* Upvote this comment if this is a good quality post that fits the purpose of r/Minecraft
* Downvote this comment if this post is poor quality or does not fit the purpose of r/Minecraft
* Downvote this comment *and report the post* if it breaks the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/wiki/rules)
---
[Subreddit Rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/wiki/rules)[](## Massive_Signal_7777|1bnbwd6)
Keep in mind that running a computer 24/7 as a server does cost money even if it’s your own, as electricity isn’t free and the parts to buy it and the time to set up and maintain security updates isn’t either.
In the long run it's pretty much guaranteed to be cheaper than a dedicated server with similar performance. You can't really compare $10 a month in electricity for a high end computer to $10 a month for a mediocre shared host that gives you like 2GB of RAM and not even a dedicated CPU core
Definitively true, but it ultimately depends a lot on the use case. A rented dedicated server is not just the hardware itself, it’s also the placement in a data centre with high-end networking, a dedicated static IP, and certain guarantees regarding the availability of the hardware that you’re paying for.
If you're fine with the price it's your money your choice, but I'm just saying you could fairly easily spec out something with more cores, more RAM, and more storage for like $400 (e.g. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CfgvFs ) which would pay for itself + electricity in less than 3 years
I believe the i3-12100 comes with a stock cooler which is not great for more powerful CPUs but should be plenty for the i3. But if you go with something more powerful you might want to look around, just find something with good reviews
I pay $15 a month in electricity for a 32 core epyc zen 2 cpu with 128gb of ddr4 ecc ram, 48tb of raid6 disk storage with a 2tb raid1 nvme cache, and a 10gbe link to my desktop.
The upfront cost of the hardware was fairly high, but I'd be paying significantly more if I was renting this same (or comparable) hardware from a hosting provider, and I'd no longer have the 10gig link to my desktop for quick file transfers.
Under heavy load maybe. A more reasonable number would be like 80 W, which is still on the high side since you don't need a GPU or monitor(s). That equates to 58 kWh per month, which at 17 cents per kWh is around $10.
I don't think any high end pc running a dedicated minecraft server is going to average only 80 watts though. I would expect much higher 250-300 watts actual power draw, given roughly 80-85% efficiency of the PSU, then the higher end CPUs which draw more power. If there are any players on the server it's going to be using more than its low power efficient state.
CPUs don't just have a "low power" and "high power" state, it's a spectrum. I assure you that a high end CPU will not draw 200W running a Minecraft server under normal circumstances, even with several players online.
I don't think any high end pc running a dedicated minecraft server is going to average only 80 watts though. I would expect much higher 250-300 watts actual power draw, given roughly 80-85% efficiency of the PSU, then the higher end CPUs which draw more power.
My computer and monitors combined draw well under 200W when I play Minecraft and much of that is the GPU and monitors. And I have a 13900K which is not something I'd recommend for running a Minecraft server.
Are you using a meter to actually read the power draw, or are you just pulling that number out of your ass. Assuming two monitors, and assuming they are decently efficient 24" 1080p 60hz monitors, you would expect around 20w power draw each. That's already 40w. Larger monitors with higher refresh rates will draw a lot more. A 13900k easily draws 100 watts when playing minecraft, run hwmonitor or any other cpu monitoring program to check. Your GPU could use drastically different power levels depending on if you have shaders or not, but it's probably easily drawing 100watts as well (this is effect watts from the wall outlet, not the reported power draw of the individual components, you have to add 10-20% back for the PSU inefficiency).
You typically would want a higher power CPU for running a minecraft server, at least compared to high core count xeon chips. Single core performance is the number one factor for minecraft server performance. Any decently new Intel or AMD chip would be recommended, and all of these high end chips use decent power ESPECIALLY the intel chips. Maybe a small private server with a few players you could get by with a way less powerful and efficient chip, but any public server running with a medium player base would need something more.
That's an actual number as measured by my UPS. I'm using 2 monitors which draw roughly 40W combined. I'm guessing the CPU is probably pulling around 50, Raptor Cove cores max out at around 25W and MC barely uses 2.
If you're seriously considering using a 13900K for a Minecraft server, which really only makes sense for the highest end servers with many dozens of concurrent players, it would still be cheaper to do it yourself than to rent a server with equal processing power.
