There are three real ways to host a Minecraft server: run it yourself on your own PC for free, use a free hosting site like Aternos, or pay a third-party host a few dollars a month to run it on their hardware instead. Whichever path you pick, you’ll need the same three things to actually get it running — the right server software, a Java version that matches your Minecraft version, and enough RAM to keep it stable. This guide walks through how to set up a Minecraft server start to finish: choosing your path, picking your software, sizing your hardware, and getting friends connected.

A few things worth knowing before you pick a path:

  • Self-hosting and free hosts cost nothing; paid hosting typically starts around $2.50–$5/month for a small server.
  • Java Edition and Bedrock Edition use different server software and different network ports — they’re not interchangeable.
  • The current Java Edition server (Minecraft 26.x) requires Java 25. Older Java installs won’t run it.
  • However you host it, RAM is the resource that actually limits how many players and how much you can run.

Step 1: Pick How You’re Going to Host It

Each hosting path trades cost for convenience differently, and the right one depends on your budget and how much setup you’re willing to do yourself.

Self-hosting on your own PC is completely free and gives you full control, but your PC has to stay on the whole time the server needs to be joinable, and your home upload bandwidth becomes the bottleneck once a few players are active. It’s the right call for casual play with 1–4 friends who are usually online at the same time as you. If you want the full step-by-step — including port forwarding and what to do if your ISP blocks it — our guide to making a free Minecraft server covers that in depth.

Free hosting sites like Aternos run the server on their hardware at no cost, in exchange for going offline when nobody’s playing and a queue when you start it back up. This is the better fit if you don’t want to leave a PC running but don’t mind waiting a minute for the server to wake up.

Paying for third-party hosting runs the server on a host’s hardware 24/7 regardless of whether your own PC is on, through a web control panel instead of router settings. It’s the right call once you want guaranteed uptime, more than a handful of regular players, or you’d just rather not deal with networking. If you’re still weighing this decision in more detail, our PC vs. third-party hosting breakdown goes deeper on exactly when the switch is worth it.

Step 2: Choose Your Server Software

This decision applies no matter which of the three paths you picked, and it’s the one most guides skip past too quickly.

  • Vanilla is Mojang’s official, unmodified server software. It’s the simplest option and the most “authentic” experience, but it has very few performance optimizations and no plugin support.
  • Paper is the most common default for survival servers and communities in 2026. It’s compatible with the same plugins as the older Spigot/Bukkit ecosystem, patches a long list of vanilla bugs, and runs noticeably smoother under load — most people who’d otherwise pick vanilla are better served by Paper instead, even with zero plugins installed.
  • Forge, NeoForge, and Fabric are mod loaders, not plugin platforms — you need one of these if you’re running actual gameplay mods rather than server-side plugins. NeoForge has become the default for new modded servers on modern versions, Forge remains necessary for older modpacks, and Fabric is the lighter, faster-updating option popular for performance mods.

If you’re not running mods, Paper is the safest starting point. If you are, your modpack’s instructions will usually tell you which loader it needs.

Step 3: Size Your Hardware (RAM, CPU, and Storage)

Hardware requirements scale with player count and what you’re running, not with how “powerful” your setup feels like it should be.

  • RAM: 2GB is a realistic floor for a small vanilla server with 1–5 players. 4–8GB covers 10–30 players or a moderately sized modpack. Large communities or heavy modpacks need 8GB or more.
  • CPU: Minecraft is mostly single-threaded, so clock speed per core matters more than total core count — a fast 4-core CPU will usually outperform a slower 8-core one.
  • Storage: An SSD (ideally NVMe) is worth prioritizing over a traditional hard drive. World files, plugins/mods, and backups all add up faster than people expect, and backups specifically can double or triple your real storage need.

If you’re self-hosting, this is about whether your existing PC can handle it. If you’re paying for hosting, this is what you’re actually choosing a plan size around.

