As a server grows, players start wanting different things. Some want a calm creative area to plan huge builds, others want a tough survival world, and others just want to show up for a weekend parkour race or hide-and-seek event. Instead of running a separate server for each, you can run several worlds on one. Multiverse-Core has been the go-to plugin for this for years, and it works on plugin-capable server software such as Paper, Purpur and Spigot. This guide covers creating worlds, moving between them, per-world settings and how to keep inventories apart.

Installing and taking a first look

Add Multiverse-Core to the plugins folder through the panel or the file manager, then restart. On first start the plugin picks up your existing worlds (world, world_nether, world_the_end) by itself. To confirm it's working, run:

/mv list

That lists every loaded world. For details on a single world, use /mv info world. For the full command list and the exact syntax for your version, /mv help is always the reliable reference; some commands changed shape between the plugin's major releases.

Creating a new world

A new world needs just a name and an environment type, which can be normal, nether or end:

/mv create survival2 normal
/mv create creative normal -t flat
/mv create event normal -s 12345

The first command generates an ordinary world. The second builds a superflat world for creative building. The third uses a fixed seed, which is handy when you want to regenerate an event map with identical terrain. Generation takes a little while and can slow the server briefly, so pick a quiet hour.

If you already have a map, say a parkour course you downloaded, upload its folder to the server's root directory and import it:

/mv import parkour normal

The folder name must match the name in the command. Make sure the map suits your server's version; a much older map gets converted when it opens, and that can't be undone.

Moving between worlds

As an admin you can jump to any world with:

/mv tp creative

Rather than handing that command to players, most servers build a central hub and connect it to each world with portals or signs. Multiverse-Portals is the companion plugin made for exactly this. To set each world's spawn point, stand where you want it in that world and type:

/mv setspawn

Players can return to their current world's spawn with /mv spawn.

If you want Nether and End portals to link correctly per world, Multiverse-NetherPortals makes a portal in survival2 lead to survival2_nether. For that to work, create those dimension worlds using the same naming pattern.

Per-world settings

Multiverse really shines because every world can have its own rules. Settings are changed with /mv modify. In the current version the syntax looks like this:

/mv modify creative set gamemode creative
/mv modify creative set difficulty peaceful
/mv modify creative set pvp false
/mv modify survival2 set difficulty hard

Older versions order the arguments differently (/mv modify set gamemode creative creative); /mv help modify tells you which one applies. Settings are stored in plugins/Multiverse-Core/worlds.yml; if you edit that file by hand, stop the server first.

WorldGame modeDifficultyPvPsurvival2survivalhardPer your rulescreativecreativepeacefulOffeventadventurenormalPer event

Adventure mode suits event worlds well: players can't break or place blocks, so a parkour course or maze stays intact. To adjust a single world's game rules, stand in that world and use Minecraft's own /gamerule command, for example /gamerule doWeatherCycle false to lock the weather during an event.

Restricting access

Not every world has to be open to everyone. You might want an event world only staff can enter while they set it up, or a build world reserved for a certain rank. With enforce-access turned on in the Multiverse configuration, players can only enter worlds they hold the multiverse.access.<world> permission for. Grant these to groups with LuckPerms:

/lp group default permission set multiverse.access.survival2 true
/lp group builder permission set multiverse.access.creative true

LuckPerms can also scope a permission to one world. To give builders WorldEdit only in the creative world:

/lp group builder permission set worldedit.* true world=creative

If you haven't set up ranks before, our LuckPerms permissions and ranks guide covers the basics.

Separating inventories: why it matters

Multiverse-Core does not split inventories on its own. If a player grabs a stack of diamond blocks in creative and walks into survival, those diamonds come along, and your survival economy collapses overnight. The fix is a companion plugin that separates inventories by world group. Multiverse-Inventories, from the same family, was built for this: you put worlds into groups, worlds in the same group share inventory, health, hunger and experience, and different groups are kept apart.

A sensible layout looks like this:

  • Survival group: survival2, survival2_nether, survival2_the_end
  • Creative group: creative
  • Event group: event, parkour

The commands for building groups vary between plugin versions; the /mvinv help output shows the current syntax. Tell your players before you install it, and take a backup first: a world placed in the wrong group during setup can make players' items look as if they've vanished into another group.

Performance and upkeep

Every loaded world uses memory, especially when its spawn area is kept loaded all the time. Unload a world nobody is using with /mv unload event and bring it back with /mv load event when needed. Removing a world for good takes /mv delete event followed by /mv confirm; this deletes the world folder and cannot be undone, so back up first.

Keep the number of worlds in line with real demand. Three or four well-planned worlds make for a far tidier server than ten that nobody visits. On large survival worlds, pre-generating the map and setting a world border also help the server stay smooth; our guide on pre-generating the world with Chunky goes into that.

Summary

  1. Install Multiverse-Core and check your worlds with /mv list.
  2. Prepare worlds with /mv create or /mv import.
  3. Set each world's game mode, difficulty and PvP with /mv modify.
  4. Restrict entry with multiverse.access permissions.
  5. Use a companion plugin such as Multiverse-Inventories to keep inventories apart.
  6. Unload idle worlds, and always back up before deleting one.

With that structure in place, adding a new themed world later is a matter of minutes rather than a weekend of cleanup.