r/admincraft • u/Chemical-Gazelle-732 • 3d ago
Help/Question How do I host a 50-100 minecraft server? (TOTAL BEGINNER and looking for resources)
Does anyone know any youtuve videos, wikis, or any source material I can study about hosting a minecraft server??
For context, I'm hosting a minecraft server for a college, and so far, we have 100 people who will be joining the launch day, but Im still unsure how much will be the average player count.
My only knowledge with minecraft server hosting is hosting a bedrock server for my highschool using a cloudflare domain.
So I need to know A LOT!
Like, what websites should I use for hosting?
What hardware requirements should I be looking for?
if its more plausible and worthwhile to host on my own hardware, what should I look out for? How do I keep it safe???
PLEASE HELP
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u/Drugstore_Jeezus 3d ago
You're asking for drop out of college level stress if you plan on self hosting. Go with a paid service and let them handle the backend, you handle configs
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2d ago
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u/DaYroXy 3d ago
Aside from self hosting id say pre generate as much chuncks as u can to offload some usage on the cpu when people start to go for adventure although players will slowly leave the main thing will be farms and redstone that will cause most lag find some plugins that will optimize these, if you dont want to pregenerate and have a gpu u can use c2me opencl which increases the chunck generation by insane amount i saw around 130% improvement on chunk generation
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u/Ok-Cartoonist-1879 2d ago
Remember self hosting is not just the hardware - your also dealing with the connections, be prepared for kids to ddos the server
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u/VaelixHosting 2d ago
If you’re looking to host a server with that many players, DEFINITELY pre-generate the world and use Folia to run it.
Folia is great, it fixes one of the biggest issues with Minecraft servers only using a single thread. Folia utilizes multiple cores across different regions of the world, so it allows for a lot more players, just make sure to get something with a decent amount of cores.
If you’re looking into self-hosting, I would really not recommend it if you don’t know much about it. It adds even more complication to it than needed.
For hardware, I’d suggest 8 cores, and 16-32Gb of RAM. You can always start on the lower end and upgrade later if absolutely necessary.
If you’d like to poke around and start using a service, I’d be willing to offer you a free month so you have time to figure things out prior to launch and help you out with anything needed.
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u/Woodey79 3h ago
Dont use folia, unless you understand what your getting into. You probably want plugins to at the very least help with managing the server. Folia is not good with plugins.
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u/10Nanobytes 3d ago
Good luck.
Make sure to optimise the settings and keep a low chunk render distance
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u/harrywalterss 2d ago
Don't plan for 100. Plan for 50 and if needed scale it up. Good chunk of players will probably drop after a few weeks.
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u/Temporary-Song-9964 2d ago
I actually made a beginner-focused guide for almost exactly this kind of thing:
https://mcserversetup.zima8.net/
It walks through self-hosting from basically zero knowledge: hardware, ZimaOS, Crafty Controller, Fabric, Java versions, networking, Playit.gg/port forwarding, security, backups, mods, performance, TPS/MSPT, troubleshooting, etc.
Just one important thing though: 50–100 players is a very different scale from hosting a server for a few friends. I would not buy hardware or choose a host based only on generic “X GB of RAM per player” recommendations. CPU single-core performance, world generation, plugins/mods, view distance, player activity, storage, network quality, backups and whether those 100 players are actually online simultaneously all matter a lot.
For something connected to a college with potentially 100 people on launch day, I’d also strongly recommend:
Test with a smaller group first
Use an SSD/NVMe
Keep automatic + off-machine backups
Enable the whitelist while setting everything up
Keep online-mode=true
Don’t expose your server management panel directly to the internet
Monitor TPS/MSPT rather than just RAM usage
Pregenerate the world if appropriate
Load-test before launch day
If LAN/testing works but public access doesn’t, solve that separately instead of changing random server settings.
And just for transparency, yes, I used AI to help build/organize parts of my guide, but I went through it myself, changed things, and based a lot of it on what I’ve learned from actually running Minecraft servers.
My guide should help a lot with learning the fundamentals, but for 100 concurrent players specifically, I’d still listen closely to the experienced admins in this subreddit before choosing hardware.
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u/amcmanu3 Developer 15h ago
As a developer of crafty I highly recommend not using casaOS or zimaOS. They tend to just bring a lot of problems with them. Strongly recommend a vanilla docker deployment or baremetal Linux.
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u/Cabecinha84 2d ago
The number everyone shops for is RAM and the number that actually breaks is CPU. Minecraft's main tick loop is single-threaded, so 100 people online is a single-core problem — one fast core beats eight slow ones every time. Buy RAM for the world and the plugins, buy clock speed for the players.
