Start, stop and use the live console

The Console tab combines live output with a command field. Start and stop controls depend on the server state; kill is an emergency control.

Step by step

Choose Start when offline and wait for startup to complete.
Send a command such as say hi in the command field. The displayed > / prefix is part of the interface, not a second command.
Use the arrow keys for earlier commands. Player-name completion uses sampled online players, not a complete Minecraft command dictionary.
Select Info, Warning or Error to filter the display. Use wrap or wide mode as needed.
Use Stop or Restart for a clean shutdown. Use Kill only when the normal stop does not complete.

say hi

Look for the command response in the log. Clearing the console view does not repair an error or delete your server log files.

Kill can interrupt world saving and lose recent changes.