diff --git a/script/init.sh b/script/init.sh
index cfae952..013f883 100755
--- a/script/init.sh
+++ b/script/init.sh
@@ -13,18 +13,6 @@ chmod 600 .ssh/proxy
 echo "$SCHEMATIC_KEY" > .ssh/id_rsa
 ssh-keyscan github.com >> .ssh/known_hosts
 
-# Make certain files read-only
-
-echo "[]" > banned-ips.json
-echo "[]" > banned-players.json
-echo "[]" > ops.json
-echo "[]" > whitelist.json
-
-chmod 400 banned-ips.json
-chmod 400 banned-players.json
-chmod 400 ops.json
-chmod 400 whitelist.json
-
 # Run scripts for starting the Minecraft server, reverse proxy and schematic
 # checker in the background
 
diff --git a/script/server.sh b/script/server.sh
index 298027f..9829b8f 100755
--- a/script/server.sh
+++ b/script/server.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,21 @@
 # The alive checker and Minecraft server is started at the same time. For performance reasons, the
 # OpenJ9 JVM is used instead of Java's default Hotspot JVM.
 
-chmod -R 500 $HOME/plugins/bStats/ $HOME/plugins/PluginMetrics/
+mkdir -p $HOME/plugins/Essentials/userdata/
+chmod -R 500 $HOME/plugins/bStats/ $HOME/plugins/Essentials/userdata/ $HOME/plugins/PluginMetrics/
+
+# Make certain files read-only
+
+echo "[]" > banned-ips.json
+echo "[]" > banned-players.json
+echo "[]" > ops.json
+echo "[]" > whitelist.json
+
+chmod 400 banned-ips.json
+chmod 400 banned-players.json
+chmod 400 ops.json
+chmod 400 whitelist.json
+
 dtach -n alivecheck $HOME/script/alivecheck.sh
 
 while true; do