If you’re thinking of setting up (or switching to) a VPS for Minecraft, you’ve come to the right place. If not, read on and you might change your mind.
Since it was born more than a decade ago, Minecraft has become one of the world’s best-selling games of all time and a cultural phenomenon that attracts more than 132 million ambitious players every month. With its simple, colorful, Lego-like visual style and sandbox survival game design, it’s no wonder Minecraft has become an international icon of creativity.
However, Minecraft wouldn’t exist without its engaged online and real-world communities, constantly creating new mods and transforming the game into something new and captivating. Today, Minecraft comes in many shapes and sizes, including on PCs, game consoles, virtual reality (VR), and smartphones, giving gamers a lot of freedom in how to play the game.
While many Minecraft players are happy with this amount of freedom, others are wondering how to create a private virtual space where they can hang out with their closest friends. So if you are one of them, consider using a virtual private server (VPS). While you could also use a dedicated server, they come at a high price and could blow your budget in a couple of months. So if you’re not making any money, stick with VPS.
Before we get to the actual steps on how to set up a Minecraft server with a VPS, let’s learn a bit more about Minecraft servers, VPS, and why you’d want to combine them.
What is a Minecraft server?
In simple terms, a Minecraft server is a game server created to host online multiplayer lobbies of the game developed by Mojang Studios and called (you guessed it) Minecraft. By using their own computers as Minecraft servers or using web hosting services (usually for superior performance) to set up a game server for their Minecraft world, players can shape the game in ways that were previously not allowed. For example, they can grant or withhold specific roles from other players, choose how things are generated, or reshape game physics to be more realistic or completely surreal.
What is VPS?
While VPS is most often used by individuals and small and medium-sized businesses setting up their websites and developing their online presence, this solution can also serve as a great, secure and stable gaming server. It will provide its user with a completely isolated virtual environment that is based on a complete server. Since you won’t get dedicated server space with a VPS, it comes at a cheaper price.
However, it’s called “private” because you won’t be forced to share RAM, bandwidth, and other resources with other VPS accounts (as is the case with shared hosting), since this type of server separates your files from everyone else. other users using the operating system (OS).
How to set up a Minecraft server using a VPS
While you have the option of renting a pre-built Minecraft server, setting it up on a VPS will significantly reduce the cost and give you full control over it. So if you are planning to set it up on your own, here are the crucial steps:
1. Consider your needs and choose a suitable VPS solution
It goes without saying that buying a VPS solution is the first step in setting up a Minecraft server on such a solution. When doing this, make sure you choose a solid VPS provider, but also consider the cost in relation to the number of players you want to host on your server. For example, if you don’t plan to host more than 20 players, a VPS solution that offers 1 GB of RAM and 20 GB of storage space should be enough.
2. Connect to the VPS via SSH
The next step can be a bit tricky if you’re not tech-savvy (or have friends who are), and it involves connecting to the VPS using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. Since the most widely used SSH client is PuTTY (that is, if you’re using Windows, macOS, or Linux), you can start by downloading and running it on your system. Next, find a Hostname (IP address), copy your VPS IP address (provided by your VPS service provider), and paste it into the “Hostname” field.
After this, you’ll also want to enter the username (also provided by your VPS provider), into the SSH terminal, and type in the password to log into the VPS. Now, connect to your VPS via SSH, and once the link is done, you can set up your server the way you want.
3. Install JDK
While in SSH, install the Java Development Kit (JDK). Before you create a Minecraft server, you’ll need to make sure you download the latest version of Java. Once the server is up to date, enter an appropriate command in your console (for example, on Ubuntu it is “apt install openjdk-16-jdk”).
4. Download and install Minecraft on your VPS
The next step is to create a separate directory for all of your Minecraft content, including your Minecraft installation. You can do this by running another command in the SSH terminal (such as “mkdir –p /Minecraft”) and then navigating to it with another command (“cd /Minecraft”).
Once this is complete, it’s time to install Minecraft, so be sure to check the official Minecraft site for the latest updates.
5. Accept the EULA
While this sounds like something from Captain Obvious’s bag of tips, before you run the Minecraft server app, you’ll need to agree to the EULA terms and conditions. Also, try to read what you accept. This can also be done with a single command (“echo “eula=true” > eula.txt”).
6. Start your Minecraft server
Once everything is set up, it’s time to run your Minecraft server, and you can do it via a command like this “java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui”. Also, try to be patient while waiting for operations running on the SSH command line to complete.
Benefits of setting up a Minecraft server using VPS
A VPS server not only offers good value for money, but it is also considerably cost-effective, since it basically offers the functionality of a dedicated server without the expensive part. Also, since you won’t be sharing your server with anyone, you have full control over it, including root access.
Security-wise, with VPS you can expect to get a full suite of security features (including automatic and manual data backup), which means all your data should be safe and secure.
Since VPS is a highly scalable solution, you will be able to scale your resources up or down with no problem. Plus, with your Minecraft server hosted in the cloud, you can expect faster performance and lower latency.
At the same time, having your own Minecraft server means that you will be the one making the decisions, choosing which mods to install, and building your community.
Taking your Minecraft worlds to the next level
If you are thinking of setting up your Minecraft VPS server, now is the perfect time to do it. VPS solutions provide powerful performance combined with long-term scalability, high customizability, complete access and control, hardened security, and cost-effective pricing. So it’s no surprise that it can also work wonders in your Minecraft world.