SteelMC

Spec sheet

Product

Steel is a Minecraft Java Edition server implementation written in Rust targeting Minecraft 26.2.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Intended users

The project presents itself as serving Minecraft server administrators and developers building tools or contributing to server software.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Audience

Steel is documented for server administrators seeking performance and reliability and for developers contributing to server software.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Security

Steel uses Rust and its memory-safety guarantees; the docs say memory-safe code means fewer crashes and exploits.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Support

The project directs users and contributors to its Discord community and GitHub repository.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

License

SteelMC is free software licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 or later.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Available binaries

Pre-built binaries are listed for Linux x86_64, Windows x86_64, and macOS ARM.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Benchmark

In a focused benchmark, Steel generated 10,201 chunks in a median 3.95 seconds versus 74.42 seconds for Fabric.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Binary platforms

Pre-built binaries are provided for Linux x86_64, Windows x86_64 and macOS ARM.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Community support

The project links to Discord for community updates and contributor support.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Current status

Steel is under active development at version 0.15.3 and remains pre-alpha.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Development tools

Optional build features include deadlock detection for debugging and heap profiling with dhat.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Docker limitation

Steel does not publish a latest Docker tag, and its nightly tag is intended for testing rather than production.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Docker tags

Steel does not publish a latest Docker tag; the nightly tag may contain unfixed bugs and is not recommended for production.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Installation

Steel can be installed from pre-built binaries, Docker, Pelican or Pterodactyl egg configurations, or by compiling from source.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Installation options

Steel can be installed from a pre-built binary, Docker, a server-panel egg, or a source build.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Panel support

Pelican and Pterodactyl egg entries are marked Coming Soon in the installation guide.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Performance design

Steel uses Rust memory-safety guarantees, lock-free data structures and efficient concurrency.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Performance goals

The project targets performance, reliability, and a clean developer experience, using lock-free data structures and efficient concurrency.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Plugin status

Steel does not currently have plugins, and Paper, Bukkit, Fabric, Forge and NeoForge extensions are incompatible.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Project status

Steel is under active development and is described as pre-alpha.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Server panel support

The installation guide describes eggs for Pelican and Pterodactyl, while listing both as coming soon in the supported stores.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Supported features

Current features include Java Edition client networking, Mojang authentication and encryption, world generation, chunk persistence, block interactions, player movement, signed chat, inventories, entities, and block entities.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Supported systems

Steel supports Java Edition TCP networking, Mojang authentication and encryption, Zlib compression, world generation, chunk persistence, block interaction, movement validation, signed chat, inventories, entities and block entities.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Vanilla parity

The docs state that world generation has 100% vanilla parity, checked over 2,500 chunks in all dimensions.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

What it is

Steel is a Minecraft Java Edition server implementation written in Rust, targeting Minecraft 26.2.Read 30 Sep 2026 · steelmc.dev

Where Specifiction places it

• Minecraft Server Software#21 of 257.1