Minecraft Server Hosting: Plans and How to Choose
What it takes to run a Minecraft server for friends or a community, how much RAM you actually need, and managed plans that skip the setup. Compare plans below, or follow the server guides to self-host.
See hosting plans →Compare managed hosting plans
Real specs and pricing. Pick a plan and your server is online in minutes, no setup.| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Per month | 12-mo /mo | Popular |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 75 GB NVMe | €10.99 | €8.99 | - |
| Standard | 6 vCPU | 12 GB | 100 GB NVMe | €16.99 | €13.99 | Popular |
| Premium | 8 vCPU | 24 GB | 200 GB NVMe | €29.99 | €24.99 | - |
| Ultimate | 12 vCPU | 48 GB | 250 GB NVMe | €49.99 | €41.99 | - |
| Enterprise | 16 vCPU | 64 GB | 300 GB NVMe | €84.99 | €69.99 | - |
| Dedicated | 18 vCPU | 96 GB | 350 GB NVMe | €109.99 | €89.99 | - |
Astroworld Managed HostingManaged Minecraft servers with instant setup, DDoS protection and 24/7 uptime. Online in minutes.See hosting plans →Self-hosting vs managed hosting
Self-hosting (on your own PC or a rented box) is free or cheap and fully in your control, but you handle Java, port-forwarding, updates and uptime. Managed hosting runs the server 24/7 for you with one-click setup, backups and DDoS protection, so you just play. The server guides cover self-hosting; the plans above cover managed.
How much RAM do you need?
- 2-4 GB: a few friends, vanilla or light plugins.
- 6-8 GB: 10-20 players or a modpack.
- 10 GB+: large modpacks, big communities or many plugins.
RAM and CPU together decide how many players and chunks the server handles before TPS drops, which the performance guides explain.
What to look for in a host
Prioritise good CPU (single-thread performance matters most for Minecraft), NVMe storage, DDoS protection, easy backups, and a control panel that lets you install Paper, mods and plugins in a click. The plans above are built on fast NVMe boxes with all of that included.
What actually decides whether a server runs well
Single thread speed matters more than core count
A Minecraft server does most of its work on one thread, so a processor with fewer, faster cores usually outperforms one with many slow ones. That is why a cheap plan on a shared machine with a high core count can still feel worse than a smaller plan on a fast one.
Memory is a ceiling, not a speedup
Giving a server more memory than it uses changes nothing about tick rate. Memory decides how many chunks and entities you can hold before the server starts struggling, and player count and world size are what push against that ceiling.
Distance to your players is the latency
No amount of hardware fixes a server on the wrong continent. Choosing a location near the people who actually play is the single largest change you can make to how the server feels, and it costs nothing extra.
Plugins and mods change the maths
A vanilla server and a heavily modded one with the same player count are not comparable workloads. Mods add entities, chunk generation work and their own tick costs, so a plan that is comfortable for a survival world can be tight for a modpack with the same eight players on it.
Backups are part of the hosting, not an extra
A world is the only thing on a server that cannot be rebuilt, and corruption from an unclean shutdown is the usual way it goes. Knowing where the backups are, how far back they go and how quickly one can be restored matters more on the day it happens than any performance number did.
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM do I need for a Minecraft server?
- Around 2-4 GB for a few friends on vanilla, 6-8 GB for 10-20 players or a modpack, and 10 GB or more for large modpacks and communities. CPU matters as much as RAM.
Is it better to self-host or use a hosting provider?
- Self-hosting is cheapest and fully in your control but you manage everything and your PC must stay on. Managed hosting costs a monthly fee but runs 24/7 with setup, backups and protection handled for you.
How do I make my server online 24/7?
- Either leave a dedicated machine running with port-forwarding configured, or use a managed host that keeps the server online for you. Managed hosting is the simplest way to stay online 24/7.