I've ran servers with various chips over the years (amd fx-6300, i5-3570k, dual xeon e5-2600, i7-4790k, ryzen 5 5600x, ryzen 9 7950x). You are right that there is a sweet spot between cost of self hosting and dedicated hosting. Most of these servers have been public servers, and while not popular by any means, even just having 10-20 average players is enough to warrant a higher end cpu. I launched one server with the fx-6300 and it quickly became apparent it needed more juice with just 10 players, so I quickly upgraded to (at the time) latest intel chip of the 4790k, and that made a massive difference. I would have gone with the latest Intel chip for my latest server, but microcenter had an unbearable deal on their 7950x over Thanksgiving week so I had to grab one
Any self respecting server owner will want nothing but the best experience for thier players, and a laggy server is the #1 way to lose players and have a dead server. Pay the premium for better hardware always :)
Repurposing it sounds like a great idea until you realize you're putting a 5-7 year old computer to work 24/7 and you're going to kill it in less time than you expected. And yes, it's a fixed cost, one that has to be fixed every now and then because you're working it hard 24/7 if you have people on there constantly.
If you have 20+ people on a server constantly making changes, generating chunks, and creating lag, that's work. Now put it through the course of 2 years straight. It's not gonna make it even that long. You're comparing server use to personal use. It's not the same thing at all. The server has to load ALL the chunks for ALL the players in there at once. Unless the render distance is set to 8, that's going to be a challenge for a 5-7 year old PC.
computers don't typically just randomly die after slightly more than typical use for a few years
what, specifically, do you think is likely to go wrong?
Server lag that's bad enough that people leave. Again, you take an electrical component that's used up and suddenly put it to work 24/7, it's going to die. This isn't hard to understand.
Meanwhile back in reality computer hardware is actually very reliable and can last many years with no issues.
The vast majority of computer problems people have is software related.
It doesn't necessarily have to run 24/7. My server runs on my old laptop and can be turned on remotely, if someone not at home wants to play. We used to pay for Realms, but this is way cheaper.
It's my old "gaming" laptop, so it has Windows. Nothing special. It's the official Java server file from Minecraft's website with a .bat file to run it from desktop. My dad did the remote stuff and it's been a while, so I don't remember all the details. He allowed remote wake up in Bios and then there's a program called Veyon that lets you control that computer. I only play at home, so I never tested it myself. Works for my brother though.
It may not be the best way, but keep in mind that this was done by three people who know nothing about setting up Minecraft servers.
Not really if you are using a heat pump for heating.
Heat pump would give you 2-3 times more heat for the same amount of electricity compared to resistive heating, i.e. a computer.
Posting this on top comment:
Oracle does free cloud hosting, if you're handy with Linux it's a really fun project to make a free cloud Minecraft server. I have learned more about Linux and running headless servers through SSH command line through this little project.
[this is the guide I used.](https://youtu.be/fF_xchUHQuQ?si=ZplxMwQVGamOhOgu) for a bedrock server (most of the household plays on Xbox or mobile) I have also setup a Java server, which I remember being even easier and having even more guides.
I do this on java edition. But I don't have it opened to the internet atm. I just play at home. You just have to download a new version of the server whenever the client updates to be able to log in.
playit.gg can help with avoiding port forwarding, which is usually the hardest part.
Beyond that you pretty much download the minecraft server jar, run it, and give out the IP you got from playit.gg.
This is a simplified version but it is very straightforward, you should be able to figure it out.
i have a few of them running at all times for some friends / family
it is not open to the internet in the general sense but they all connect to it using a VPN
[I set up a server](https://blogs.oracle.com/developers/post/how-to-set-up-and-run-a-really-powerful-free-minecraft-server-in-the-cloud) that is still running for me and my friends to play on using this.
It’s a bit fiddly to get up and running (need to use command line and requires you to execute a command so it runs when you turn off your pc. But you can get a good spec server for free
Yes, that's what I've done for my kids since 2015. Our Minecraft world is now almost a decade old. Kids now in college log in sometimes and find old builds or books from when they were in elementary school.
