So you want to start your OWN Minecraft server but you don’t know where to start? You came to the right place! In this article, I’ll be teaching you how to start your own Minecraft server step by step.
Picking a Hosting Provider
The first and most important step in starting your own Minecraft server is finding a Hosting Service to host your server. There are some key factors that you need to look at before purchasing a Minecraft server such as how many players are going to play on the server, how many mods/plugins you will have on the server and your monthly budget.
First, let’s take a look at some good hosting providers and their ups and downs. (Note that we are not affiliated with these hosts in any way and these choices were made on my personal experience)
- PebbleHost
~pros = can handle a large number of players with low ram
= friendly support team
= mod pack and plugin support
= many essential tools
~cons = You need to pay to restore your server from backups
= Doesn't have an Asia-based location
- Revivenode
~pros = has an Asia-based location
= mod pack and plugin support
= free backups
= other essential tools
~cons = cant handle a lot of players
= server crashes when it's at 100% ram usage These two are the Hosting providers I recommend because they both are affordable with great performance. Both of the hosts start at 1$/GB meaning you only have to pay a dollar for every GB of ram you buy (for example: if I buy a 4GB Ram server I would have to pay 4$ per month) although both hosts are 1$ per GB if you want to get a Singapore server it’ll cost you 2$/GB.
So after you decided what hosting provider you want to choose simply choose your preferred ram amount. It’ll depends on your server version, how many players play on your server and how many plugins you will be running on your server.
(I recommend getting at least 5GB for any version above 1.16)
While buying the server you will be asked to choose the server version which will depend on your preference you will also be asked to select the server software.
Choosing this correctly is very important since they have different unique abilities. Down below is some common server software that you can use while using the mentioned hosts above.
| Software | Issues | |
| Vanilla | The vanilla software offered by Mojang | doesn’t support plugins/mods |
| Spigot | Used in old servers and has been around for some time | Uses too much RAM |
| Paper | A fork of the spigot | Doesnt support mods |
| PocketMine | Works like paper but for Bedrock | buggy |
| Forge | Runs Mod |
Overall if you are thinking to start a small Java SMP for you and your friends, vanilla is a good choice but it is recommended to use paper since it’s more optimised. And if you are planning to host a large community server paper is still the best option. if you are thinking to make a modded server go with Forge and for a bedrock server go with Pocketmine.
After going through all of that you are now ready to start your server.
Starting Your Server
so after purchasing your server, you can now start it. During the First start, you might get a popup asking to accept the EULA. If you don’t see it during the first start you might have to manually. To do it manually, First, go to server files and find eula.txt (note: you have to run your server at least once to generate this file) and set eula: False to EUL: True.
After that start your server again and it should start without any errors.
Adding Plugins/Mods
Adding plugins or mods can make your server more fun and exciting to play. Adding plugins is a super easy thing to do. If you are using either Pebblehost or Revivenode, they both provide a plugins tab where you can choose and install plugins and mods to your Minecraft server. You can also download plugins from Google and drag and drop it into the plugins folder. Only use plugins from trusted sources because some plugins can contain malware. make sure not to install/put plugins while the server is running.
After installing turn on the server to load the plugins. Type /plugins on the chat or plugins on the console (tip: don’t include the “/” in commands when you are using a console to send commands)
Server Lag
Over time your server will start to lag. Since players make new farms and load new chunks your ram usage will go up a lot after the first few weeks.
Solutions :
- Pre-generate your world using chunky plugin
- Use an anti-lag plugin
- Give the server more ram
- Limit redstone usage
(tip: type /TPS to see your server’s ticks per second if it’s 20* that means it’s running smoothly but if it’s dropped more than 16 it’s having some trouble)
Maintenance
Maintenance is a needed thing in a good Minecraft server. You should check for any server software updates now and then and update any outdated plugins.
That’s about all the things that a beginner should be aware of when starting a Minecraft server. Hope you liked it leave any questions down below ill reply within a day.
