Just let them play on public servers, they'll learn how the real world works sooner or later. 😂

Back in my day, we didn't have all these fancy plugins. But, I've adapted. You can't go wrong with a good ol' fashioned vanilla server with just a whitelist. Keep it simple. The less you have to manage, the less can go wrong.

Hey, I'm kinda new to all this too. Was thinking of doing the same for my niece. Following for advice.

Are you sure you're up for this? Running a server can be complex. You need to be ready to deal with constant updates and possible security issues. If you're not tech-savvy, you might be better off finding a kid-friendly public server with an active admin team.

To ensure a family-friendly environment, consider 'ChatControl' to filter out bad language, or 'NoCursing' if you prefer simplicity. 'AntiXRay' is good to discourage cheating. If you're worried about privacy, have parents set up the kids' Minecraft accounts with non-identifying usernames. You could also set up a Discord server for communication, this way you won't need to share any personal contact details. The best part? All this can be controlled from your Discord app!

idk too much about the techie side but I use Minehut for my server, its free and pretty simple, might be worth checking out since it deals with a lot of backend stuff for u.

Make sure to grab Spigot or Paper as your server software for better performance and plugin support. For plugins, 'LuckPerms' is great for managing permissions without a headache, and 'CoreProtect' will let you rollback any mischief. Give kids 'member' roles with just enough permissions to play and have fun. As for connecting, use a dynamic DNS service so they don't need your IP, just a friendly URL!

Hey! Parent of two Minecraft fanatics here 😄. Setting up a whitelist is definitely the way to go to keep things locked down to just friends. You can manage this directly from the server files or through in-game commands if you're an op. As for safety, go for plugins like GriefPrevention to stop unwanted building or breaking, and EssentialsX for overall better management of the server. Make sure to keep the server address private, just between the parents, and you should be golden!