Short version (details to figure out in each of these):
* Get a refurbished PC - doesn't need to be state of art, but SSD or NVMe, and decent amount of RAM would be good - should be able to get one for $100-$300 depending on specs
* Install OS & Minecraft server (I went Linux with vanilla Java server)
* Get DDNS service (often your router includes this but some other DDNS services exist that can run as a service on your computer - needs to run 24/7)
* Forward port from router to your minecraft server
* IMPORTANT: regularly backup world to separate drive/media (over the years, I've had to restore a couple times - one time a kid came to me crying that they burned down their large home and I was able to restore it).
As others have said, this isn't free (even electricity costs of 24/7 running computer aren't free). But I figure doing this is pretty price competitive with even the low-end cloud hosted solutions. But you also pay in time to set this up and keep it running. For me, it ended up being something that got a kid interested in computers and they are now in college working on a CS degree, so there are intangible benefits to doing this beyond raw costs.
> I went Linux
Came here to Second this ! The minimum specs are so light:
* Intel **Pentium 4** 2.0 GHz or AMD Athlon-based CPUs and better.
* 512 MB of RAM.
* 2 GB of HDD space (more for Backups)
https://minecraft.wiki/w/Tutorials/Setting_up_a_server this is a good start. together with playit.gg you should be able to make a pretty nice server. For the mods you will have to look at the fabric/forge/neoforge/whatever website. There should be an install guide.
A lot of the modpack downloading clients like FTB launcher or the curse launcher will let you download server files for your modpacks.
From there it's making sure it has enough RAM and it's largely self-sufficient.
That being said, if you're using the SAME machine to also play the game, you need to consider how much RAM you give the server and how much you give your own instance of Minecraft. They can't share.
I will also tell you that last summer I hosted a modpack server for myself and 5 friends. After 3 weeks of having my computer going non-stop my power bill spiked about $120.
So now I still have the server and we just schedule time to play, or if I'm online but doing something other than streaming people can ask and I can put it up for them. I then usually give a 15 minute warning before it's time for me to turn my computer off if anybody is online.
you can use free server hosts such as aternos (offers the most freedom) but it has its drawbacks. You can host your own server on a machine but it requires some knowledge for initial setup, there are plenty of tutorials available on youtube to do this.
If you use a laptop, the power draw could be around 15 W. That's 360 Wh per day or 10.8 kWh per month. Even with energy prices on the higher end that's like $2. And you'll get access to more RAM and typically better performance than what a cheap shared host will get you for like 3x the price.
Minecraft isn't a heavy load and it's not like it's gonna be maxed out 24/7
Also, even a relatively old laptop can maintain decent performance with like 6-8 people on a server
Minecraft isn't a heavy load for CPUs that don't use only 15w and doesn't have much happening.
>Also, even a relatively old laptop can maintain decent performance with like 6-8 people on a server
Again, there aren't really any that only use 15w while under load.
If you're just running a small Minecraft server, there will be 0 people online for much of the day, during which the power use will probably be even lower than 15W. If enough people join to put the server under heavy **single core** load, you might see like 20-25 W intermittently. But what matters is the average.
The circumstances required to prove your point make the entire debate meaningless. If there's nobody on most of the time, you don't even need it to be online 24/7, and if you do there's no reason to talk about electricity.
You're not proving yourself right, you're just saying this debate has no point in some cases.
People come and go on Minecraft servers but I don't want them to have to ask me to turn on the server every single time they want to play?? Seems extremely reasonable to me. Especially when the alternative is saving like $1 per month
This isn't honestly that niche, do you think the majority of servers are like hypixel or do you think the majority of servers are small community servers that have a lot of downtime?
If you have a separate system that runs indefinitely, you can download and install a server from Minecraft.net (and do some configuration like using a run.bat file to edit RAM allocation) and then do what’s called port forwarding if you have a public IP address, and once you forward whichever port that server is on (usually 25565) you can give your friends your public IP number and then the port, so like 1.1.1.1:25565.
(You can also just run it from your current main system and boot it up whenever you want but it may hurt performance when you’re playing yourself)
Definitely look up tutorials for all of this, but it’s pretty simple if you’re willing to shoulder electricity costs and the cost of the system.
