An allocation is an address and a port your service is allowed to listen on. Your server has one for the game. Anything else that accepts a connection from outside needs its own, and that is a smaller list than people expect.
What needs its own allocation
| Thing | Needs one? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The Minecraft server | Yes — you already have it | This is your main allocation. |
| Geyser for Bedrock | Yes | Bedrock uses UDP and listens separately. |
| A web map | Yes | It serves a website on its own port. |
| A vote listener | Yes | List sites connect to it directly. |
| A proxy in front of backends | Yes, for the proxy | It is the address players connect to. |
| A plugin that only talks outward | No | Making connections needs no allocation. Accepting them does. |
The distinction that decides it
If something on the internet needs to start a conversation with your service, it needs an allocation to knock on. If your service is the one starting the conversation — fetching an update, posting to a webhook, querying an API — it needs nothing at all. That single question answers almost every «do I need another port?».
Editing server-port to a number outside your allocations means the server cannot bind, and it crash-loops at startup. The port in the panel is the port; if you need another, add the allocation rather than picking a number.
Adding one
- Create the allocation in the Network tab
That is where the addresses and ports your service may use are listed.
- Point the software at it
Geyser, the map plugin or the vote listener each have a port setting in their own config. The allocation makes it possible; the config makes it happen.
- Restart and confirm it is listening
The console should say what it bound to. A silent start with nothing listening usually means the port is already in use by something else you configured.
- Hand out the right address for the right thing
Bedrock players get the Geyser port, list sites get the vote port, and nobody needs to know either unless they are using that thing.
Every port that accepts connections is something that can be probed. If you stop using a web map or a vote listener, removing the allocation is a thirty-second cleanup that leaves less of you exposed.