Real power for your Minecraft server

Yes. You can open one free server per account: the Starter package with 2 GB RAM, 1 core and 5 GB disk. It is completely free and there is no time limit. Capacity is limited, so if the pool is full you wait in a queue.

Java + Bedrock cross-play is available on 4 GB and larger plans; scheduled tasks on every paid plan. File Protection (automatic backups) is on for free servers too. The server sleeps after 15 minutes with no players online (the clock runs even if nobody ever joined); start it again and your world comes back exactly as it was. If you never start it for 30 days, the world and the server are deleted together. Letting your players start the server themselves through the waiting address is on for free servers too, and that start costs nothing.

For the hourly fee, no — stop your server whenever you like and no further hours are charged. Billing is hourly: each hour of usage is charged upfront at the start of that hour (1-hour minimum) and is non-refundable if you stop mid-hour. While your server is asleep, a player connecting through the waiting address starts it automatically and that hour is charged; if you'd rather not allow that, turn off “Let players start it” under Settings (on free servers there is no charge for this either). If your balance can't cover the next hour, the server is put to sleep automatically and its world is archived; File Protection is on for every server, so the archive is kept with no time limit. ⚠ The only exception is storage: every server includes 5 GB free; each GB beyond it carries a monthly fee that continues even while the server is stopped (your files stay on disk). If you are over, the amount is shown in the Storage box on your server page.

No. When your server stops or goes to sleep, its world is archived and restored exactly as it was when you start it again. File Protection is on and free on every server, so we take daily automatic backups, create a restore point about every 30 minutes while your server runs, and keep your world with no time limit. Backups are kept in your server's disk space; if you go past your free disk allowance you only pay monthly for the excess GB. On free servers, if you never start it for 30 days the world and the server are deleted together.

We give you your own stable address: yourworld.arcadeservers.com — it stays the same even if the IP changes, and every Java version joins through it. If you have turned cross-play on, mobile (Bedrock) players use the same address. Alongside it you also get a waiting address: yourworld.gir.arcadeservers.com. While your server is off, a player connecting there sees a short waiting screen, your server starts right then and they are let in automatically once it is ready. The waiting address works on Minecraft 1.20.5 and newer Java versions; older versions and Bedrock use the direct address. While the feature is on, the panel shows both addresses with one-click copy.

Yes, if you want them to. Alongside your direct address you also get a waiting address: yourworld.gir.arcadeservers.com. While your server is off, a player connects to that address, sees a “please wait” screen and is let in automatically once the server is ready — so you don't have to be around to start it. You decide who may start it. By default your server's own lists rule: if the whitelist is on, only the people on it; if it is off, operators (OPs) can; if you have neither, nobody can start it (and we let you know). Turn the second switch off in Settings and your server becomes open to everyone: any player who knows the waiting address can start it even if they are on none of your lists — that is the state to pick if you want to run an open community server. Careful: this switch only grants the right to START the server, not the right to play on it; if your server's own whitelist is on, a stranger starts your server, the hour is charged, but they are turned away. If you really want anyone to play, you have to turn your server's whitelist off too. You get a notification every time, naming who did it; if you want to cap your spending, use the daily spending limit in Settings. The hour that gets opened is charged to you; on free servers there is no charge. The feature is on by default on new servers and you can turn it off under Settings. The waiting address works on Minecraft 1.20.5 and newer Java versions; older versions and mobile (Bedrock) players use the direct address. While your server is off the direct address does not work, so be deliberate about which address you hand out.