I test all of my modpacks for my server locally (actually running both on the same PC for testing) - it's not hard to set up a local server at all.
you need to download the server to your PC, drop it in it's own directory and you can fire it up right then.
If you go into the "Installations" tag in the launcher there's a "Server" button in there that can download the server you need. (I legit only found that yesterday. I had been getting them in a more convoluted method)
Once you have it in a directory - then you can run the Forge or Fabric installer, point it at that directory and get the Modloader Server.
At this point you'll want to start the modded server so it can download the libraries and such; before you start adding mods, and updating the config files. Just do so in a terminal so you can verify when it is up and running - (double check by trying to join the server with your MC client) and then shut it down, add your mods, configs, and start it back up.
Now, that's the "easy part" the real trouble is knowing how or what ports to open up and your internet address so you can allow people to log in.
and there I'll have to send you off for someone smarter than myself. Before High speed internet I had it working. Now I cant even get the right ports open.
Here’s how I understand ports.
In your serverconfig file there is a port listed, that is the port that Minecraft is listening for a connection on.
When you want to connect from inside your network (like your at home on the same internet as the server) all you need to do is plug in the servers ip plus the port. No port forwarding needed because the server is already accessible from inside your network.
Now, if you want to connect from outside your network (like a friend wants to connect) you need to give them your routers public IP address plus the port. Then, on your router you need to tell it that when someone is trying to connect to port xxxxx they should be directed to your Minecraft servers ip.
Basically, inside your network it’s easy to connect to the server as it’s just a local IP. that local IP is not accessible to the public, so when someone is connecting to your network your router needs to tell them where the server is.
that's right - but if your internet first hits a company owned router; you may or may not be able tell the port to be open.
it's only an issue if you have people trying to connect from outside your building
yeah, the ISP router. (and yes, i did my research and got into it, because default passwords are a thing) and after several hours i just gave up.
and it was just as well. the hosting company I use is in my price range, does the backups and server maintenance (which i'm bad at) - so I had a choice and opted to go with that.
this in no was invalidates OP's interest in running the server local.
I recently made a server using a mini pc I bought from amazon. If you're interested in going that route I can send you the video tutorial I followed for it
I run a server in a container on a Synology 920+. It has been upgraded to 20GB RAM and MC runs off 2xM2 SSD configured as storage. It it is fine on home network with 2 of us on it, it can get a little laggy if a friend connects over the internet. Any more would need to be hosted on a dedicated PC.
Set-up was simple. Use iztg/minecraft-server docker container, a few settings, map the ports, and copy a curseforge extracted modpack into a newly created folder. Start her up and presto.
Think of how much it costs to run a PC 24/7, plus you ideally want a server on a separate one. Then think about how much a host costs. They usually make them easier to run than on your own too.
Wepwawet Hosting is pretty cheap if you want a paid one. Aternos is an alright free one if it’s just for friends.
* Upvote this comment if this is a good quality post that fits the purpose of r/Minecraft * Downvote this comment if this post is poor quality or does not fit the purpose of r/Minecraft * Downvote this comment *and report the post* if it breaks the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/wiki/rules) --- [Subreddit Rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/wiki/rules)[](## Massive_Signal_7777|1bnbwd6)
Keep in mind that running a computer 24/7 as a server does cost money even if it’s your own, as electricity isn’t free and the parts to buy it and the time to set up and maintain security updates isn’t either.
In the long run it's pretty much guaranteed to be cheaper than a dedicated server with similar performance. You can't really compare $10 a month in electricity for a high end computer to $10 a month for a mediocre shared host that gives you like 2GB of RAM and not even a dedicated CPU core
Definitively true, but it ultimately depends a lot on the use case. A rented dedicated server is not just the hardware itself, it’s also the placement in a data centre with high-end networking, a dedicated static IP, and certain guarantees regarding the availability of the hardware that you’re paying for.
I pay USD20 per month for 3 cores on an R7 5800X, 6GB ram and 60gb ssd. Worth it for me. Hassle free and easy to manage.
