How To Disable Watchdog - Minecraft

If your Minecraft server keeps shutting down with watchdog errors, you’re not alone. The Watchdog system is designed to protect servers by forcing a shutdown whenever a single tick takes too long, but on modded setups or heavy worlds, it can trigger false alarms.

The result? Crashes, frustration, and interrupted gameplay. Disabling or adjusting the watchdog can be a useful workaround, giving your server breathing room without constant interruptions.

In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to disable Minecraft’s watchdog safely and discuss:

• Editing the server.properties

• Preventing world corruption

• When disabling is (and isn’t) a good idea

What Is Server Watchdog?

The server watchdog in a Minecraft server is a monitoring system that checks if a single server tick takes too long to process. If the game loop freezes and one tick exceeds the set max tick time value, it will generate a server crash report, and the server will forcibly shutdown to prevent world corruption.

Disabling The Watchdog In a Minecraft Server

To disable the server watchdog, you need to change the max tick time option:

• Open your Apollo Panel

• Head over to the Files tab

• Navigate to the `server.properties`

• Locate the line `max-tick-time=`

• Change it to `max-tick-time=-1`

• Click on Save Content

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Updated on: 09/09/2025