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GUIDE

Uptime Kuma or MineOps for a Minecraft server

Uptime Kuma checks from outside whether a Minecraft server answers. MineOps sees lag, crashes and disk from the machine. What each does, and when Uptime Kuma is the better pick.

Uptime Kuma is a free, open-source monitoring tool that you host yourself, and plenty of Minecraft server owners already run it. It can tell you when a Minecraft server stops answering. What it can't see is what happens inside the server. Here is how the two compare, and when Uptime Kuma is the better choice.

Checked on Nov 14, 2026 against Uptime Kuma's own README and source code on GitHub.

Watching a Minecraft server with Uptime Kuma

Uptime Kuma checks services from wherever you install it. Its monitor types include HTTP, TCP port, ping, DNS, push and Docker containers, and under game servers a GameDig monitor and a Steam game server monitor. GameDig is a library that queries game servers, and its list of games includes Minecraft and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. So there are two ways to watch a Minecraft server with it:

  • A TCP port monitor on your server's address and port, 25565 by default for Java. It tells you whether the port accepts a connection.
  • A GameDig monitor with Minecraft as the game. It marks the server up when it answers the game's query, and keeps the server's name and the response time.

Uptime Kuma can check as often as every 20 seconds, keeps a response time chart, and sends notifications through Discord, Slack, Telegram, email and, by its own count, over 90 services. It also has status pages, several if you like, and can serve them on your own domains.

What MineOps does differently

MineOps doesn't check from outside. It runs a small agent on the Linux or Mac machine that runs your servers, and the agent connects out to MineOps. That changes what it can see:

  • Lag. With the MineOps plugin on Paper, Purpur or Pufferfish, it reads TPS and MSPT and can alert when they stay bad. A server can answer every ping while it runs at 8 TPS. How lag alerts work.
  • Crashes and stops. It knows a crash from a stop you made, alerts on crash loops, and doesn't count a planned restart or a maintenance window as an outage.
  • The machine. CPU, memory and disk space, with alerts before a full disk breaks a world save.
  • Players. Who played and for how long, and the quiet hours for restarts.
  • Running the server. Start, stop and restart from the dashboard, scheduled backups with restores on paid plans, and new servers in a few clicks.

Because the agent connects out, a server on your home network needs no open port for MineOps to see it. Uptime Kuma, like any outside check, needs to reach the server, which is also what tells you whether players can.

Side by side

Where it runs
Uptime Kuma: on a machine you host, for example with Docker. MineOps: a hosted dashboard, plus an agent on each machine.
Price
Uptime Kuma: free and open source under the MIT license; you pay for the machine it runs on. MineOps: free for two Minecraft servers on one machine, then paid plans.
Which servers
Uptime Kuma: any server it can reach, including one rented from a game host or one you don't run. MineOps: only servers on a Linux or Mac machine where you can install the agent.
Lag, crashes, disk
Uptime Kuma: not from its Minecraft checks, which see up or down and response time. MineOps: yes.
Where alerts go
Uptime Kuma: Discord, Slack, email and many more. MineOps: Discord and Slack only, never email or SMS.
Status page
Both have one. Uptime Kuma's can sit on your own domain. MineOps shows players, the join address and the last week's outages. The MineOps status page.

When Uptime Kuma is the better pick

  • Your server is rented from a game host's panel, so you can't install anything on its machine.
  • You want alerts by email, Telegram or a service other than Discord and Slack.
  • You already run Uptime Kuma for websites and other services, and an up or down check is all you need for Minecraft too.
  • You want everything self-hosted and free, with no account anywhere.

Uptime Kuma's README also warns that the top search result for its name, uptimekuma.co, isn't its official site. Install it from its GitHub repository.

When MineOps fits better

You run your servers on your own Linux box, a VPS or a Mac, and you want to know about lag, crashes and a filling disk, not only whether the port answers. The two also work side by side: Uptime Kuma from outside, and MineOps for what happens inside. The Discord alerts guide lists every alert MineOps can send.

For a quick check from outside without installing anything, the free server status checker shows whether a Java or Bedrock server answers, with its version and players. And the MOTD generator writes the colored lines players see in their server list.