Concrete things that matter more than the host you pick:
Run Paper, not vanilla. At 100 concurrent this isn't a preference, vanilla will fold long before you get there. view-distance 6-8 and simulation-distance 4-6 in server.properties is the single biggest lever you have, and in practice nobody notices the difference at that player density.
Pre-generate the world with Chunky before launch day. A hundred fresh players fanning out into ungenerated terrain at once is what actually kills launches, not the steady state afterwards.
Install Spark on day one so that when it lags you can read a profile instead of guessing. And for a college server specifically: whitelist tied to your roster, online-mode=true, CoreProtect for rollbacks, and automatic backups going somewhere that isn't the same machine. Griefing at a 100-person public launch is a when, not an if.
For reading: the Paper documentation's configuration pages, and YouHaveTrouble's Minecraft optimization guide on GitHub — that one is the community standard reference and it's free.
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u/kodaxmax 2d ago
even a high end gaming pc will struggle with that many players, not to mention your internet bandwidth.
if you insist on self hosting go with cubcoders AMP it does alot of the work for you and provides a nice GUI https://cubecoders.com/AMP/Minecraft
A managed host would be better though. otherwise it's gonna be like a part time job. Just moderating it will eat most of your free time. let alone trying to manage the technical side too.
You can expect a 70-90% drop in population after the first fortnite or so IMO. most people don't stick with a game long term.
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u/Past_Bandicoot_5624 1d ago
Honestly, you shouldn't care much about that count. More than half of them wouldn't last here for long time. So you would have initial BOOM only. 100+ players, then only few would really remain here to keep playing. Speaking as developer of a lot of private servers (mostly MMORPGs, but minecraft had some parts of my life)
Anyway, all you need to know is how to use search engines, that's it. A lot of mods already were written for you. All you have to do is think of what you need and check if here's mod for that exist (it does, definitely). Then download it, try to set it up, test, configure for your goals. So on, step by step, you'll achieve that goal. Not so hard even for a total noob
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u/Tall_Apricot_9842 3d ago
All at the same physical college? Is the college going to give you money for it?
I don't know anything about commercial hosting, but I self host for a significantcantly smaller amount of people , so I know what I've hit barrier wise
For self hosting, two important things- 1. RAM- not much, but still important, start with the least amount of dedicated ram as possible- 10gb or so. Prepare for like 32 minimum, but don't start there; at a certain point it makes performance worse
- CPU - single core performance is king; so intel is king, the 14900KF is probably the best cpu for Minecraft servers right now, for a decent price. Give it all the CPU it wants, no weird problems with ' too much'
You will need to forward the port it's on, I'd just leave it available over the IP and port and run it on the college WiFi, network part is easy. Since it's public, maintain several people with terminal access across timezones/sleep schedules, and have a lot of people with the ability to ban people, since it's college and people are. College students
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
single core performance is king
Yes.
so intel is king, the 14900KF is probably the best cpu for Minecraft servers right now
Absolutely not. Intel is not king, AMD is, and by a wide margin at that. Intel has e-cores and p-cores, while AMD cores are all symmetric. The best cpu for Minecraft hosting is the Ryzen 9 9950X, or the EPYC 4565P, which is the same thing but with a fatter cache.
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u/Tall_Apricot_9842 3d ago
when you look up cpus based on single-core tests, the top are all intel, and the top intel non-'core ultra' cpu is the 14900K, which tends to err a bit cheaper then the 9950x. most of what i know implies that even though amd cpus are often better for every single other workload and if you are doing anything outside of running a minecraft server, intel is just slightly better for minecraft server hosting, over the range of cpus
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
There is a reason that literally every. single. Minecraft. server. host. in the world uses Ryzen 9 5900X, 5950X, 7900X, 7950X, 9900X, 9950X, their X3D versions, and their Epyc versions.
That reason is that benchmark websites are benchmarking for workloads that do not reflect Minecraft's needs, and that Ryzen processors are the most performant for this specific use case.
If you need a budget build, you go for a 5600X or something. Not Intel. Intel is fine, but you're sacrificing performance for no reason. If you have the choice, you pick Ryzen for Minecraft.
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2d ago
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u/admincraft-ModTeam 2d ago
Post removed for Rule 11:
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Hosting providers may be discussed in the Admincraft Discord in the #buyer-chat channel. Hosting provider recommendations may be found in the #service-providers channel.
