Direct answer

A Java server launched in the foreground of an SSH/terminal session may stop when that session ends. Run it using an existing hosting panel/container supervisor, a proper systemd service, or a persistent terminal such as tmux for temporary administration.

What it means

Closing an interactive session can send a hangup signal or end its process group. This is a process-supervision issue—not a JVM RAM setting or a game-client bug.

If you are a player

  • Send the administrator the time the server disappears and whether it coincides with an SSH or panel console disconnect.

If you run the server

  1. Check whether Java runs under your shell instead of a process supervisor: disconnect only during a maintenance window and confirm the correlation.
  2. For a temporary session, use tmux new -s minecraft, start the normal script there, then detach with Ctrl+B followed by D. Reattach with tmux attach -t minecraft.
  3. For production Linux hosts using systemd, create a service running as a dedicated unprivileged account, with the correct working directory and your existing startup script. Do not copy a generic Java path/JAR name without checking them.
  4. Start/stop using the service manager, confirm logs with journalctl and verify a clean Minecraft shutdown/backup process. Avoid force-kill restart loops.
# Temporary persistent shell (Linux):
tmux new -s minecraft
# Run your existing ./start.sh here; detach using Ctrl+B, then D
# Verify a systemd-managed service if it is already configured:
systemctl status minecraft.service
journalctl -u minecraft.service -n 100 --no-pager
Production note

systemd units need an explicit service user, WorkingDirectory, ExecStart and appropriate shutdown handling. Prefer your hosting provider’s process manager when supplied; tmux is not an unattended backup system.

References

Use the documentation for the exact software and release you run. These sources support the settings or diagnostic behavior used in this fix.

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