Anticheat Go-Live Checklist Before a Minecraft Launch

What should a server check before opening to players?

Run a go/no-go check before the public opening. Confirm the anticheat starts cleanly with its required dependency, staff receive alerts, punishment settings match the written plan, and you have a rollback step. Any open item is a launch blocker until a named person signs it off.

Go/no-go table

Each row has a pass condition. If a row fails, fix it or record a decision to launch with it open. Do not leave it unrecorded.

How do you run the checklist on launch day?

Run the steps in order on the production copy, with one person driving and one person checking each row. Keep the sign-off record with the server versions and the time you ran it.

Plan for the check to take longer than you expect. The slow part is usually the test alert, because it depends on a cooperating tester being online and on the alert cooldown. Schedule the launch check well before the opening time, not in the last few minutes.

• Freeze configuration edits and announce the freeze to staff.
• Back up the FairPlay folder and the server's plugin JAR list.
• Start the server and read the console from top to bottom for dependency errors.
• Test permissions with two staff accounts: one with alerts, one without.
• Run one controlled alert test with a cooperating tester.
• Confirm automatic kick and ban match the written decision.
• Record the sign-off with names, date, and versions, then open the server.

mkdir -p backups/pre-launch-YYYY-MM-DD
cp -r plugins/<fairplay-folder> backups/pre-launch-YYYY-MM-DD/

What is the rollback plan?

Write the rollback before you need it. If a launch blocker appears after opening, keep the server private, restore the backed-up configuration, and restart. Only swap in the previous plugin JAR if your staging run tested that combination.

• Set the server to private or whitelist-only while you investigate.
• Restore the configuration files from the pre-launch backup.
• Restart and read the startup output again.
• Record the reason for the rollback and the next review time.

Which rollback steps need a second person?

A rollback during a live problem is when mistakes happen. Decide before launch which steps need a second person to confirm. Restoring a backup and changing the public status of the server are good candidates, because a wrong restore can erase the very settings you are trying to recover. Say who makes the call so nobody has to guess at two in the morning.

How do you record the sign-off?

A sign-off record is what lets the next admin understand a launch decision. Keep it with the backup folder, not in a chat message that will scroll away. A useful record names each person who checked a row, the server and plugin versions in use, and the time the check ran. It also lists any row that was left open on purpose, with the reason and the owner who accepted it.

If a row was skipped, do not mark it passed. Write skipped, the reason, and the date someone plans to revisit it. A short record that is honest about gaps is more useful than a full record that hides them.

• Write the server, Java, FairPlay, and PacketEvents versions at the top of the record.
• Mark each row pass, fail, or open, and initial it with the checker's name.
• List every open row with the reason and the accepting owner.
• Store the record in the same restricted location as the pre-launch backup.

What have we not verified?

This checklist does not measure performance under your player count, and it does not claim any detection result. Load and detection behavior need their own staging evidence, collected on your server.