diff --git a/init/msm b/init/msm
index ba66ad1..ab00d39 100755
--- a/init/msm
+++ b/init/msm
@@ -1301,15 +1301,19 @@ server_create() {
 		else
 			printf "Creating server directory... "
 			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "mkdir -p '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1'"
-			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "touch '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_WHITELIST_PATH'"
-			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "touch '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_BANNED_IPS_PATH'"
-			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "touch '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH'"
-			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "touch '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_OPS_PATH'"
+			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo '[]' > '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_WHITELIST_PATH'"
+			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo '[]' > '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_BANNED_IPS_PATH'"
+			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo '[]' > '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH'"
+			as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo '[]' > '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_OPS_PATH'"
 
 			# Set default ops users as appropriate
+			# Adding usernames to ops.txt means on first startup minecraft server will
+			# fetch UUIDs for the users and add them to ops.json in the correct format.
+			# Relying on minecraft server to convert isn't ideal in the long term since
+			# it could deprecate the conversion.
 			if [ ! -z "$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_OPS_LIST" ]; then
 				IFS=","; for default_ops_user in $SETTINGS_DEFAULT_OPS_LIST; do
-					as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo $default_ops_user | tr -d ' ' >> '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/$SETTINGS_DEFAULT_OPS_PATH'"
+					as_user "$SETTINGS_USERNAME" "echo $default_ops_user | tr -d ' ' >> '$SETTINGS_SERVER_STORAGE_PATH/$1/ops.txt'"
 				done
 			fi
 
@@ -2776,14 +2780,7 @@ command_server_whitelist_add() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is now whitelisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" WHITELIST_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			if ! grep "^$player\$" "${SERVER_WHITELIST_PATH[$1]}" >/dev/null; then
-				echo "$player" >> "${SERVER_WHITELIST_PATH[$1]}"
-				echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is now whitelisted."
-			fi
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2798,12 +2795,7 @@ command_server_whitelist_remove() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is no longer whitelisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" WHITELIST_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			sed -ri "/^$player\$/d" "${SERVER_WHITELIST_PATH[$1]}"
-			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is no longer whitelisted."
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2835,14 +2827,7 @@ command_server_blacklist_player_add() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is now blacklisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			if ! grep "^$player\$" "${SERVER_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH[$1]}" >/dev/null; then
-				echo "$player" >> "${SERVER_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH[$1]}"
-				echo "Player $player is now blacklisted."
-			fi
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2856,12 +2841,7 @@ command_server_blacklist_player_remove() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is no longer blacklisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			sed -ri "/^$player\$/d" "${SERVER_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH[$1]}"
-			echo "Player $player is no longer blacklisted."
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2875,14 +2855,7 @@ command_server_blacklist_ip_add() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "IP address $address is now blacklisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" BANNED_IPS_PATH
-
-		for address in "${@:2}"; do
-			if ! grep "^$address\$" "${SERVER_BANNED_IPS_PATH[$1]}" >/dev/null; then
-				echo "$address" >> "${SERVER_BANNED_IPS_PATH[$1]}"
-				echo "IP address $address is now blacklisted."
-			fi
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2896,12 +2869,7 @@ command_server_blacklist_ip_remove() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "IP address $address is no longer blacklisted."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH
-
-		for address in "${@:2}"; do
-			sed -ri "/^$address\$/d" "${SERVER_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH[$1]}"
-			echo "IP address $address is no longer blacklisted."
-		done
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2951,24 +2919,7 @@ command_server_operator_add() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is now an operator."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" OPS_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			if ! grep "^$player\$" "${SERVER_OPS_PATH[$1]}" >/dev/null; then
-				echo "$player" >> "${SERVER_OPS_PATH[$1]}"
-			fi
-		done
-	fi
-
-	if [[ $# -gt 2 ]]; then
-		echo -n "The following players are now operators: "
-		echo -n "$2"
-		for player in "${@:3}"; do
-		 	echo -n ", $player"
-		done
-		echo "."
-	else
-		echo "\"$2\" is now an operator."
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -2983,24 +2934,7 @@ command_server_operator_remove() {
 			echo_fallback "$RETURN" "Player $player is no longer an operator."
 		done
 	else
-		server_property "$1" OPS_PATH
-
-		for player in "${@:2}"; do
-			for player in "${@:2}"; do
-				sed -ri "/^$player\$/d" "${SERVER_OPS_PATH[$1]}"
-			done
-		done
-	fi
-
-	if [[ $# -gt 2 ]]; then
-		echo -n "The following players are no longer operators: "
-		echo -n "$2"
-		for player in "${@:3}"; do
-		 	echo -n ", $player"
-		done
-		echo "."
-	else
-		echo "\"$2\" is no longer an operator."
+		error_exit SERVER_STOPPED "Server \"${SERVER_NAME[$1]}\" is not running."
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -3304,10 +3238,10 @@ register_settings() {
 	register_server_setting WORLD_STORAGE_PATH "worldstorage"
 	register_server_setting WORLD_STORAGE_INACTIVE_PATH "worldstorage_inactive"
 	register_server_setting LOG_PATH "server.log"
-	register_server_setting WHITELIST_PATH "white-list.txt"
-	register_server_setting BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH "banned-players.txt"
-	register_server_setting BANNED_IPS_PATH "banned-ips.txt"
-	register_server_setting OPS_PATH "ops.txt"
+	register_server_setting WHITELIST_PATH "whitelist.json"
+	register_server_setting BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH "banned-players.json"
+	register_server_setting BANNED_IPS_PATH "banned-ips.json"
+	register_server_setting OPS_PATH "ops.json"
 	register_server_setting OPS_LIST ""
 	register_server_setting JAR_PATH "server.jar"
 
diff --git a/msm.conf b/msm.conf
index a58c98b..3306178 100644
--- a/msm.conf
+++ b/msm.conf
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ DEFAULT_COMPLETE_BACKUP_FOLLOW_SYMLINKS="false"
 # server directory
 DEFAULT_LOG_PATH="logs/latest.log"
 DEFAULT_PROPERTIES_PATH="server.properties"
-DEFAULT_WHITELIST_PATH="white-list.txt"
-DEFAULT_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH="banned-players.txt"
-DEFAULT_BANNED_IPS_PATH="banned-ips.txt"
-DEFAULT_OPS_PATH="ops.txt"
+DEFAULT_WHITELIST_PATH="whitelist.json"
+DEFAULT_BANNED_PLAYERS_PATH="banned-players.json"
+DEFAULT_BANNED_IPS_PATH="banned-ips.json"
+DEFAULT_OPS_PATH="ops.json"
 
 # List of comma-separated users that are added by default to ops.txt on server
 # creation.