How to Set Up a Minecraft Server with Friends (2026 Guide)

Want to play Minecraft with your friends without dealing with port forwarding, public IP addresses and a PC that has to run all night? A rented server solves all of that for you - it runs 24/7, has its own address and your friends can join from anywhere. In this guide we'll walk through everything you need to decide and set up before you invite your first players.

Java or Bedrock?

The first decision you need to make - and there's a simple rule for it: go by what your friends play on.

• Java Edition runs on PC (Windows, Linux, macOS). It has the biggest selection of mods, plugins and modpacks - if you want mods, it's the obvious choice.
• Bedrock Edition is cross-platform: mobile, consoles and Windows. Players on a phone or Xbox can't join a Java server without extra workarounds.

If your group plays on a mix of devices, go with Bedrock. If you're all on PC and modding sounds tempting, go with Java. And if you want both at once, that works too - a Java server can get crossplay via Geyser (more in the FAQ at the end). You'll find both server types in our game server pricing.

How much RAM will you need

The most common question - and the most common place where people save money in the wrong spot. Too little RAM means lag, slow chunk loading and crashes during world generation. A rough guide for Java Edition:

RAM	Players	What it's good for
2 GB	2–5	A vanilla world for a small group
4 GB	5–15	Vanilla with a few plugins (Paper)
6 GB	15–25	A community server with plugins
8 GB	25–40	A bigger server, lighter modpacks
12 GB+	40+	Large communities and heavy modpacks

Two notes from experience:

• Modpacks are hungry. Even for 3–4 players on a bigger modpack (think All the Mods), plan for 8–12 GB. It's the number of mods that matters, not the number of players.
• Fresh world vs. established world. A brand-new world generates chunks and puts more load on the server for a while - that's normal and settles down after a few days.

And one thing you don't have to worry about with us: player slots are unlimited. We don't charge per player - the real limit is CPU and RAM. The table above is the only thing you're choosing by.

If you're not sure, start with a smaller plan - you can upgrade RAM with us at any time without losing your world or settings.

Vanilla, Paper, or Forge/Fabric?

The server core determines what your server can run:

• Vanilla - pure Minecraft exactly as Mojang ships it. No modifications, maximum simplicity.
• Paper / Spigot - optimized cores with plugin support (land protection, economy, minigames). Players join with a normal client and don't install anything. For most groups this is the best choice - and Paper is noticeably faster than vanilla.
• Forge / Fabric - cores for mods and modpacks. Heads up: players need the mods installed too. More fun, more overhead.

At Wespner you switch the core and game version right in the panel - no manual .jar downloads. Plugins, mods and entire modpacks install from the built-in workshop, which supports:

• plugins from SpigotMC, Modrinth, Hangar, CurseForge and Polymart,
• mods from Modrinth and CurseForge,
• modpacks from CurseForge, Feed the Beast, ATLauncher, Technic, Modrinth and VoidsWrath.

With modpacks, the server's Java version switches automatically too - pick the modpack version, install, start. No fiddling with Java arguments.

One important note about versions: a world played on a newer Minecraft version can't be downgraded to an older one. Make a backup before every version change.

Setting up the server step by step

1. Pick a plan on the Minecraft Java server hosting page using the table above and complete the order.
2. The server comes online within minutes of payment. Log in to the game panel.
3. Choose the version and core in the panel - for example Paper on the current game version. The version switcher handles it in a few clicks.
4. Start the server with the Start button. On first launch the spawn area is generated, which can take a moment.
5. Copy the server address from the panel - it's made of our game node's subdomain and a port (domain:port), and that's exactly what you send to your friends.

Your friends then click Multiplayer → Add Server in the game, paste the address, and they're in your world.

A nicer server address, for free

The default address works right away, but it's awkward to read out loud. In the panel you can create your own address on the mcplay.cz domain:

1. Open the Subdomains tab and click Create subdomain.
2. Enter a name (say, ourcrew) and pick the server allocation.
3. Confirm - and moments later everyone joins via ourcrew.mcplay.cz.

An address you can say out loud at one table is a small thing, but it sparks joy.

Set up a whitelist (seriously)

A server without a whitelist is a public server - anyone can try the address. For playing with your group, we recommend turning the whitelist on from day one:

/whitelist on
/whitelist add FriendsNick

You can also manage the whitelist and players directly from our panel, no commands needed. Give operator rights with /op PlayerNick to yourself (and only to people you really trust).

Basic tweaks after launch

A few things worth setting up right away:

• Difficulty - normal, or hard if you're feeling brave. Set it in server.properties - the /difficulty command reverts to the configured value after a server restart.
• Spawn protection - vanilla protects the area around spawn from changes; if you're building right at spawn, lower it in the configuration.
• Time and weather - /gamerule doDaylightCycle false is handy for relaxed building, but talk it over with your group first unless you want a civil war.
• View distance vs. simulation distance - view-distance controls how far players can see, simulation-distance how far the world actually "lives" (mobs, crops, redstone). If lag shows up, lower simulation distance first - it's the least noticeable in play.
• Pre-generate the world - generating new chunks is the heaviest thing a server does. The Chunky plugin (available in the workshop) can generate the world ahead of time, so exploring doesn't lag anyone.

You can set all of this without a text editor: the Configuration tab in the panel has a clickable UI that edits server.properties for you.

For power users: SFTP access

When you need more than the panel - editing plugin configs, uploading your own world or downloading logs - connect via SFTP. You'll find the server address and username in the Settings tab under "SFTP access"; the password is the same as your panel login. Works with WinSCP, FileZilla or straight from VS Code.

Backups: your only insurance against creepers and friends

A world your group pours dozens of hours into is the most valuable thing on the server. Every one of our Minecraft servers comes with optional automatic backups and full file management in the panel - you create and restore a backup with one click. Backups are stored off the game server on Cloudflare storage, and backup size is unlimited - only the number of slots (3) is limited. Before installing a bigger modpack, changing versions or experimenting with plugins, make a manual backup. Future you will be grateful.

FAQ

Does the server have to run even when we're not playing? The server runs 24/7, but an empty server barely does anything. You don't need to shut down or pause anything - your friends can join whenever they feel like it.

Can mobile or console players join a Java server? Yes, via Geyser - a plugin that bridges Bedrock players to a Java server. You can install it from the workshop; just expect some extra configuration, and compatibility may not be perfect on heavily modded servers.

Can I manage it without technical skills? Yes. Ordering, picking a version, installing plugins and backups are all done by clicking in the panel. And if you get stuck, open a ticket - it's answered by a person who actually runs the servers, usually within an hour.

How can I pay? By card (Visa, Mastercard and others), Google Pay, Apple Pay or PayPal.

Where does the server physically run? In the OVHcloud datacenter in Limburg, Germany - with low latency across Central Europe.

What about DDoS attacks? DDoS protection is included with every server - the OVHcloud infrastructure has over 17 Tbit/s of mitigation capacity. Nothing to configure.

Can I move to a bigger plan later? Yes, anytime. You only pay the price difference and the plan upgrades immediately - your world, plugins and settings stay.

Summary

Decide Java vs. Bedrock based on your group's devices, pick RAM from the table (and add more for modpacks), choose Paper for plugins or Forge/Fabric for mods, turn on the whitelist, create your subdomain and set up backups. The whole thing takes less time than one night in the Nether.

When you're ready, pick your Minecraft server - it's up and running within minutes of ordering.