Minecraft 1.18 Pre-Release 8 Server Jar Download

Version facts

What changed

Newest upstream commits:

• #1 · 24 Nov 2021 MC-227537 Crash: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "it.unimi.dsi.fastutil.objects.ObjectSet.remove(Object)" because "$$4" is null
• MC-230866 Eating whilst traveling through a Nether portal prints error in game log
• MC-236783 Parity Issue: Ravagers still attack baby villagers in Java Edition
• MC-241991 Game freezes without crash logs when upgrading from 1.12.2 to 1.18 pre-5
• MC-242375 Cats no longer scare phantoms away

Compatibility

No plugins or mods — the unmodified game exactly as Mojang ships it (data packs still work).

Players need a Minecraft: Java Edition 1.18 Pre-Release 8 client on the same version.

Minecraft 1.18 Pre-Release 8 in other server software

Known issues & safety notes

• Preview builds are experimental: they can corrupt or irreversibly upgrade worlds, and most plugins and mods do not support them yet. Test on a copy of your world.
• Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228): Minecraft 1.18 is vulnerable. Upgrade to 1.18.1; if you cannot, add -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true to the Java start command (Mojang advisory).

How to set up Minecraft 1.18 Pre-Release 8

1. Install Java 17 or newer (e.g. Eclipse Temurin) and check it with java -version.
2. Download server.jar from Mojang (button above) into an empty folder.
3. Start it once with the script below; it creates eula.txt and stops.
4. Set eula=true in eula.txt to accept the Minecraft EULA, then start again. Players join on port 25565.

#!/bin/sh
# start.sh — Minecraft 1.18-pre8
cd "$(dirname "$0")"
JAVA_MAJOR=$(java -version 2>&1 | awk -F'"' '/version/ {split($2, v, "."); print (v[1] == "1") ? v[2] : v[1]}')
if [ "$JAVA_MAJOR" -lt 17 ] 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "Java 17 or newer is required (found Java $JAVA_MAJOR)."
  exit 1
fi
java -Xms4G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui

@echo off
REM start.bat — Minecraft 1.18-pre8
REM Needs Java 17 or newer: run "java -version" to check.
java -Xms4G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui
pause

Rule of thumb: 2–4 GB for a few friends, 6–10 GB for a public server with plugins. Set -Xms equal to -Xmx and leave 1–1.5 GB for the operating system. How much RAM?

Docker

docker run -d -p 25565:25565 -e EULA=TRUE -e TYPE=VANILLA -e VERSION=1.18-pre8 --name mc itzg/minecraft-server

Uses the community itzg/minecraft-server image, which downloads the file itself.

Upgrading

• Newer: Minecraft 1.18 Release Candidate 1
• Previous: Minecraft 1.18 Pre-Release 7
• How to update a Minecraft server safely