How to Make a Minecraft Server

There are three ways to make a Minecraft server, and the right one depends on who's playing and for how long. This guide covers all three properly, including modded servers, which work differently enough to need their own section.

• On your own PC: free, works in an evening, but the server is only online while your computer is, and letting friends in from outside your network means port forwarding.
• On a free host: no setup, no cost, but servers sleep when idle, worlds get deleted after inactivity, and mod support is limited.
• On a paid host: runs 24/7 whether you're online or not, no router configuration, and modpacks install in one click. Costs roughly the price of a coffee per month for a small server.

To make a Minecraft Java server on your own PC: install Java 21, download server.jar from minecraft.net, run it once to generate the files, open eula.txt and change eula=false to eula=true, then run it again. Players on your home network can join immediately using your local IP. Players outside it need port 25565 forwarded on your router, or a hosted server.

The two editions run different server software, and which one you need is decided by whichever edition your players already own.

Java and Bedrock are separate servers and separate software. They do not merge. You can, however, let Bedrock players onto a Java server with a plugin, covered in the crossplay section below.

RAM is not a speed dial. It sets how much world the server can hold in memory at once: loaded chunks, the entities inside them, and your mod or plugin list. Adding RAM to a laggy server usually does not help, because tick processing is largely single-threaded and bound by CPU speed instead. Our Minecraft RAM calculator sizes it from your player count and server type.

Rough floors, assuming around 20 concurrent players:

Free, and the best way to understand what a server actually is. Good for a weekend world with a few friends.

Minecraft 1.20.5 and newer require Java 21. Download it from Adoptium, then confirm the install with the command below. If it prints 21.x.x you're set. An older version is the single most common reason a server refuses to start.

Get server.jar from the official Minecraft server download page. Put it in its own empty folder, because the server will generate a dozen files next to it and you don't want those loose in your Downloads folder.

Open a terminal in that folder and run the command below. It will stop immediately with a message about the EULA. That is expected.

In that command -Xmx4G is the maximum heap. Set it to the RAM you're willing to give the server, and leave at least 2 GB for your operating system: with 8 GB total, don't allocate more than 4 to 6 GB.

Open eula.txt, change eula=false to eula=true, and save the file.

Run the same command again. The first launch generates the world and takes a few minutes. When you see Done (x.xxxs)! For help, type "help", the server is live.

On your own network, players join with your computer's local IP (192.168.x.x), which you can find with "ipconfig" on Windows or "ifconfig" on macOS and Linux.

Outside your network, you need to forward port 25565 (TCP) to your computer in your router settings, then give friends your public IP. This is where most people get stuck, and these four problems are the entire reason paid hosting exists:

• Many ISPs use CGNAT, which means port forwarding simply cannot work on your connection.
• Your public IP usually changes, so the address you gave friends stops working.
• You're exposing a port on your home network to the internet.
• The server dies when your PC sleeps, updates, or you close the window.

Edit server.properties to change the basics. Of these, view-distance has a bigger performance impact than almost anything else: dropping it from 10 to 8 meaningfully reduces the chunks each player keeps loaded.

Free hosts like Aternos and Minehut cost nothing and need no setup. They are genuinely useful for trying an idea out. The trade-offs are consistent across all of them:

• The server sleeps when empty and has to be started again, which takes a few minutes while everyone waits.
• Inactive worlds get deleted, typically after a few weeks.
• You queue for resources at busy times.
• Modpack support is limited, and large packs often will not run at all.
• You don't control the hardware, so tick rate varies with whatever else is on the machine.

If you're testing whether your friends will actually play, start free. If people are building things they'd be upset to lose, move.

A hosted server runs 24/7 on hardware built for it, with a fixed address, no router configuration, and no exposure of your home network.

What actually matters when choosing one, covered in depth in our buyer's checklist for Minecraft hosts:

• Single-thread CPU speed, not core count. Minecraft's tick loop is largely single-threaded, so a fast modern core beats a many-core server chip. Every CraftLands Minecraft server runs on the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X for this reason.
• NVMe storage, because chunk loading is disk-bound with a large mod list.
• Location, because ping is set by physical distance. Pick the region closest to most of your players.
• DDoS protection, which matters the moment your server IP is public and someone takes a dislike to it.
• Real backups, so a corrupted world isn't the end of the project.

Pricing is normally per GB of RAM. Ours is a flat €2.50 per GB per month, so a 4 GB server is €10 and an 8 GB server is €20. Full tiers are on the pricing page.

