How to Set Up a Minecraft Server in 2026
Why Run Your Own Minecraft Server?
Running your own Minecraft server gives you complete control over the experience. As of 2025, Minecraft has sold over 300 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling video game of all time.[1] With an estimated 170 million monthly active players, a significant portion run or play on private servers.
Hosting your own server also means you own your world data. You can back it up, transfer it, and keep it running for years without worrying about a third-party shutting things down. As former Mojang developer Henrik Kniberg noted: "Private servers give communities ownership over their experience. That sense of ownership is what keeps players coming back for years."
Step 1: Choose a Hosting Provider
You can self-host on your own hardware, but a dedicated game server host is the better option for most players. According to a SpigotMC community survey, over 72% of Minecraft server operators use a third-party hosting provider rather than self-hosting.[2] A good host gives you guaranteed uptime (99.9% or higher — measured over 12 months, that's less than 8.76 hours of downtime per year), DDoS protection, and low-latency connections.
Look for a provider that offers dedicated resources (not shared or oversold), has data centers close to your players, and provides a one-click setup for Minecraft specifically. HostSimple checks all of these boxes with servers in the US and EU.
Step 2: Pick Your Server Type
Vanilla Minecraft is the default experience, but most server owners choose a modified server jar for better performance. Paper is the most popular choice — it's a high-performance fork of Spigot with over 6.5 million downloads that includes optimizations and bug fixes while staying compatible with Bukkit and Spigot plugins.[3]
If you want modpacks, you'll need Forge or Fabric instead. Forge has a larger mod ecosystem with over 100,000 mods on CurseForge, while Fabric is lighter and loads 40-60% faster on startup. Pick whichever one supports the mods you want to run.
Step 3: Configure Server Settings
The server.properties file controls the core settings: game mode (survival, creative, adventure), difficulty, max players, view distance, and whether PvP is enabled. Start with a view distance of 10 and adjust based on performance.
The most important performance setting is your allocated RAM. A small server with 5-10 players needs at least 4 GB. Modded servers or servers with 20+ players should have 8 GB or more. HostSimple plans start at 4 GB and scale up to 32 GB.
Step 4: Install Plugins or Mods
Plugins add functionality without changing the core game — think land protection, economy systems, teleportation, and anti-cheat. According to SpigotMC's resource hub, the platform hosts over 90,000 plugins and has served over 500 million downloads.[4] EssentialsX, WorldGuard, and LuckPerms are the plugins most server owners install first.
Upload plugin .jar files to the /plugins folder and restart the server. Each plugin creates its own config folder where you can fine-tune settings. Start with a few core plugins and add more as your community grows.
Step 5: Invite Players and Go Live
Share your server IP address with your friends so they can connect from the Minecraft multiplayer menu. If you're using a host like HostSimple, you'll get a clean hostname like play.yourserver.hostsimple.io.
Set up a whitelist if you want to keep the server private. Use the /whitelist add <player> command in the console or in-game to add players. Once everyone is in, you're ready to play.