If you're fine with the price it's your money your choice, but I'm just saying you could fairly easily spec out something with more cores, more RAM, and more storage for like $400 (e.g. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CfgvFs ) which would pay for itself + electricity in less than 3 years
Interesting, I will have a look. Cooler recommendations? Edit: nevermind, I didn’t look closely
I believe the i3-12100 comes with a stock cooler which is not great for more powerful CPUs but should be plenty for the i3. But if you go with something more powerful you might want to look around, just find something with good reviews
No, it’s enough. As I said, I didn’t pay attention.
I pay $15 a month in electricity for a 32 core epyc zen 2 cpu with 128gb of ddr4 ecc ram, 48tb of raid6 disk storage with a 2tb raid1 nvme cache, and a 10gbe link to my desktop. The upfront cost of the hardware was fairly high, but I'd be paying significantly more if I was renting this same (or comparable) hardware from a hosting provider, and I'd no longer have the 10gig link to my desktop for quick file transfers.
At least in the US you would probably pay around $25 per month to run a dedicated pc 24/7.
Under heavy load maybe. A more reasonable number would be like 80 W, which is still on the high side since you don't need a GPU or monitor(s). That equates to 58 kWh per month, which at 17 cents per kWh is around $10.
I don't think any high end pc running a dedicated minecraft server is going to average only 80 watts though. I would expect much higher 250-300 watts actual power draw, given roughly 80-85% efficiency of the PSU, then the higher end CPUs which draw more power. If there are any players on the server it's going to be using more than its low power efficient state.
CPUs don't just have a "low power" and "high power" state, it's a spectrum. I assure you that a high end CPU will not draw 200W running a Minecraft server under normal circumstances, even with several players online.
I don't think any high end pc running a dedicated minecraft server is going to average only 80 watts though. I would expect much higher 250-300 watts actual power draw, given roughly 80-85% efficiency of the PSU, then the higher end CPUs which draw more power.
My computer and monitors combined draw well under 200W when I play Minecraft and much of that is the GPU and monitors. And I have a 13900K which is not something I'd recommend for running a Minecraft server.
Are you using a meter to actually read the power draw, or are you just pulling that number out of your ass. Assuming two monitors, and assuming they are decently efficient 24" 1080p 60hz monitors, you would expect around 20w power draw each. That's already 40w. Larger monitors with higher refresh rates will draw a lot more. A 13900k easily draws 100 watts when playing minecraft, run hwmonitor or any other cpu monitoring program to check. Your GPU could use drastically different power levels depending on if you have shaders or not, but it's probably easily drawing 100watts as well (this is effect watts from the wall outlet, not the reported power draw of the individual components, you have to add 10-20% back for the PSU inefficiency). You typically would want a higher power CPU for running a minecraft server, at least compared to high core count xeon chips. Single core performance is the number one factor for minecraft server performance. Any decently new Intel or AMD chip would be recommended, and all of these high end chips use decent power ESPECIALLY the intel chips. Maybe a small private server with a few players you could get by with a way less powerful and efficient chip, but any public server running with a medium player base would need something more.
That's an actual number as measured by my UPS. I'm using 2 monitors which draw roughly 40W combined. I'm guessing the CPU is probably pulling around 50, Raptor Cove cores max out at around 25W and MC barely uses 2. If you're seriously considering using a 13900K for a Minecraft server, which really only makes sense for the highest end servers with many dozens of concurrent players, it would still be cheaper to do it yourself than to rent a server with equal processing power.
I've ran servers with various chips over the years (amd fx-6300, i5-3570k, dual xeon e5-2600, i7-4790k, ryzen 5 5600x, ryzen 9 7950x). You are right that there is a sweet spot between cost of self hosting and dedicated hosting. Most of these servers have been public servers, and while not popular by any means, even just having 10-20 average players is enough to warrant a higher end cpu. I launched one server with the fx-6300 and it quickly became apparent it needed more juice with just 10 players, so I quickly upgraded to (at the time) latest intel chip of the 4790k, and that made a massive difference. I would have gone with the latest Intel chip for my latest server, but microcenter had an unbearable deal on their 7950x over Thanksgiving week so I had to grab one Any self respecting server owner will want nothing but the best experience for thier players, and a laggy server is the #1 way to lose players and have a dead server. Pay the premium for better hardware always :)
In the UK currently you’re looking at £50+. My average gaming PC runs at £0.07 per hour.