Setup is: pick a plan, pick a location, and the server is running in under a minute. No Java install, no eula.txt, no port forwarding.

Modded is where most people get stuck, because a modded server needs the same mod loader, same loader version, and same mod list as every client connecting to it. A mismatch anywhere and players get kicked at login.

You cannot mix them. A Forge pack needs a Forge server, and NeoForge is not a drop-in replacement despite the name.

Six steps, and two of them are where it goes wrong: copying the config folder across, and making sure every player runs the identical pack version.

1. Download the installer for your loader and the exact version your pack targets.
2. Run it in server mode to produce the server files.
3. Drop the pack's mods into /mods.
4. Copy the pack's config folder across. Skipping this causes the strangest bugs.
5. Raise your RAM allocation. A 200-mod pack will not run in 4 GB.
6. Every player installs the identical pack version through CurseForge, Modrinth, or the Prism launcher.

On CraftLands, modpacks install with their loader before first boot, and update from the panel when a new version ships. We keep setup pages for the packs people run most:

Large kitchen-sink packs: All the Mods 10, All the Mods 9, Enigmatica 6, Craftoria

RPG and adventure: RLCraft, DawnCraft, Vault Hunters, Better MC, Prominence II, Rebirth of the Night

Creature collection: Pixelmon, Cobblemon

Tech and skyblock: Create: Above and Beyond, SkyFactory 4, StoneBlock 3, Project Ozone 3

The full modpack library has all 33, and any pack from CurseForge or Modrinth can be installed even without its own page. See installing a custom modpack.

Already have a server? How to install a Minecraft modpack walks through the panel.

Java and Bedrock can't normally join the same server. The Geyser plugin bridges them, translating Bedrock connections into something a Java server understands, so console and mobile players can join a Java world.

It isn't flawless. Some mods and custom items behave unpredictably through the translation layer, but for vanilla and plugin servers it works well.

The setup is the easy part. Keeping a server worth playing on takes a few more pieces:

• Install plugins: plugins need Paper or Spigot, not the vanilla jar.
• Set up ranks and permissions with LuckPerms: the moment more than a few people play, you'll want control over who can do what.
• Configure automatic backups: do this before you need it, not after.
• Pre-generate your world: generating chunks as players explore is a common cause of lag spikes, and generating them ahead of time removes it.
• Add a subuser: give a co-admin access without handing over your account.
• Connect over SFTP: for bulk file edits the panel isn't suited to.
• Change your server version: when a new Minecraft release lands.

"Failed to start" immediately. Almost always the wrong Java version. Minecraft 1.20.5+ needs Java 21.

Friends can't connect from outside your network. Port 25565 isn't forwarded, or your ISP uses CGNAT and it can't be. Test your public IP from mobile data rather than your home wifi.

"Outdated server" or "outdated client". Client and server versions differ. On modded, this usually means a mod list or loader version mismatch instead.

The server lags with RAM to spare. A CPU or world-design problem, not a memory one. Check tick time before adding RAM: if a tick takes longer than 50 ms, the server falls behind no matter how much memory is free. Minecraft performance mods covers the mods that genuinely help.

Modded server crashes on startup. Read the crash log from the bottom up and look for the first mod name. It's usually a missing dependency or a config folder that wasn't copied.

Nothing on your own PC beyond electricity. Free hosts cost nothing but sleep when idle and delete inactive worlds. Paid hosting is usually priced per GB of RAM: at CraftLands that is €2.50 per GB per month, so a 4 GB server suitable for around 12 players is €10 a month.

Around 6 GB for 20 players on vanilla or Paper, 8 GB on Fabric, and 12 GB for a Forge or NeoForge modpack. Bedrock is lighter at about 4 GB. The RAM calculator sizes it for your specific setup.

Yes, on your own PC, or on a free host like Aternos. Both work. The limits are uptime and world retention rather than cost.

Only when hosting on your own hardware and letting people in from outside your home network. Hosted servers come with a public address already.

Not by default, but Geyser bridges them onto a Java server.

More a function of RAM and CPU than any setting. As a rough guide, each additional player pulls their own column of chunks into memory, roughly 0.2 GB each once the base cost is covered. Players exploring in opposite directions cost far more than players standing together.

If you're setting up on your own PC, start at Method 1 and give yourself an evening.

If you want it online whether or not your computer is, our Minecraft server hosting starts at €10 a month, and modpacks install before first boot. Not sure what size you need? The RAM calculator will tell you in about thirty seconds.