How to OP Yourself on a Minecraft Server

1 What "OP" actually means

OP (short for "operator") is Minecraft's built-in admin role. An OP can run commands like /gamemode, /give, /tp, /ban, and /stop. There are 4 OP levels (1–4) — Solace defaults give you level 4, the highest, when you OP yourself. Most server.properties files set op-permission-level=4 by default.

Level	Can do
1	Bypass spawn protection
2	+ singleplayer cheat commands (/gamemode, /give, etc.)
3	+ multiplayer commands (/ban, /kick, /op)
4	+ server-wide commands (/stop, /save-all) — full admin

2 Method 1: Solace panel console (recommended)

1. Log into your Solace panel and open your Minecraft server.
2. Click the Console tab. You'll see live log output and a command input at the bottom.
3. Type the following and press Enter:

   op YourMinecraftUsername

4. You should see [Server thread/INFO]: Made YourMinecraftUsername a server operator in the console.

If you're already in-game, you'll see the message "You are now op!" appear instantly. If you weren't connected, you'll have OP permissions next time you join.

3 Method 2: From in-game

This only works if you're already an OP — useful when you want to grant another player. If you're not yet an OP, skip to Method 1 or 3.

1. Join the server in Minecraft.
2. Open the chat window (press T by default).
3. Type:

   /op TheirUsername

4 Method 3: Edit ops.json directly (when console is dead)

If your server has crashed and you can't open the console, you can OP yourself by editing the file the server reads on startup.

1. Stop the server from the Solace panel.
2. Open the File Manager (or connect with SFTP).
3. Open ops.json in the server's root folder.
4. Replace its contents with the entry below. You'll need to look up your UUID at mcuuid.net:

   [
     {
       "uuid": "YOUR-UUID-HERE",
       "name": "YourMinecraftUsername",
       "level": 4,
       "bypassesPlayerLimit": false
     }
   ]

5. Save the file and start the server.

5 Method 4: server.properties + restart (level 4 by default)

This isn't OP-ing yourself directly — it just controls what level OPs get. Open server.properties and look for:

op-permission-level=4

Leave that at 4 if you want full-admin OPs. If you set it to 2, OPs can use creative-mode commands but not /stop.

6 De-OP someone

From console or in-game:

deop TheirUsername

That immediately removes their operator status, even if they're online. Pair with /kick if you need to boot them.

7 Whitelist vs. OP — quick clarifier

• Whitelist: who's allowed to join. Controlled by whitelist.json and the /whitelist add Name command. Toggle it on with whitelist on.
• OP: who has admin commands. Controlled by ops.json and the /op Name command.
• You can be on the whitelist without being OP, and vice-versa. Most server owners are on both.

8 Common issues

"Unknown player" when running /op

• The username must be exact (case-sensitive on some servers). Check your Minecraft launcher.
• For offline-mode (cracked) servers, Mojang lookup may fail — you'll need to OP via the in-game console after the player joins once.

I OP'd myself but commands still say "no permission"

• Plugins like LuckPerms or PermissionsEx override OP. If you're running a permissions plugin, give yourself the right group instead (e.g. /lp user YourName parent set admin).
• Restart the server after changing ops.json manually.

Lost OP after a server restart

• Some hosts revert ops.json from a backup on crash recovery. Check that the file actually has your entry after restart.