Hosting your own Minecraft server doesn’t have to be difficult. I’ve hosted my own servers for friends for the past few years, and it’s actually pretty simple to do.
On top of this, hosting your own Minecraft server comes with a whole heap of benefits that you’ll wonder how you lived without. Here are a few reasons why you should host your own Minecraft server at home like I do.
Host a Minecraft Server for Free on Your Computer
If you’re a Minecraft player, then you’ve likely used a multiplayer server at some point. While most massive online servers cost quite a bit to run, and there are companies that let you rent a small Minecraft server for you and some friends, all of that costs money. What if I told you that you could host a Minecraft server for free at home?
You don’t need super-beefy specs to host a Minecraft server. You can likely host it on your gaming computer, or even an old desktop or laptop that’s no longer in active use by others. In fact, you could even use something like a Raspberry Pi to host a Minecraft server if it’s just for a few friends. It really can be little to no cost to set up a Minecraft server at home.
Minecraft Server Hosting Is Actually Really Easy
If you’re on Windows, there are two pieces of software that make Minecraft server hosting extremely easy. Those on macOS or Linux only have one (primary) option that I’ll cover here today.
To start with, MC Server Soft is probably my favorite Minecraft server manager on Windows. I used it for the better part of a year to host several servers for my friends and me.
The interface is quite straightforward on MC Server Soft, and it supports both vanilla and modded servers. You can easily use it to run more than one server at a time (if your computer has the resources), and administration of things like the MOTD (message of the day) is nice and simple with MC Server Soft.
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How to Start Your Own Minecraft Server for Multiplayer Gaming
Minecraft is a timeless classic, and you don’t even need a crazy PC to host a server.
If you’re not a fan of MC Server Soft, or just simply not on Windows, then Crafty Controller 4 is what you’ll want to take a look at. I actually stopped using MC Server Soft and moved to Crafty Controller 4 on my Unraid server to help centralize my services, and it’s been a great experience.
Crafty Controller 4 supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, meaning everyone can enjoy this web-based Minecraft server manager. Like MC Server Soft, it also supports both vanilla and modded Minecraft instances.
The one thing that I dislike about Crafty, however, is that it’s slightly more complicated than MC Server Soft to use. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that complicated to use, it’s just certain aspects of it can be less straightforward. Overall, though, it’s still a relatively simple piece of software to use.
Both server managers install on your host system and help you stay on top of things. You’ll be able to update packages, add new files (for mods), back things up, and even change the resources allocated to the server with them. Plus, you can turn off servers that aren’t being actively used so they aren’t taking up extra resources. Really, it’s just determining if you want a native desktop app (MC Server Soft) or a web-based manager (Crafty Controller) to handle your Minecraft servers.
There’s one other thing to point out. For a Minecraft server to be accessible outside your network, you’ll need to open the server port and point it to the host computer. This is done on your router or modem, depending on what you’re using.
Typically, Minecraft servers start at port 25565 and go up from there in increments of one. You can port forward just 25565 if you want a single server, or even port forward 27000 or 16000 or whatever port you want. Just be sure to select that as the server port in your server manager software so it knows what to listen on. If you don’t do this, then your server won’t be accessible outside of your local network.
Playing With Friends Is Easier With Your Own Server
By default, Minecraft on your computer supports turning your world into a “server” when you’re actively playing. This just opens up the world to your LAN (local area network), and not a WAN (wide area network). Essentially, only those on your local network will be able to join and play in that world.
If you want your friends to be able to join from their house, then you’ll have to open the server up to the WAN. That’s what the port forwarding I talked about above does. When you do that, your friends will be able to join in from anywhere.
So long as they have an active internet connection, and your server is online, your friends will be able to join and play Minecraft with you — all without having to be at your home. This is a major benefit to hosting a server, because many people play Minecraft on a desktop and not a laptop, which means traveling with their computer can be a hassle (or just downright not possible).
By opening up your Minecraft server to your friends outside your local network, it adds a lot more possibilities to play.
Another huge benefit to this is that, so long as your server is online, your friends can log on and continue a building project or resource gathering—even if you’re not playing at the moment. My friends and I use this feature all the time. I’ll get on and resource gather (because that’s my favorite thing to do), and my friend will get on and build (because that’s what he’s great at). We will also sometimes get on and play at the same time, but it’s great that we don’t have to do that and can each play at our own leisure.
One thing to keep in mind about a server being always online, though, is that the world clock never stops. So, if you’re trying to keep track of 100/1,000/10,000 days inside the world, that counter will be vastly off compared to your playtime. This can be a benefit, however. If you use chunk loading mods, then your farms can run even if you’re not online.
This means that you’ll still be getting iron, wheat, and other stuff without having to AFK in the game. Before running a server, having to AFK at a farm was one of the most boring things for me to do in the game. The ability to have my farms run even when I’m not online is one of my favorite features of running a Minecraft server.
Running a Minecraft server doesn’t have to be difficult, and it can even be super fun. Just be ready for your friends to ask you to spin up additional servers for them or someone else. Once they know you can host a server, the requests start rolling in.
