Hide MiniMOTD player-name hover details while keeping honest counts

The player-count hover can reveal names to people who have not joined. You can review that exposure independently from the displayed total, rather than replacing names with an inflated online figure.

Prepare the test

Test the address players use in their multiplayer list. A proxy can answer its own status request, so changing the backend file may leave the public listing unchanged.

Make the change

1. Inspect the public listing with a cooperating player online and record the hover response and counts. Decide whether your policy hides names only or hides the numeric count too, since those are separate choices.
2. Preserve main.conf and review the installed player-count-settings section against the official template. The documented disable-player-list-hover and hide-player-count options have different visible effects; select the one matching your privacy goal.
3. Review fake-player and maximum-count modifications already configured. Leave population inflation disabled and do not present a display-only maximum as a resource upgrade or a promise that the service supports more concurrent players.
4. Apply the narrow change and refresh from a separate Minecraft client. Inspect the hover result, compare the visible total with actual connected players and check the normal server description still renders as expected.

Check the result

The listing should reveal only the intended public information and avoid misleading population claims. Test after an ordinary player joins and leaves so you see how the chosen count behaviour responds to a real change.

If the test fails

Restore the saved section if the count disappears when you meant to hide names only. If names still appear, identify another status plugin or proxy answering the request before changing player records or disabling normal game joining.

This controls one status response, not every source of player information. Review separate websites, Discord announcements or query features if your community policy also restricts those ways of publishing who is online.

References and related help

Check the official MiniMOTD documentation against your installed release before using a command or setting from another version.

• Customise the Minecraft server list with MiniMOTD
• Update Paper, Purpur and plugins safely