Yes, you can make a Minecraft server for free, and you've got three honest routes to do it. Free Minecraft server hosting sites like Aternos and Minehut run it for you. Mojang's official server software runs on your own PC. Or a free cloud tier like Oracle's Always Free gives you a small machine that never switches off. None of them cost money. All of them cost something else, whether that's waiting in a queue, a server that falls asleep, a 1GB RAM cap, or an evening spent learning port forwarding.
The short answer: if you just want to play with a few friends tonight, use Aternos. If you need the server up 24/7 for free, the only real way is to run it yourself, either on a PC you leave on or on Oracle's free cloud tier. Here's how each route actually behaves as of October 2026.
Best free Minecraft server hosting at a glance
| Route | RAM | Player slots | Stays on 24/7? | Editions | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aternos | Shared pool, no fixed number | No slot limit (Aternos's own claim) | No, it sleeps when nobody's online | Java and Bedrock | Lowest |
| Minehut (free plan) | 1GB per server | 10 | No, only the paid Ultimate plan stays up | Java and Bedrock | Low |
| Your own PC | Whatever your PC can spare | Limited by your hardware and connection | Only while your PC is on | Java and Bedrock (official server software) | Medium: Java install, port forwarding |
| Oracle Cloud Always Free | Up to 12GB on the Arm tier | Limited by the VM | Yes | Whatever you install (the steps below are Java) | Highest: SSH, firewall rules, a card at signup |
Free tiers change constantly, so check the host's own page before you commit a world you care about.
Route 1: free hosted servers (Aternos, Minehut and friends)
Aternos
Aternos's homepage says it plainly: "Minecraft servers. Free. Forever." There's nothing to pay for on Aternos at all. It's the biggest name in free hosting. It ranks first when you search how to make a free server, and most roundups lead with it.
- Both editions. Java and Bedrock (Bedrock runs on the official server software).
- Mods and plugins. On Java you can run Vanilla, Snapshots, Paper, Spigot, Purpur, Glowstone, Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, Quilt, Arclight and modpacks. If you're after free Minecraft server hosting with mods, that list covers pretty much every loader you'd want.
- The nice extras. DDoS protection, automatic backups to Google Drive, uploading your own world, custom domains, shared access for co-admins and a live console.
- RAM is the fuzzy part. Aternos doesn't give you a fixed amount. RAM comes from a shared pool, and you can temporarily boost it through a partnership with Medal (you install their app and record Minecraft clips). For "even more RAM," Aternos points you to its paid sister service, exaroton.
The trade-off everyone talks about: your server sleeps when nobody's on, and when someone wants back in, there's a startup queue. Players report waits of several minutes at peak times, with ads while you wait.
Minehut
Minehut is free, needs no credit card, and has no playtime limits. Its free plan gets you up to 5 servers, each with 1GB of RAM and 10 player slots. Java players join through mc.minehut.com and Bedrock players through bedrock.minehut.com.
Free servers automatically sleep when the last person leaves and wake when someone joins. Minehut is upfront that only its paid Ultimate plan stays online 24/7 and never sleeps. Paid plans add RAM and slots, and upgrading means hibernating and restarting the server.
The rest of the pack
FalixNodes and MineKeep also rank for free hosting searches. The specs people quote for their free tiers vary, so read the plan page on the day you sign up.
Aternos vs Minehut: which one should you use?
For most friend groups I'd pick Aternos. The no-slot-limit claim and the huge list of server software (especially Forge, Fabric and modpacks) matter more than anything Minehut's free plan gives you, and a hard 1GB is tight once you add more than a handful of players or any real mods.
Minehut's strengths are clarity and multiples. You know exactly what you're getting (1GB, 10 slots), you can run five free servers on one account, and the join addresses are simple.
Neither one is a free 24/7 Minecraft server. Both sleep when empty, and on Minehut always-on is a paid feature.
How to make a free Minecraft server on a hosted site
- Pick the host and the edition. Java or Bedrock has to match what your friends play. Want Forge, Fabric or a modpack? Aternos lists all of them.
- Sign up. Neither Aternos nor Minehut asks for a credit card.