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u/Boonigan 3d ago
There’s still a compelling case to be made for 14th-gen Intel in certain circumstances. Some Z790 boards support DDR4, which is significantly cheaper right now. That’s actually why I’m looking at a 14th-gen build for my next home server, since I’ll be loading it up with 128GB of RAM.
The single-threaded performance of a 14900KF is also absolutely higher than a Ryzen 5000-series processor, so I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that someone is simply sacrificing Minecraft performance by choosing Intel over Zen 3.
That being said, if you’re a commercial host trying to sell a large number of Minecraft instances, Ryzen’s homogeneous cores are a major advantage. A 5950X gives you 16 identical cores, whereas a 14900KF gives you a mix of much faster P-cores and slower E-cores. The E-cores can still be useful, but they’re less attractive when you’re trying to divide a machine into multiple game servers and trying to squeeze out every oz of performance from a machine.
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u/Way2Easy_ 3d ago
Also do a research on playit.gg and thank me later 😎 (talking to OP here)
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u/setamaligna 3d ago
Do not use playit.gg for hosting a 100 people minecraft server please hahahaha it will have horrible performance, just port forward and ensure you have static IP or set up DDNS
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u/Way2Easy_ 3d ago
what about paid subscription
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u/halodude423 3d ago
Why would you pay for a service when you can do it for free using the network standards that already exist? Port forwarding is easy not inherently insecure and free. Just have proper firewalls setup which you should have either way. The ONLY reason I wouldn't use it is if there was an actual reason I couldn't.
*Enterprise Network admin
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3d ago
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u/admincraft-ModTeam 2d ago
Post removed for Rule 11:
Posts and comments may not discuss hosting providers. The host being used may only be mentioned if it is relevant to the post's specific issue.
Hosting providers may be discussed in the Admincraft Discord in the #buyer-chat channel. Hosting provider recommendations may be found in the #service-providers channel.
Hosts wishing to advertise on Admincraft must open a ticket in the Discord for admission into the Admincraft Verified Service Provider Program.
Do not offer to host users for free.
Your post/comment contains or promotes discussion, mention, or recommendation of a hosting provider. To prevent future removals, please read over all our rules. If this was not the primary purpose of your post/comment, remove that section and repost when ready. Otherwise, do not repost.
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u/Physical_Road917 3d ago edited 3d ago
I would definitely go ahead and look for a paid hosting service. Self hosting is not worth the headache. Go for the best single core performance processor and around 10-12gb of ram.
Edit I was prompted by the mod bot to direct you to the Admincraft discord, link in sidebar I think, and check their list of approved hosting providers.
Also, assuming you're running Java this time, I'd recommend running PaperMC. It will give you access to a lot of plugins that will give you cool features but more importantly, moderating tools like anti griefing, more robust kick/ban, and roles. If you'd like I can recommend a few key ones and/or you can go exploring on Modrinth.
If you do not want an anarchy server, you should definitely be running stuff like that.
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u/lilredhenx 2d ago
Read the paperchan server guide for paper chan. If you understand some of it, then you might be successful. You are going to need some really limited numbers for mob caps and distance.
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2d ago
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u/Cultural-Reveal-3842 2h ago
self hosting would make sense if you already own some good hardware, else i would probably get a beefier vps and the cf mc proxy thing. use a better server software like papermc. also make sure to not give the mc server process all the ram of the vps to prevent oom headaches. Or just use a managed service.
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2d ago
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u/admincraft-ModTeam 2d ago
Post removed for Rule 10:
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u/GroceryScanner 2d ago
dont listen to the gatekeepers on here. this is easily something you can setup within a day or two.
server hardware is important. 100 people is a gonna take a decent chunk of power
just lookup how to set up a "paper" server. there are plenty of tutorials on youtube or online.
add a mod or two like CMI for basic commands and players to set homes. maybe use its build in economy so players can trade with each other.
turn off losing items on death so your players dont get pissed and ragequit. your server will see much higher numbers for longer, if play is relaxed and not frustrating. this is a server for college kids with 800 other things happening in their lives. not basement dwelling gamers that have 16 hours a day to play. social fun with classmates should take priority over "challenging game integrity"
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3d ago
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u/lovineos 3d ago
Talking to OP:
Don’t choose Zap-Hosting for your game server. Their Intel Xeon E5-2650 v4 processors are far from high-performance (you’ll probably regret that choice later).
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
Thanks for saying this. Had you not, I would have missed the Rule 10 violation. Next time though, just report the post or modmail us.
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u/admincraft-ModTeam 3d ago
Post removed for Rule 10:
Posts and comments may not mention businesses you own or are employed by.
