Server Console

When you run SteelMC in a terminal, the console doubles as a command line. Log output scrolls above an input line where you can type commands, which run as the console sender. Console commands bypass player permission checks.

Stopping the Server

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+C`	Shut down gracefully once the input line is empty
`Ctrl+Q`	Shut down gracefully, whatever is on the input line

Ctrl+C checks these cases in order:

If text is selected, it copies the selection.
If the input line has text, it clears the line.
If the input line is empty, it shuts the server down.

To stop the server while typing a command, press Ctrl+C twice or Ctrl+Q once.

The stop command also shuts the server down. Every route goes through the same graceful shutdown, which saves world and player data before the process exits. The console also writes its command history to disk at this point.

Signals

SteelMC also shuts down gracefully when the operating system asks it to stop. That covers running it as a service, in Docker, or without an interactive terminal.

Platform	Handled signals
Unix	`SIGINT`, `SIGTERM`, `SIGHUP`
Windows	`Ctrl+C`, `Ctrl+Break`, closing the console window, logoff, system shutdown

Only the first signal starts a shutdown. Later signals are ignored until the save finishes, so a second Ctrl+C will not cut the save short.

Editing the Input Line

Shortcut	Action
`Enter`	Run the current command
`Left` / `Right`	Move the cursor
`Home` / `End`	Jump to the start or end of the line
`Backspace` / `Delete`	Delete the character before or after the cursor
`Insert`	Toggle overwrite mode (block cursor while active)
`Esc`	Clear the input line

Selecting and Copying

Shortcut	Action
`Shift+Left` / `Shift+Right`	Grow or shrink the selection one character at a time
`Shift+Home`	Select from the cursor to the start of the line
`Shift+End`	Select from the cursor to the end of the line
`Ctrl+A`	Select the whole line
`Ctrl+C`	Copy the selection
`Ctrl+X`	Cut the selection

Typing, Backspace, or Delete with an active selection replaces or removes the selected text. Pressing Left or Right clears the selection and moves the cursor to its start or end.

Copying uses the OSC 52 terminal escape sequence, so it only works in terminals that support it, such as kitty, WezTerm, Alacritty, iTerm2, and Windows Terminal. Some terminals and multiplexers like tmux need OSC 52 clipboard access turned on. To paste, use your terminal’s usual paste shortcut.

Command History

Shortcut	Action
`Up` / `Ctrl+P`	Previous command
`Down` / `Ctrl+N`	Next command
`Ctrl+R`	Search history

History is saved to history.txt inside the log directory (log.log_path, default ./.logs) and persists across restarts. The console keeps the last log.max_history commands (default 50).

Reverse Search

Press Ctrl+R to search your history backwards, like in Bash. The prompt changes to show what you are searching for:

(reverse-i-search)`give': give @s diamond 64

As you type, the input line shows the newest command that contains your query, with the matching part highlighted. If nothing matches, the prompt says failed reverse-i-search and the last match stays on screen.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+R`	Jump to the next older match
`Backspace`	Remove the last character from the query
`Enter`	Run the matched command
`Tab`	Keep the match on the input line so you can edit it
`Esc` / `Ctrl+C` / `Ctrl+G`	Cancel the search and restore the line you had before

Other keys, such as the arrow keys or Home, also keep the match and then do their usual action. After you take a match, Up and Down continue through the history from that command.

Command Completion

Press Tab to show suggestions for the command you are typing. While suggestions are open:

Shortcut	Action
`Up` / `Ctrl+P`	Highlight the previous suggestion
`Down` / `Ctrl+N`	Highlight the next suggestion
`Tab`	Insert the highlighted suggestion and close the list

The list updates as you type or move the cursor.

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