# How to Schedule Automatic Server Restarts

> Restart your server automatically every day, or every few hours, with a schedule.

Source: https://www.beaconhosting.org/knowledgebase/how-to-schedule-automatic-server-restarts-on-the-games-panel
Category: Minecraft
Last updated: 2026-10-22

Regular restarts keep a server running smoothly, especially with mods or many plugins.

## Create a restart schedule

1. Open your server and click **Schedules** in the sidebar.
2. Create a schedule and give it a **Schedule Name**, such as "Daily restart".
3. Choose when it runs:
   - **Use Preset**: pick one such as **Daily** or **Every 6 hours**; or
   - **Custom Cron**: enter a cron expression, for example `0 5 * * *` for 05:00 every day (times are UTC).
4. Turn on **Only when online** if it should only run while the server is running.
5. Make sure it's **Enabled** and save.

## Add the tasks

Open the schedule and add each step with **New Task**:

1. **Send Command**: `say Restarting in 1 minute!`
2. **Power Action**: **Restart**, with a **Time Offset** of `60` seconds.

Tasks run in order; the offset is the wait after the task before it.

> [!TIP]
> Add a **Create Backup** task before the restart to get a daily backup too.

## Restart only when empty

Schedules can't check how many players are online. Pick a quiet time instead, and warn players with a `say` command first.