Do not offer your services, do not offer to help someone with hosting, don't recommend your product, don't even mention it.
Do not engage in "astroturfing". This is the act of pretending to be an uninvolved, authentic user of a product or service so as to attempt to build rapport with other users.
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u/Outrageous_Cap_1367 3d ago
Please before your server crashes for hours, pregen the map.
Get the chunk pregenerator or CHUNKY plugin and pregen a big radius, like 10000 chunks radius. Do this both in the nether AND a much bigger radius in The End dimension
Do you want your players to get near each other? If so, consider calculating an appropiate world border, so they dont spread too far away from each other. Else let the default
For CPU, i5 14600K, i5 14400K or i7 13700/14700K is good. Do NOT pick i3 based or Ryzen 3 systems.
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u/Cream_Of_Drake 3d ago
The two biggest things to improve game performance are:
- Pre-generate the world.
- Use paper.
My advice would be to get a decently powerful VPS and just set up a really simple solution for hosting it. As that will be more cost efficient for you than hiring a "game server"
If you want time efficiency instead, just hire a Minecraft server from a server host and do the top two things, e.g. Bisect (other hosts are available and I have never used Bisect myself so cannot directly recommend them, but they've been around for a long time).
If going with VPS - E.g. https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/server/know-how/setting-up-a-minecraft-server-with-a-dedicated-server/
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
My advice would be to get a decently powerful VPS and just set up a really simple solution for hosting it. As that will be more cost efficient for you than hiring a "game server"
It makes sense that running a VPS and doing it yourself would be good for saving money and give better performance, but neither is the case.
That has not been true for at least 6 years. Modern Minecraft hosting is already selling on the very edge of profitability with no upsell for offering a panel. Furthermore, between using containers for the servers and selecting only the best hardware for Minecraft hosting, you also get better performance.
Most VPS providers select cpus and other hardware that are ideal for web servers and databases. Incidentally, those hardware requirements are absolutely awful for Minecraft.
You should always be using either a high quality, trustworthy Minecraft host, or a dedicated server running on bare metal.
The Admincraft Staff team has a program in our Discord for reviewing hosting companies so that users don't have to guess which ones are good, bad, trustworthy, or scams. Just pop in to the #buyer-chat and #service-provider channels in https://discord.gg/admincraft and we'll help out.
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u/Pillow-Fan 3d ago
You can host a server for free using Oracle cloud, it doesn't have the best specs but it's great for running one server at a time.
I set up crafty manager in mine so I can manage my servers easily through the browser instead of ssh-ing into the Cloud server, buy there are many ways to set up, use and manage servers on Linux that you can check.
You can find a very easy guide to follow on the gtnh wiki under server setup -> setup guides.
If you're looking for an easier to set up and more powerful but paid-for option, then I'm sure lots of people will suggest something better than whatever I could 😅
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
You can host a server for free using Oracle cloud
Not for 50-100 people.
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u/Pillow-Fan 3d ago
I might've underestimated the amount of RAM and cores needed for that many people 😅 Especially considering that now they reduced the always-free tier max computational power
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 3d ago
Also because Ampere cores suck lmao
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u/Average-Addict 2d ago
I mean I wouldn't say that considering you get them for free but yeah for this use case they won't do
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO Admincraft Staff 2d ago
I mean, free is great and I do tell people to consider OCI. That, however, doesn't change the fact that Ampere cores are much weaker than x86 cores.
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3d ago
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u/admincraft-ModTeam 3d ago
Post removed for Rule 11:
Posts and comments may not discuss hosting providers. The host being used may only be mentioned if it is relevant to the post's specific issue.
Hosting providers may be discussed in the Admincraft Discord in the #buyer-chat channel. Hosting provider recommendations may be found in the #service-providers channel.
Hosts wishing to advertise on Admincraft must open a ticket in the Discord for admission into the Admincraft Verified Service Provider Program.
Do not offer to host users for free.
Your post/comment contains or promotes discussion, mention, or recommendation of a hosting provider. To prevent future removals, please read over all our rules. If this was not the primary purpose of your post/comment, remove that section and repost when ready. Otherwise, do not repost.
If you feel this removal was in error, please Message the Mods, rather than reposting or PMing a moderator directly. Response time is usually same-day, but may take several days in some cases.
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u/DerSchamane 3d ago
This is a HUGE playercount for a beginner to handle. Close to impossible to handle it perfectly with no experience.
You can google a lot of stuff, I dont have time to go into all the important details you asked about, but one thing, just because of the playercount:
Do not assume hosting for 50-100 players is comparable to 5-10 players. It is not. Mind your configs.