Step 4: Set Up and Launch Your Server

The exact steps differ depending on which path you picked in Step 1.

If you’re self-hosting:

  1. Download the official server software from Mojang’s server page — not a third-party mirror.
  2. Give it its own folder, then run it once. The first run generates eula.txt and server.properties and then shuts itself down — that’s expected.
  3. Open eula.txt and change eula=false to eula=true. The server won’t run at all without this.
  4. Edit server.properties if you want to change the defaults (difficulty, game mode, max players).
  5. Run the server again. This time it stays running, with a console for commands.
  6. Set up port forwarding on your router so people outside your home network can connect — Java uses TCP port 25565, Bedrock Edition uses UDP 19132–19133. Hostinger’s port forwarding walkthrough covers the router-side steps, and if your ISP uses CGNAT (port forwarding genuinely can’t work in that case), a tunneling tool like playit.gg routes around it entirely.

If you’re using a paid host: sign up, pick a plan sized to Step 3, and the server typically provisions itself in a couple of minutes. From there you manage everything through a web control panel — usually Pterodactyl or Multicraft — where you set your RAM allocation and game mode, upload or install plugins/mods through a file manager, and start the server with a button instead of a terminal command. No port forwarding, since the server isn’t running on your network. The panel gives you an IP and port immediately.

If you’re using a free host: create an account, choose your edition and server type (vanilla or a supported plugin/mod loader), and the platform provisions a server on shared hardware. Same idea as paid hosting’s control panel, just with usage limits and a queue when the server’s been idle.

Step 5: Get Your Friends Connected

Once the server is running, share the IP address (and port, if it’s not the default) with whoever you want to invite. In Minecraft, that’s Multiplayer → Add Server, entering the address as youraddress:25565 for Java or the IP plus port for Bedrock. If you’re self-hosting, a free tool like canyouseeme.org can confirm the port is actually reachable before you tell anyone to try joining.

Going Beyond Vanilla Survival

Once the base server is online, a lot of people want more than plain survival — Bedwars, Skyblock, a PvP arena, that sort of thing. Doing that properly normally means hunting down the right plugin for each gamemode, configuring it, and building or finding a world to run it on — then repeating that for every gamemode you want, on top of everything in Steps 1–4.

A premade package like Oak Network skips that part: it bundles ten of the most popular gamemodes — Survival, Skyblock, Duels, Bedwars, and six more — into one pre-themed, pre-linked setup. The $19.99 Basic package alone covers six of them, including Duels, Bedwars, Skywars, The Bridge, Build Battle, and TnT Run, with Survival and Skyblock available separately if you want those too. It drops onto whichever hosting path you picked in Step 1 the same way any other server files would.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to port forward to host a Minecraft server? Only if you’re self-hosting on your own PC. Paid and free hosting providers run on their own network, so there’s no router configuration involved at all.

How much RAM do I actually need? 2GB is enough for a small vanilla server with a few friends; budget 4–8GB if you’re running plugins or a moderate modpack, and 8GB+ for a large or heavily modded community.

Can I host a Bedrock server the same way? Mostly, yes — but it uses separate dedicated server software from Java Edition and different network ports (UDP 19132–19133 instead of TCP 25565), so don’t reuse Java-specific steps for a Bedrock setup.

Is paid hosting worth it over self-hosting? It depends on how many players you have and whether you need the server online when your own PC isn’t. For the full breakdown of when that switch actually pays for itself, see our PC vs. third-party hosting comparison.

The Bottom Line

Hosting a Minecraft server comes down to four decisions: which of the three hosting paths fits your budget, which server software matches what you want to run, whether your hardware (or hosting plan) is sized correctly, and getting through the setup steps for whichever path you chose. None of those individually are hard — they just need to happen in the right order, which is what tends to trip people up on a first attempt.

Once you’ve got those four sorted, the rest is just running the server and seeing what you actually want to build on it.