Lodehost
Four ways to run a Minecraft server
| Option | What it costs | Who can join | Online when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open to LAN | Nothing | Players on the same home network | Only while you are playing |
| A server on your own PC | Electricity, and a PC that stays on | Anyone you give your address to | As long as your PC runs it |
| A free hosting service | Nothing in money, often limits instead | Anyone with the address | Depends on the service |
| A rented server | From €3.95 a month with us | Anyone with the address | Day and night, until you stop it |
Open to LAN is the pause menu button in single player. It is fine for two people in one house and nothing more: the world closes the moment the host leaves.
How to host a free Minecraft server on your own PC
This is the real free option, and it works well for a group that plays at the same times. Mojang gives the Java server away as a single file. The steps in short:
Install the right Java
Each Minecraft version needs a certain Java version, and the server refuses to start on one that is too old. Which Java a server needs has the table.
Download the server and accept the EULA
Put
server.jarfrom minecraft.net in an empty folder and start it once. It stops again and writeseula.txt. Changeeula=falsetoeula=trueand start it a second time; now it builds the world.Open port 25565 on your router
Friends outside your house need a port forward for TCP port 25565 to your PC. Some internet providers put customers behind a shared address, called CGNAT, and then a port forward does nothing; in that case only your provider can help.
Give your friends your public IP address
They type it under Multiplayer. Your home address changes now and then with many providers, so the address you shared last week may not work next week.
Your home address goes with it
Everyone who joins sees the public IP of your home connection. That is fine among friends you know, less so on a server you share in a public list.
Free Minecraft hosting: what to check first
Several services give you a server without asking for money. They have to pay for the hardware somehow, so each one draws its lines somewhere. Before you build a world there that you care about, find out where those lines are:
| Ask this | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does the server stop when nobody is online? | Then a friend cannot just join. Someone has to start it first, sometimes through a website. |
| Is there a queue to start it? | A wait of minutes on a busy evening adds up fast. |
| How much memory do you get? | A modpack that asks for 8 GB will not run in 2. |
| Can you upload your own mods, plugins and worlds? | Some only offer a fixed list. |
| Can you download the whole world? | If you can take it with you, you can move to another host later without starting over. |
| Are there ads, on the server or in the address? | Some show adverts to players or give you an address with their name in it. |
None of this makes a free host a bad start. It is a fine way to find out whether your group sticks with a world. Just keep a copy of the world, so leaving stays an option.
What a 24/7 Minecraft server really means
A 24/7 server runs whether or not you are at your computer. That is the part a free setup finds hardest: a PC at home has to stay on, and a free host usually wants something in return for staying on. A rented server runs in a data centre, keeps going at night and while you are on holiday, until you stop it or the period you paid for ends.
It matters most when players live in different time zones, when someone runs farms that should keep working, or when the server is public and new players can turn up at any hour.
When a paid server is worth it
- Your friends want to join when you are not there.
- The world has grown into something you would hate to lose, and you would rather it did not live on a PC at home.
- You want to run a modpack that needs more memory than a free service or your own PC can give.
- You would rather not hand your home IP address to every player.
If one of those fits, what a Minecraft server costs lists every size and price. Our smallest plan is Camp with 2 GB at €3.95 a month on a 24 month term. A world you started for free comes along: moving a server to a new host shows how, and we help with the move.
Written and checked by the Lodehost team, last reviewed on 24 September 2026.