- Choose your server software. Vanilla for plain survival. Paper, Spigot or Purpur if you want plugins. Fabric, Forge or NeoForge (or a modpack) if you want mods.
- Bring a world if you have one. Aternos lets you upload a custom world, so you can carry over a singleplayer save.
- Turn on backups. On Aternos, hook up Google Drive backups before you build anything you'd cry about losing.
- Start it and share the address. Just expect a wait to get back in (sometimes a queue) every time it falls asleep.
If some of your friends don't own Minecraft yet, my guide to the legit ways to play Minecraft for free covers what's actually out there.
Route 2: how to host a Minecraft server for free on your own PC
Mojang's official server software is free for both Java and Bedrock, straight from minecraft.net/en-us/download/server (Bedrock's dedicated server has its own download page, and it runs on Windows or Linux). Here's the Java route as of October 2026:
- Install Java. The Java server needs a compatible Java Runtime Environment.
- Download the server jar. As of October 2026 it's
minecraft_server.26.3.jar. The filename changes with every Minecraft release. - Run it. The official command is
java -Xmx4G -Xms4G -jar minecraft_server.26.3.jar nogui. The4Gvalues are the RAM you're handing the server, so drop them if your PC can't spare 4GB. - Open the port. For friends outside your house to connect, forward port
25565on your router for Java, or the Bedrock default ports for Bedrock, and allow it through your firewall.
The official download page links the Minecraft Wiki's "Setting up a Java Edition server" tutorial for the full walkthrough.
The catch with self-hosting is that the server lives and dies with your PC. It's only up while that machine is on and your home internet holds up, and leaving a gaming PC running all day isn't free in electricity. In return you get no queue, no ads, no sleep timer, and every bit of RAM you can spare.
Route 3: a free 24/7 Minecraft server on Oracle Cloud
This is the one route that's genuinely free and always on. As of October 2026, Oracle's Always Free tier includes an Arm (Ampere A1) instance with 12GB of memory, usable as one VM or two, capped at 1,500 OCPU hours and 9,000 GB hours a month. That works out to roughly two OCPUs running nonstop. You also get 200GB of block storage and 10TB of outbound data a month.
Two things to know before you get excited:
- Oracle wants a credit or debit card at signup to verify who you are, even though Always Free doesn't charge you. Aternos and Minehut don't.
- You're the sysadmin. You'll SSH in, install Java, run the server, and open ports in Oracle's security lists as well as the VM's own firewall. If a little command-line work doesn't scare you, it's the best free setup there is. If it does, stick with Aternos.
Oracle has changed this allocation before, so a guide still promising 24GB of Arm RAM is out of date. Check the Always Free page before you plan around the numbers.
The catch: what "free" really costs you
Every free route makes you pay in something other than money. The complaints come up over and over:
- Sleep timers. Hosted free servers shut down when empty, and getting back in means waiting for the server to wake up.
- Queues and ads. Waking an Aternos server can mean a wait, longest at peak hours.
- RAM caps. 1GB on Minehut, a shared pool on Aternos. Fine for vanilla with friends, rough for big modpacks.
- No dedicated IP. A regular gripe with free tiers.
- Lost worlds. People lose builds they never backed up. Turn backups on.
When should you just pay? Once your server goes public, gets busy, or runs heavy mods, the free tiers stop keeping up and paid hosting starts making sense. And if all you want is a small, always-there world for a few friends with zero admin, Mojang's own Realms subscription may be the simpler answer. My breakdown of what Minecraft actually costs has the Realms pricing. If you'd rather join a server than run one, start with my list of the best skyblock servers.
Why running a world for your friends is still this much work
The free hosts make you wait and nap on their schedule. The truly free always-on route assumes you can administer a Linux box, and self-hosting turns your PC into infrastructure. That's just what running a world means on most platforms, where hosting is a separate job from playing.
A different take on player hosting
Folly is an upcoming standalone multiplayer voxel game, free with no purchases required, entering early access on October 16, 2026. Its plan is that player-hosted servers roll out during early access, and that a server you host connects to other players' worlds through portals instead of IP addresses. That part hasn't shipped yet, so treat it as a plan. Details are on the hosting and creators page.