Game servers

How to make a Minecraft Java server: Paper, Spigot or Forge

A Minecraft Java server starts in a few minutes. What takes longer is choosing the right server software and the memory, because they decide whether it runs smoothly with plugins or modpacks. This guide takes you through all of it, up to the moment the first friend joins.

Updated on 16 October 20263 min readThe NeoHost team

Java or Bedrock

Minecraft has two editions, which cannot connect to each other: Java Edition, on computers, and Bedrock, on consoles, phones and Windows. Almost all plugins and large modpacks are for Java. NeoHost servers are Java Edition, so this guide is about Java.

Paper, Spigot or Forge

Paper: a server built from Spigot, with performance optimizations. It runs Bukkit and Spigot plugins and is the usual choice for a survival or SMP server with plugins.
Spigot: the project Paper starts from. You pick it when a particular plugin needs Spigot.
Forge: for mods and modpacks. Mods change the game for the players too, so every player needs the same mods installed, in the same version.

Plugins run only on the server, and players join with the regular Minecraft. Mods need the same files both on the server and on every player’s computer.

How much memory you need

Every plan has unlimited slots: you do not pay per player. The real limit is memory, which goes on the world, the plugins, the mods and the players online.

Iron: 1 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 20 GB NVMe, €4.99 a month.
Diamond: 2 vCPU, 6 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe, €9.99 a month.
Netherite: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 60 GB NVMe, €14.99 a month.

Iron is for a small group of friends or a new world. Diamond is for a growing server with plugins. Netherite is for a large server, with mods or a lot of events. If you run out of memory, move to the next plan from the panel and the world stays where it is.

The steps

Order the plan from the Minecraft page. The server installs itself in under a minute after payment, and the panel login details arrive by email.
Pick the server software, Paper, Spigot or Forge, and the Minecraft version your players have.
Set up the server in server.properties: the name in the server list in motd, the game mode and the difficulty. Leave online-mode=true, so only real Minecraft accounts can join.
Upload the plugins (.jar files) over SFTP to the plugins folder or, on Forge, the mods to the mods folder, then restart from the panel.
Join the server: in Minecraft, go to Multiplayer, Add Server, and enter the server address. The default port is 25565; if your server has a different port, add it after the address, with a colon.

Already have a world? Upload it over SFTP in place of the generated one and restart. If you like, support can move it over from your old provider.

On a VPS, with GameReady™ OS

If you want several servers on the same machine, for example a lobby and a few worlds behind a proxy, you need a VPS. On a Ruby VPS with GameReady™ OS you connect over SSH and type minecraft install: you choose Paper or vanilla and the version, and the installer sets up Java, accepts the EULA and starts the server with an RCON console. It needs at least 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 4 GB of disk.

Where it usually goes wrong

Different versions: a player on 1.21 cannot join a server on another version. Choose the server version to match your players.
A plugin for another version: after a Minecraft update, some plugins stop starting until their authors update them. The error shows up in the console at startup.
Different mods on the server and the player’s side: on Forge, the player gets a list of mods that do not match and cannot join.
Too little memory: the server starts to lag as it nears the limit. In the console you see warnings that it cannot keep up.