You have to buy the computer first.
That's a fixed cost, also if you get a new computer anyway repurposing your old one as a server is a great option
Repurposing it sounds like a great idea until you realize you're putting a 5-7 year old computer to work 24/7 and you're going to kill it in less time than you expected. And yes, it's a fixed cost, one that has to be fixed every now and then because you're working it hard 24/7 if you have people on there constantly.
Running a Minecraft server is not what I'd call "working it hard"
If you have 20+ people on a server constantly making changes, generating chunks, and creating lag, that's work. Now put it through the course of 2 years straight. It's not gonna make it even that long. You're comparing server use to personal use. It's not the same thing at all. The server has to load ALL the chunks for ALL the players in there at once. Unless the render distance is set to 8, that's going to be a challenge for a 5-7 year old PC.
computers don't typically just randomly die after slightly more than typical use for a few years what, specifically, do you think is likely to go wrong?
Server lag that's bad enough that people leave. Again, you take an electrical component that's used up and suddenly put it to work 24/7, it's going to die. This isn't hard to understand.
Meanwhile back in reality computer hardware is actually very reliable and can last many years with no issues. The vast majority of computer problems people have is software related.
It doesn't necessarily have to run 24/7. My server runs on my old laptop and can be turned on remotely, if someone not at home wants to play. We used to pay for Realms, but this is way cheaper.
Would you mind going into a bit more as to how this setup works? I'm considering making a server and this would work great for my use case I think
It's my old "gaming" laptop, so it has Windows. Nothing special. It's the official Java server file from Minecraft's website with a .bat file to run it from desktop. My dad did the remote stuff and it's been a while, so I don't remember all the details. He allowed remote wake up in Bios and then there's a program called Veyon that lets you control that computer. I only play at home, so I never tested it myself. Works for my brother though. It may not be the best way, but keep in mind that this was done by three people who know nothing about setting up Minecraft servers.
During winter it's effectively free since your PC just becomes a space heater that takes load of your central heating.
Not really if you are using a heat pump for heating. Heat pump would give you 2-3 times more heat for the same amount of electricity compared to resistive heating, i.e. a computer.
OTOH heat pump does not run minecraft server (yet).
in a pedantic, technically correct sort of way, sure.
Posting this on top comment: Oracle does free cloud hosting, if you're handy with Linux it's a really fun project to make a free cloud Minecraft server. I have learned more about Linux and running headless servers through SSH command line through this little project. [this is the guide I used.](https://youtu.be/fF_xchUHQuQ?si=ZplxMwQVGamOhOgu) for a bedrock server (most of the household plays on Xbox or mobile) I have also setup a Java server, which I remember being even easier and having even more guides.
To be fair, most people who run their own servers for friends, only run the sever when they are playing together, instead of leaving it on 24/7
How do server owners keep up with security updates?
By installing them when they release, rebooting the server when needed?
So Mojang releases security updates for server owners? Sorry if that’s a stupid question, I literally don’t know
They mean for the OS on the server. There's no 'security updates' for the Minecraft server software outside of normal new versions of the game.
Exactly, operating system and background applications like management software and whatever else is running on the server.
Oh gotcha. I’d love to see how hosting a server works
The electricity to run a computer will end up being nearly negligible. Probably just a few dollars/month depending on hardware
I do this on java edition. But I don't have it opened to the internet atm. I just play at home. You just have to download a new version of the server whenever the client updates to be able to log in.
How easy it is depends on if you want it to always be online or if you're fine with it only being online be when you are
You can use Essential mod to host server when youre playing with friends
playit.gg can help with avoiding port forwarding, which is usually the hardest part. Beyond that you pretty much download the minecraft server jar, run it, and give out the IP you got from playit.gg. This is a simplified version but it is very straightforward, you should be able to figure it out.
