types /whitelist add Name. Check it with whitelist list.

Does the player need to be online to be whitelisted?

No. whitelist add works for players who are offline. The server looks up the account by name and saves its UUID.

Can I whitelist several players at once?

The command takes one name per line. To add everyone who is online right now, use whitelist add @a.

How do I whitelist a friend who plays on Bedrock?

On a Java server with Geyser and Floodgate, use fwhitelist add Gamertag. On a Bedrock Dedicated Server, use allowlist add Gamertag.

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Written by TheGameHosting Team, the people who run our servers in Dallas and Amsterdam and answer your tickets.

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