The NapNodes free server: how it works, the queue and turns
It's a real Minecraft, Hytale, Project Zomboid or Valheim server, with no card and no end date. The trade-off: it isn't always on. You start it when you're going to play, it uses the RAM nobody has paid for, and it stops by itself when nobody's on. This is how it works inside.
What the free server includes
The RAM and CPU of its game's smallest plan: today, 3 GB of RAM for Minecraft, 4 GB for Valheim and Hytale, and 6 GB for Project Zomboid. Disk is tight: 5 GB for Minecraft and Valheim and 15 GB for Hytale and Zomboid. The panel is the same as on paid plans: console, “Files”, “Settings” and mods.
What it doesn't have: backups (download your world from “Files” every now and then) or being always on. It's one at a time per person, of any game or a Discord bot, waitlist included; another account with the same email or from the same connection doesn't count either. If you delete yours or move it to a plan, you can request another.
No server yet? Game servers from €6 a month, no contract and a full refund within 72 hours. Or create a free server, no card needed.
How to get your free server
Create your account
From “Create your free server” on napnodes.com, with your usual email (disposable ones aren't accepted). Confirm it with the link we send you; if it doesn't show up, check your spam folder.
Pick the game
In the panel, “Buy” and your game. The free server is at the top, above the plans. Tick the terms box and press “Create my free server”.
Wait for it to install
It appears in “My servers” and you get an email when it's ready. Minecraft takes a few minutes; Zomboid and Valheim, 10–15 the first time, because they download the game from Steam. Hytale also needs linking once to your Hytale account: the panel shows you the link.
If there are no spots left
The button says “Join the waitlist”. Servers are created in order of arrival as soon as a spot frees up, and we email you. You can leave with “Leave the waitlist”.
How to start a free server
Most of the time it's off. To play, open it and press “Start”. It goes through an invisible “I'm not a robot” check: a person isn't asked for anything.
Behind the scenes, the panel checks whether there's room on your server's machine. Free servers use the RAM nobody has paid for: the RAM each customer pays for is always theirs, whether their server is on or not. If there's room, it starts. If not, you join the start queue.
Always start it with that button. If it's started some other way (the API, a program, a schedule), it stops by itself within a minute: that way nobody skips the queue.
The start queue
With no room, “Home” shows “In the start queue: position N”. You don't need to sit and watch: when it's your turn, we tell you in the panel and by email. If you get tired of waiting, “Leave the queue”.
When your turn comes you'll see “It's your turn!”, with the deadline and the “Start now” button. You have 5 minutes; if you don't press it, the turn passes to the next person. In “My servers” the server card says so too: “In the start queue · position N” or “It's your turn! Go in and start it”.
One-hour turns when people are waiting
While nobody's waiting, your server stays on for as long as you play. If there are people in the queue, whoever has been on for over an hour gets the notice “People are waiting to play” and stops 5 minutes later, so the next person can play. In Minecraft the notice also appears in the chat.
And if a paying customer needs the room, the free server that has been on for the shortest time is stopped, with an email to its owner. Stopping never deletes anything: the panel tells you why it stopped and you press “Start” again whenever you like.
When it stops and when it gets deleted
It stops after 20 minutes with nobody connected. Not during the first hour, while it generates the world, installs or waits for you to link Hytale. In Minecraft we ask the server how many players are on; in the other games we check whether player traffic is reaching it.
If nobody plays for 7 days in a row, it's deleted along with its world. We email you 2 days before, and “Your free server”, in “Home”, shows the date it would be deleted. Just joining to play resets the count.
The disk can't be exceeded: at 80% and at 95% you get an email. If it fills up, the game can't save; free up space in “Files” or move to a plan.
Free or paid: what changes
A plan is always on, with no queues or turns, with backups (2 of your own plus an automatic daily one) and more disk. Its RAM is yours alone, never oversold: nobody uses it even when your server is off.
Moving to a plan is simple and you lose nothing: it's the same server, with its world. From “My plan & invoices”, “Choose a plan”. You pay for the whole plan and the month starts that day.
Frequently asked questions
Does the NapNodes free server expire?
It has no end date. It's only deleted if nobody plays for 7 days in a row, and we email you 2 days before.
Why won't my free server start?
Because there's no free room on its machine right now and you're in the start queue. When it's your turn we tell you in the panel and by email, and you have 5 minutes to press “Start now”.
Can I have two free servers?
Not at the same time: it's one per person, of any game, waitlist included. If you delete yours or move it to a plan, you can request another.
Do I lose the world when the free server stops?
No. Stopping never deletes anything. The only thing that deletes it is 7 days without anybody playing.
Does the free server have backups?
No. Download your world every now and then from “Files”: select its folder, “Compress” and then “Download”. Plans come with 2 backups of your own plus an automatic daily one.
Shall we set it up for you?
Game servers from €6 a month, never oversold: your RAM is yours alone. And if you'd rather start without paying, there's a free server, no card needed.
Keep reading
- Payments, renewals and invoices: how billing works
How you pay for a NapNodes plan, when the invoice arrives, renewal with a saved card, what happens if you don't pay, how to cancel and where your invoices are.
- Invite a friend: a free month of your plan for each one
How “Invite a friend” works at NapNodes: your link, when the month of credit arrives, how it comes off your renewals automatically and which cases don't count.
- Upgrade your free server to a plan without losing the world
How to move your NapNodes free server to a plan: the same server with its world, always on and with backups. What you pay, when it starts and what changes.