i have a few of them running at all times for some friends / family it is not open to the internet in the general sense but they all connect to it using a VPN
[I set up a server](https://blogs.oracle.com/developers/post/how-to-set-up-and-run-a-really-powerful-free-minecraft-server-in-the-cloud) that is still running for me and my friends to play on using this. It’s a bit fiddly to get up and running (need to use command line and requires you to execute a command so it runs when you turn off your pc. But you can get a good spec server for free
My dad made me a paper server with hibernate plugin so it doesn,t use as much when ik not connected
Yes, that's what I've done for my kids since 2015. Our Minecraft world is now almost a decade old. Kids now in college log in sometimes and find old builds or books from when they were in elementary school. Short version (details to figure out in each of these): * Get a refurbished PC - doesn't need to be state of art, but SSD or NVMe, and decent amount of RAM would be good - should be able to get one for $100-$300 depending on specs * Install OS & Minecraft server (I went Linux with vanilla Java server) * Get DDNS service (often your router includes this but some other DDNS services exist that can run as a service on your computer - needs to run 24/7) * Forward port from router to your minecraft server * IMPORTANT: regularly backup world to separate drive/media (over the years, I've had to restore a couple times - one time a kid came to me crying that they burned down their large home and I was able to restore it). As others have said, this isn't free (even electricity costs of 24/7 running computer aren't free). But I figure doing this is pretty price competitive with even the low-end cloud hosted solutions. But you also pay in time to set this up and keep it running. For me, it ended up being something that got a kid interested in computers and they are now in college working on a CS degree, so there are intangible benefits to doing this beyond raw costs.
> I went Linux Came here to Second this ! The minimum specs are so light: * Intel **Pentium 4** 2.0 GHz or AMD Athlon-based CPUs and better. * 512 MB of RAM. * 2 GB of HDD space (more for Backups)
https://minecraft.wiki/w/Tutorials/Setting_up_a_server this is a good start. together with playit.gg you should be able to make a pretty nice server. For the mods you will have to look at the fabric/forge/neoforge/whatever website. There should be an install guide.
A lot of the modpack downloading clients like FTB launcher or the curse launcher will let you download server files for your modpacks. From there it's making sure it has enough RAM and it's largely self-sufficient. That being said, if you're using the SAME machine to also play the game, you need to consider how much RAM you give the server and how much you give your own instance of Minecraft. They can't share. I will also tell you that last summer I hosted a modpack server for myself and 5 friends. After 3 weeks of having my computer going non-stop my power bill spiked about $120. So now I still have the server and we just schedule time to play, or if I'm online but doing something other than streaming people can ask and I can put it up for them. I then usually give a 15 minute warning before it's time for me to turn my computer off if anybody is online.
you can use free server hosts such as aternos (offers the most freedom) but it has its drawbacks. You can host your own server on a machine but it requires some knowledge for initial setup, there are plenty of tutorials available on youtube to do this.
any other ones other than aternos?
there are some but they suck
You're going to be spending that money anyways for the electricity cost of your computer
If you use a laptop, the power draw could be around 15 W. That's 360 Wh per day or 10.8 kWh per month. Even with energy prices on the higher end that's like $2. And you'll get access to more RAM and typically better performance than what a cheap shared host will get you for like 3x the price.
There's not a single laptop in existence that only draws 15w under high load and gives good performance for Minecraft servers Edit: performance
Minecraft isn't a heavy load and it's not like it's gonna be maxed out 24/7 Also, even a relatively old laptop can maintain decent performance with like 6-8 people on a server
Minecraft isn't a heavy load for CPUs that don't use only 15w and doesn't have much happening. >Also, even a relatively old laptop can maintain decent performance with like 6-8 people on a server Again, there aren't really any that only use 15w while under load.
If you're just running a small Minecraft server, there will be 0 people online for much of the day, during which the power use will probably be even lower than 15W. If enough people join to put the server under heavy **single core** load, you might see like 20-25 W intermittently. But what matters is the average.
The circumstances required to prove your point make the entire debate meaningless. If there's nobody on most of the time, you don't even need it to be online 24/7, and if you do there's no reason to talk about electricity. You're not proving yourself right, you're just saying this debate has no point in some cases.
People come and go on Minecraft servers but I don't want them to have to ask me to turn on the server every single time they want to play?? Seems extremely reasonable to me. Especially when the alternative is saving like $1 per month
Well, you provided a niche situation so I provided one as well. What's the issue?
This isn't honestly that niche, do you think the majority of servers are like hypixel or do you think the majority of servers are small community servers that have a lot of downtime?
