How to Make a Minecraft Server in 2026

Running your own Minecraft server lets you control every aspect of your gameplay experience: choose who can join, install any mods or plugins you want, and build a community around your vision. In this guide, we'll walk through every step of creating a Minecraft server in 2026.

Self-Hosting vs Paid Hosting

The first decision you'll need to make is whether to host the server on your own computer or use a dedicated hosting provider. Each approach has its trade-offs.

For playing with a few friends on occasion, self-hosting works fine. For a community server that needs to be online 24/7 with good performance and security, a hosting provider is the better choice. Most serious servers use paid hosting because of the reliability, DDoS protection, and the fact that your home internet connection isn't exposed.

Choosing Your Server Software

Minecraft servers can run different software, each with its own strengths:

• Vanilla — The official Mojang server. No plugins, no mods, just pure Minecraft. Good for a small group that wants the unmodified experience.
• Paper — The most popular choice for plugin servers. Significantly better performance than Vanilla with full Bukkit/Spigot plugin support. Recommended for most servers.
• Spigot — The original plugin-capable fork. Paper is based on it but adds more optimizations. Still widely used.
• Purpur — Built on Paper with extra configuration options and gameplay tweaks. Great if you want maximum customization.
• Fabric — A lightweight modding framework. Ideal for modded servers, especially with performance mods like Lithium and Starlight.
• Forge — The classic modding platform. Required for many popular modpacks like RLCraft, All the Mods, and Create.

For a detailed comparison, check out our Best Minecraft Server Software guide.

Setting Up with a Hosting Provider

Using a hosting provider is the easiest path to getting a Minecraft server online. Here's the process:

1. Choose a plan — Pick a plan based on how many players you expect and whether you'll use mods. For a Vanilla or Paper server with 10-20 players, 4-8GB of RAM is a good starting point. Check our RAM guide for specific recommendations.
2. Select your server software — Most hosts let you pick your JAR during setup. Paper is the default recommendation for plugin-based servers.
3. Access the control panel — Hosts like New Life Host include a custom game panel, which gives you a web-based console, file manager, scheduler, and SFTP access.
4. Configure server.properties — Set your MOTD, max players, difficulty, game mode, and other settings through the file manager or panel.
5. Install plugins or mods — Upload plugin JARs to the /plugins folder (Paper/Spigot) or /mods folder (Fabric/Forge).
6. Share your IP — Give players your server address and they can connect.

Setting Up a Self-Hosted Server

If you prefer to host on your own machine, here's how:

1. Install Java — Minecraft 1.21+ requires Java 21 or newer. Download it from Adoptium.
2. Download the server JAR — Get Paper from papermc.io, or whichever server software you chose.
3. Create a start script — Create a file called start.bat (Windows) or start.sh (Mac/Linux) with:
   java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar paper.jar --nogui
   Replace 4G with however much RAM you want to allocate.
4. Accept the EULA — Run the script once. It will create eula.txt. Open it and change eula=false to eula=true.
5. Port forward — Log into your router (usually 192.168.1.1) and forward port 25565 (TCP) to your computer's local IP address.
6. Run and connect — Start the server again. Players on your network use localhost to connect. External players need your public IP (find it at whatismyip.com).

Configuring Your Server

Key settings in server.properties you should adjust:

• motd — The message shown in the server list. Make it descriptive.
• max-players — Set this to a realistic number for your hardware.
• difficulty — hard is standard for survival servers.
• view-distance — Lower values (8-10) improve performance. Higher values (16+) look better but use more RAM.
• simulation-distance — Controls how far from players entities are ticked. 6-8 is good for performance.
• white-list — Set to true if you want to control who can join.
• spawn-protection — Protects the area around spawn from non-ops. Set to 0 to disable or a number for radius.

Next Steps

Once your server is running, you'll want to:

• Optimize your server for the best TPS
• Install essential plugins (EssentialsX, LuckPerms, WorldEdit)
• Set up automated backups
• Configure a whitelist or anti-cheat system