How Much Does a Minecraft Server Cost? Free, at Home or Rented

The short answer

Free, if you're fine with a server that stops when nobody's on and that you start yourself. On your PC, free to rent but you pay the electricity: a desktop PC on day and night is about €10.51 a month with electricity at €0.16 per kWh. And rented, you mostly pay for RAM: at NapNodes, €2 per GB a month, from €6 (3 GB) to €24 (12 GB).

For a group of friends with no mods or a few plugins, the usual is 4 GB: €8 a month, which split four ways is €2 each.

What really sets the price

RAM. It's what's reserved for your server and what costs the provider the most. More people, more world loaded at once and more mods mean more RAM. How much you need, in detail, in the RAM guide or in a minute with the RAM calculator.

Whether that RAM is yours alone. A cheap plan can be cheap because the machine has sold more RAM than it has (overselling): it works until everyone plays at once, which is usually Friday night. Always ask whether it's reserved.

The CPU. Minecraft runs the world mostly on one core, so it matters that it's fast and not shared among too many. The rest (disk, backups, location) shows less in the price, but check it's included: what to look for when choosing hosting.

How much to pay for your game

These are NapNodes' plans, to have real numbers; the proportion (how much RAM each kind of game needs) holds for any host:

· Vanilla or Paper with few plugins, small group: Wood, 3 GB: €6 a month (up to 8 players).

· Survival with friends and plugins: Stone, 4 GB: €8 a month (10–20 players).

· Lots of plugins or a medium modpack (Create, Cobblemon): Iron, 6 GB: €12 a month (15–25 players).

· Heavy modpacks, like All the Mods: Diamond, 8 GB: €16 a month (20–30 players).

· Big communities or the most demanding modpacks: Netherite, 12 GB: €24 a month (30+ players).

Each plan comes with 5 GB of disk per GB of RAM (Stone, 20 GB), and the price is the same when it renews: there's no intro price that goes up later.

On your PC: renting is free, electricity isn't

The server software is free and you can run it on your own computer. What you pay is electricity, because for your friends to join whenever they want it has to be on all day.

With electricity at €0.16 per kWh, on 24 hours a day: a laptop, about €4.09 a month; a desktop PC, about €10.51; a gaming PC with a graphics card, about €17.52. Put in your machine, your hours and the price on your bill in the electricity calculator.

And what's not on the bill: opening ports on the router (some ISPs don't let you), your game and the server sharing the same computer, and if the power goes or you restart, it goes down for everyone. How to do it properly, in make a Minecraft server and, without touching the router, in play with friends without port forwarding.

Actually free: what you pay in something else

Free servers exist and they're fine for a few people to play. What you pay is in convenience: they stop when nobody's on, sometimes you wait your turn to start them and they have just enough RAM. NapNodes' one has 3 GB, the same RAM and CPU as the Wood plan, no card and no end date; it stops after 20 minutes with nobody on and you start it yourself from the panel. All the free options, compared, in free Minecraft server.

When you move to a plan, it stays the same server with your world: no starting from scratch.

Realms: fixed fee, no mods

Minecraft Realms is Mojang's official server: a monthly subscription you buy from inside the game. Check the current price on your platform, because it changes by region and by edition (Java or Bedrock). It's the easiest for a few friends, but it doesn't allow mods or plugins and it has a player cap. The full comparison, in Realms or a rented server.

How to pay less (without it running worse)

1. Try the free one first

   Play a few days on the free server with your friends: you'll see how many people really join and whether you're short on RAM before paying.

2. Start with the right plan

   Moving up a plan is done from the panel, without reinstalling: you only pay the difference for what's left of the month and the new RAM arrives on restart. It beats overpaying from day one.

3. Make it need less RAM

   Paper instead of Vanilla, a world pregenerated with Chunky and a sensible view distance let the same plan hold more people. It's all in optimize a Paper server.

4. Pay by the quarter

   Three months at once are 10% cheaper: the Stone plan is €21.60 a quarter instead of €24.

5. Use the code BIENVENIDA

   Your first payment is half price (50% off), once per person: the first month of the Stone plan, €4.

6. Split it

   One person pays for a server and everyone enjoys it. Split four ways, the Stone plan is €2 a month each. And if you invite a friend with your “Invite a friend” link and they buy a plan, you get a month of your plan as credit (how it works).

7. Several servers, one pool of RAM

   At NapNodes RAM belongs to the account: with an 8 GB plan you can have a 6 GB survival and a 2 GB creative, without paying for two plans. How it's shared, in several servers with your account's RAM.

Costs you don't see in the price

Before paying, check three things: whether the price goes up on renewal (some advertise the first month and not the one after), whether there's a minimum term, and whether they charge extra for what you should already have, like backups or downloading your world.

At NapNodes there's no minimum term, the renewal price is the plan's price, backups (two you make and restore yourself, plus an automatic daily one) are included, and you download your world whenever you want. If the first time doesn't convince you, you have 72 hours to get your payment refunded in full.

The only thing that is extra, and optional: your own domain (play.yourserver.com), bought from a registrar for a few euros a year. You don't need one: every server comes with its own free address. How to set it up, in custom domain for your server.

Frequently asked questions