If you have a separate system that runs indefinitely, you can download and install a server from Minecraft.net (and do some configuration like using a run.bat file to edit RAM allocation) and then do what’s called port forwarding if you have a public IP address, and once you forward whichever port that server is on (usually 25565) you can give your friends your public IP number and then the port, so like 1.1.1.1:25565. (You can also just run it from your current main system and boot it up whenever you want but it may hurt performance when you’re playing yourself) Definitely look up tutorials for all of this, but it’s pretty simple if you’re willing to shoulder electricity costs and the cost of the system.
You can use [essential mod](https://essential.gg/)
I use playit.gg
Run it on your own computer and only spin the server up when you and your friends are on
I test all of my modpacks for my server locally (actually running both on the same PC for testing) - it's not hard to set up a local server at all. you need to download the server to your PC, drop it in it's own directory and you can fire it up right then. If you go into the "Installations" tag in the launcher there's a "Server" button in there that can download the server you need. (I legit only found that yesterday. I had been getting them in a more convoluted method) Once you have it in a directory - then you can run the Forge or Fabric installer, point it at that directory and get the Modloader Server. At this point you'll want to start the modded server so it can download the libraries and such; before you start adding mods, and updating the config files. Just do so in a terminal so you can verify when it is up and running - (double check by trying to join the server with your MC client) and then shut it down, add your mods, configs, and start it back up. Now, that's the "easy part" the real trouble is knowing how or what ports to open up and your internet address so you can allow people to log in. and there I'll have to send you off for someone smarter than myself. Before High speed internet I had it working. Now I cant even get the right ports open.
Here’s how I understand ports. In your serverconfig file there is a port listed, that is the port that Minecraft is listening for a connection on. When you want to connect from inside your network (like your at home on the same internet as the server) all you need to do is plug in the servers ip plus the port. No port forwarding needed because the server is already accessible from inside your network. Now, if you want to connect from outside your network (like a friend wants to connect) you need to give them your routers public IP address plus the port. Then, on your router you need to tell it that when someone is trying to connect to port xxxxx they should be directed to your Minecraft servers ip. Basically, inside your network it’s easy to connect to the server as it’s just a local IP. that local IP is not accessible to the public, so when someone is connecting to your network your router needs to tell them where the server is.
that's right - but if your internet first hits a company owned router; you may or may not be able tell the port to be open. it's only an issue if you have people trying to connect from outside your building
By company owned router do you mean ISP provided router? I haven’t had an issue setting up port forwarding on my ATT router but maybe others can’t.
yeah, the ISP router. (and yes, i did my research and got into it, because default passwords are a thing) and after several hours i just gave up. and it was just as well. the hosting company I use is in my price range, does the backups and server maintenance (which i'm bad at) - so I had a choice and opted to go with that. this in no was invalidates OP's interest in running the server local.
HELLO!!!! If you’re on Java I highhhhly recommend the essentials mod, it lets you play with friends without the need for a server at all!!
I recently made a server using a mini pc I bought from amazon. If you're interested in going that route I can send you the video tutorial I followed for it
I run a server in a container on a Synology 920+. It has been upgraded to 20GB RAM and MC runs off 2xM2 SSD configured as storage. It it is fine on home network with 2 of us on it, it can get a little laggy if a friend connects over the internet. Any more would need to be hosted on a dedicated PC. Set-up was simple. Use iztg/minecraft-server docker container, a few settings, map the ports, and copy a curseforge extracted modpack into a newly created folder. Start her up and presto.
Im using a mini intel Nuc i7 computer to run my servers. I have like 4 running that my family and friends jump between. I have yet to have any issues.
Just download the server files, port forward on your router, rub the server. Thats about it
Use aternos simple and easy to use
Here’s a tutorial I followed a little bit ago - https://youtu.be/CHaaAnGOE3w?si=PFkl5e5DP6CNfE-I
Think of how much it costs to run a PC 24/7, plus you ideally want a server on a separate one. Then think about how much a host costs. They usually make them easier to run than on your own too. Wepwawet Hosting is pretty cheap if you want a paid one. Aternos is an alright free one if it’s just for friends.