EasyRestart

Automated server restarts with cron scheduling, countdown warnings, and optional auto-relaunch.

EasyRestart is a server-side Forge mod that lets you schedule Minecraft server restarts using standard cron expressions. Players receive configurable warnings before each restart, a final countdown with on-screen titles, and the server can automatically relaunch itself via a startup script you define.

Features

Cron-based scheduling — define any number of restart times using standard 5-field cron syntax (minute hour day month weekday)
Pre-warning broadcasts — configurable list of minutes before restart at which players are notified (default: 10, 5, 1 minute)
Final countdown — 10-second countdown with chat messages and configurable on-screen titles
Sound alerts — plays a pling sound on each warning and countdown tick (can be disabled)
Auto-relaunch — optionally point the mod to a startup script; it will be launched as a detached process before the JVM shuts down, so the server comes back up automatically
Forced shutdown watchdog — if the server hangs during shutdown, a background watchdog forcefully terminates it after 120 seconds
In-game commands — add, remove, list, and reload cron rules without restarting; trigger an immediate restart with /easyrestart now
Fully configurable messages — all broadcast strings support placeholders and Minecraft color codes

Installation

Download the mod .jar and drop it into your server's mods/ folder.
Start the server once to generate the config file at config/easy_restart-common.toml.
Edit the config to set your desired cron rules, messages, and (optionally) the restart script path.
Restart the server — the scheduler will activate immediately.

Server-side only. Players do not need to install this mod.

Configuration

Config file: config/easy_restart-common.toml

General

Key	Default	Description
`enableSounds`	`true`	Play sound alerts on warnings and countdown ticks
`enableTitles`	`true`	Show on-screen title during the final 10-second countdown
`preWarningMinutes`	`[10, 5, 1]`	Minutes before restart at which broadcast warnings are sent
`restartScriptPath`	`""`	Path to the script that starts the server. Accepts absolute or relative paths. Leave empty to disable auto-relaunch

Cron Rules

Key	Default	Description
`rules`	`["0 3 * * *"]`	List of cron expressions. Multiple rules are supported

Messages

Key	Placeholders	Description
`preWarning`	`{minutes}`	Broadcast when a pre-warning threshold is reached
`finalCountdown`	`{seconds}`	Broadcast each second during the final 10-second countdown
`restartNow`	—	Broadcast when an immediate restart is triggered
`scheduledStart`	—	Broadcast when a restart is first scheduled

All messages support Minecraft color codes (§a, §c, etc.).

Cron Syntax

EasyRestart uses standard 5-field POSIX cron expressions:

┌─ minute   (0–59)
│ ┌─ hour   (0–23)
│ │ ┌─ day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌─ month (1–12)
│ │ │ │ ┌─ day of week (0=Sun … 6=Sat)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Examples:

Expression	Meaning
`0 3 * * *`	Every day at 03:00
`0 /6 * *`	Every 6 hours (00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00)
`30 8 * * 1`	Every Monday at 08:30
`0 4 * * 1,4`	Every Monday and Thursday at 04:00
`0 2,14 * * *`	Every day at 02:00 and 14:00

Auto-Relaunch Setup

To make the server restart automatically after shutdown:

Linux / macOS

Create a startup script (e.g. start.sh) in your server root:

#!/bin/bash
cd "$(dirname "$0")"
java -Xmx4G -Xms1G -jar server.jar nogui

Make it executable:

chmod +x start.sh

Set the config option:

restartScriptPath = "start.sh"
# or absolute: restartScriptPath = "/home/mc/server/start.sh"

Windows

Create a start.bat in your server root:

@echo off
cd /d "%~dp0"
java -Xmx4G -Xms1G -jar server.jar nogui

Set the config option:

restartScriptPath = "start.bat"
# or absolute: restartScriptPath = "C:/servers/minecraft/start.bat"

Note: The script is launched as a detached process before the JVM exits, so it will survive the server shutdown. Make sure the script is not run inside a session manager (like screen or tmux) that would die with the parent process — or wrap the script launch in a new screen/tmux session if needed.

⚠️ Server panels (Crafty, Pterodactyl, Pelican, etc.): Do not use restartScriptPath if you manage your server through a panel. The script would launch a new Java process outside the panel's control — the panel would lose visibility over the server (logs, stop button, monitoring). Instead, leave restartScriptPath empty and enable the panel's own auto-restart feature. EasyRestart will still handle all warnings and countdowns; the panel will detect the shutdown and relaunch the server itself.

Commands

All commands require operator permission level 2.

Command	Description
`/easyrestart add <cron>`	Add a new cron rule
`/easyrestart remove <id>`	Remove a cron rule by its list index
`/easyrestart list`	List all active cron rules with their IDs
`/easyrestart reload`	Reload rules from the config file
`/easyrestart now`	Trigger an immediate restart
`/easyrestart help`	Show command usage

Compatibility

Minecraft: 1.20.x
Mod loader: Forge
Java: 17 or higher
Side: Server only

License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.