Minecraft hosting guide
A Minecraft server 24/7 without your own PC
Running a Minecraft server at home usually means a laptop left open on a desk and a router with a port forwarded, and the world goes offline every time somebody closes the lid. A hosted server is that same world on a machine that never closes or shuts down, in a datacenter, at an address that never changes. Here is what that involves and what it costs.
The short answer
At home it is never free
Twenty to forty euros of electricity a month, a port forwarded on your router, your home address handed out, and the world dark when the lid closes.
A hosted server is that world on a machine that never closes
Fixed address, nightly backup, DDoS filtering, and a panel in the browser.
Ten minutes
Pick a size and a location, pay, pick the software in the panel, upload the world you had.
The rest of this page puts numbers on the home version and walks through the ten minutes.
What running it at home actually costs
- Electricity
- Port forwarding
- Your home IP
- Uptime
- Your own upload speed
A desktop left on all month draws somewhere between a hundred and two hundred watts, which at European prices is roughly twenty to forty euros of electricity a month before you have bought anything. On top of that come the parts nobody prices: a port forwarded through your router, your home IP address handed to everyone who joins, an upload speed that was never meant for twenty people at once, and every Windows update or power cut becoming a server outage.
For an evening with two friends, it is fine to do it at home. For a group that expects the world to be there at three in the afternoon on a school day, those costs are a reason to do it on a hosted server.
| What | At home | Hosted |
|---|---|---|
| When it runs | While the computer is on | Always, until you stop it |
| Address | Your home IP, which can change | yourname.mc.astroworldmc.com, fixed |
| Monthly cost | Electricity, about 20 to 40 euros | Mini Performance from €7.95 a month, 60% off the first three |
| If someone attacks it | Your home connection goes down | Filtered at layer 3, 4 and 7, included |
| Backups | Whatever you remember to copy | Every night, 10 kept, included |
| Your own computer | Busy running the server | Free to play on |
What a hosted server is
A slice of a machine in a datacenter, with a stated amount of memory and processor, running the server software you choose. You reach it through a panel in the browser: console, file manager, a plugin catalogue, backups, and an AI Copilot that changes settings for you from a sentence. Players reach it through an address you give them, from any edition if you pick crossplay.
It stands where you put it: 27 locations, chosen before you pay, so a group in Sydney does not play on a server in Frankfurt. And it is up whether you are online or not, which is the main reason to host it.
Setting it up in ten minutes
Pick a size, pick a location, pick Java, Bedrock or crossplay, and pay. The server is installed while the receipt loads. In the panel, pick the software and version, and either start fresh or upload the world you were running at home: the folder from your saves directory is the whole thing. Give your friends the address and they are in.
The one thing to do on the first day is turn on the whitelist if the group is private. The panel has a switch for it, and the Copilot adds names when you ask.
Which size to take
Mini Performance at 4 GB is the home-server replacement for a vanilla world with up to ten people. Starter Performance at 8 GB is where plugins and the first light modpack are comfortable, and Standard Performance at 12 GB is for the heavy packs. All three are always on, and moving up a size later keeps the world.
What a Minecraft server costs a month, with every size on one page
The three sizes that replace a computer at home
Always on, with a fixed address, a nightly backup and DDoS filtering included, and your own computer free to play on.
Questions people ask before moving off their own PC
Can I run a Minecraft server 24/7 for free?
The free hosts stop the server when it empties or ask you to renew it by the hour, so they are free while somebody is at the keyboard rather than around the clock. A paid server from about seven euros a month is the honest 24/7 option.
Can I move the world from my own computer?
Yes. The folder in your saves directory is the whole world. Upload it through the file manager, or zip it and paste a link, and pick the same version at checkout.
Is hosting cheaper than running it at home?
Usually, once electricity is counted. A desktop on all month costs about twenty to forty euros in power at European prices, and our smallest always-on plan is a third of that.
Do my friends see my home IP address?
Not on a hosted server. They connect to the server's own address, and your home connection is not involved at all, which also means an attack on the server cannot take your home internet down.
Can I stop the server when nobody plays?
You can, but you do not have to. A stopped server costs the same as a running one, and leaving it on is what lets farms, timers and a friend in another time zone keep going.
Written and checked by the Astroworld Hosting team. Last reviewed on 6 September 2026.
Delivery: most servers are handed over instantly and run within seconds of payment, the rest follow within 60 minutes during the day and within 12 hours at night.