9 Best Free Minecraft Server Hosting Sites

This post was last updated on March 1, 2023

Looking for some free Minecraft server hosting? These are the best providers out there.

Hosting a Minecraft server can be a lot of fun (although often costly). If you are on a tight budget but still want to host a Minecraft server, these providers for free Minecraft servers are the best way forward.

We’ve listed our favorite websites which offer free Minecraft server hosting, so you can skip the research and jump straight into the action.

What is the Best Free Server Hosting for Minecraft?

There are a lot of free hosts out there, if we had to recommend one, it would be Aternos. Their plan is super simple, it’s really easy and instant to setup, they support all plugins and Minecraft mods, have automatic backups, and even DDoS protection.

Best Free Minecraft Server Hosting Provider List

This list shows the best places to host your Minecraft server for free. We’ve made notes of the pros, cons, and limitations for each provider to help you decide.

1. Aternos

Aternos is probably the best place to host a Minecraft server for free. It offers easy and instant setup, plugins and mods, automatic backups, and DDoS protection to keep your Minecraft server safe from overloads.

For free, there really isn’t much to complain about. Servers can even be optimized in custom ways to ensure the best performance possible. You can start playing right away!

Pros

• Mod and plugin support
• Automatic backup
• Expert support team
• Fully fledged file manager and control panel
• Quick and easy to use

Cons

• A limited number of mods and plugins
• No standard config file capability

2. Server.pro

Server Pro offers server hosting for a range of popular games. They are one of the few sites which offer free servers for Minecraft. For free, you are given 2 virtual cores with 1GB of memory. Sure, this isn’t the most robust server, but for free its not bad.

Pros

• Up to 10 players for free
• 10 plugins
• Easy plugin install

Cons

• Not instant, you have to wait in a queue
• Limited player counts
• No mods on the free plan.
• No automatic backups

3. Minefort.com

Minefort is another website that lets you play and manage a server for your friends, free of charge. These let you choose from a range of locations to maintain a good gaming experience with low latency. It offers a bunch of new features and possibilities, and you can easily upgrade your server to have unlimited slots or more control options.

Pros

• Lag-free experience
• Easy to use and quick to play
• Powerful console to run commands
• Install any plugin

Cons

• Limitations on maximum players
• Limited mods

4. Minehut

Minehut is a core server host in the scene and has many high-profile community members who run large, popular servers using their services.

Minehut lets you host your own free game server, and gives full control over all the important settings with the control panel.

You get access to a range of features, and the servers are powerful enough to run large and complex maps.

Pros

• 10 players for free
• 1 GB ram
• Great dashboard for server status
• Easy settings upload

Cons

• No mods or plugins

5. Scalacube

As far as free server hosts go, Scalacube is a fantastic service. It boasts 24/7 access, DDOS protection, instant setup, backups, a free MySQL database, excellent support, FTP access, and you can customize your servers as much as you like. These servers are easily scaled, so you can quickly upgrade the functionality with a paid plan when things start to go well.

Pros

• Great support team
• Broad features
• DDoS protection
• Quick and easy to play with friends

Cons

• Not strictly a Minecraft server host
• Overcomplex setup compared to others

Honorable Mentions

• Falixnodes
• Magmanode
• Freemcserver.net
• Skynode

What is Minecraft Server Hosting

Minecraft server hosting is a service that lets users run Minecraft servers without needing to run the server client on their own computer. Essentially, it runs a Minecraft server in the cloud. This makes it super easy for people to create their own Minecraft server without needing lots of knowledge, or even a powerful enough computer.

How to Set Up a Free Minecraft Server

Follow these steps to create and share a Minecraft server using a host.

1. Register an account with the hosting provider
2. Configure your server files and server folder
3. Use a plugin manager to add any plugins or mods (if available)
4. Activate the server
5. Connect to, and share, the server using the given server address.

Minecraft Server Hosting Requirements

Hosting a Minecraft server requires the following computer specifications:

Players – CPU – RAM – DISK SPACE

• 1 to 2 – 2 GHz+ – 2GB – 10GB
• 3 to 5 – 3.4 GHz+ – 5GB – 18GB
• 6+ – 3.6 GHz+ – 8GB – 25GB

These are just the minimum requirements, although the recommended specifications are a little higher, and will give better performance.

You also need to account for some extra disk space to make from for backup storage

How are These Minecraft Server Host Sites Free?

You might be wondering, how on earth can these Minecraft server hosts give away their services for free? Well, these sites generate revenue in the following way

1. Advertisement
2. Offering premium services

Summary

Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch? Using the power of crowd-sourcing and advertising, you can host a Minecraft server for free (it almost sounds good to be true). This is a great way to save money on your electricity bill, and it also means you don’t need any server hardware yourself. Enjoy your new Minecraft world! Don’t forget to bookmark this page to keep the list handy.

FAQs About Free Minecraft Server Hosting

How Do I Host a Minecraft Server for Free?

You can host a Minecraft server for free by using a free server host provider. There are a bunch of websites that let you host your own Minecraft server for free! Look at our full list of the best host sites above., and a step-by-step guide on how to use them.

How to Make a 24/7 MC Server Free?

You can make a 24/7 Minecraft server for free in a number of ways. You could use your own computer to run the server, although this will cost you for electricity use, which can add up if you run it 24/7. Alternatively, (and more easily) you can use a free server hosting provider. Check out the list above for the best recommendations.

Is Aternos Really Free?

Yes! Aternos Minecraft server hosting is really free. It’s all funded through website advertisement, meaning you can host a server without spending a cent!