jar files need to be open with Java;


Windows

Go to the folder that the .jar file is located. Then push alt+D type in cmd and hit Enter. This will open cmd.exe with the location set to the correct spot, otherwise you could change directory with the cd (directory) command.

Now just type in java -jar minecraft_server1.8.8.jar and hit Enter to open the file.


Linux

Open the Terminal: Applcations > Accessories > Terminal. and then change directories to where the Minecraft server jar is located with the cd command. Then type in java -jar minecraft_server.jar


Additional arguments:

  • You can add no gui to the end of the command to open the server without the GUI
  • You can specify the initial and maximum memory allocation pool for the Java Virtual Machine by adding -Xms500M and -Xmx1G between java and -jar. You can change the size (the 500M and 1G parts) to whatever you like. The default value for xmx is 256MB, if you encounter a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError you may need to increase xmx when you start it with this command line.