How to make a Minecraft Manhunt server

A Manhunt server is a Minecraft server where one or more runners try to beat the game while the hunters chase them with compasses that point at the nearest runner. On JetRift you make one by choosing Manhunt, naming it, and sending your friends the address. It takes about ninety seconds, with no downloads, no port forwarding and no monthly fee. It runs Minecraft 26.2 on Java Edition.

What Manhunt actually is

One side is running for the End. The other side is trying to stop them. The runners win by killing the Ender Dragon; the hunters win when every runner is out.

The hunters carry a compass that points at the nearest living runner and updates every second. Across dimensions a compass cannot point at anything useful, so instead of a needle that quietly lies, hunters are told which world the runner is in.

Setting up a chase

Create a Manhunt world and send your friends the address.
Give out roles in game with /manhunt runner Name and /manhunt hunter Name, or from the panel on the website.
Choose a head start. Thirty seconds is enough to get out of sight; two minutes makes a longer game.
Run /manhunt start. The runners leave, the hunters wait, then the compasses come alive.

How long a chase takes

A confident runner who knows the speedrun can finish in twenty to forty minutes. A chase where the hunters keep landing hits can go well past an hour, because dying is a setback rather than the end while any runner is still alive.

A runner who dies and respawns is back in the chase. The hunters only win when the last one is out, so a team of three takes real work to eliminate.

What it costs

Nothing while JetRift is in early access. No credit card, three worlds per account, and a hundred hours a month across all of them. The world sleeps when nobody is on it and wakes up when somebody joins.

Make one now. Free, no card, and about ninety seconds from here to an address you can send your friends.

Start a world

Common questions

Do my friends need to install anything?

No. Manhunt runs entirely on the server. Everybody joins with ordinary Minecraft Java Edition and needs nothing but the address.

Can we have more than one runner?

Yes. Give the runner role to as many people as you like. The hunters win only when every runner is out, so more runners makes a longer chase.

What happens if a runner dies?

They respawn and carry on. It is a setback, not an elimination, until they are the last runner standing.

Can I change the head start after a chase has started?

You can change it from the panel at any time, but it applies to the next chase. A chase already running keeps the head start it began with.