Your server goes to sleep when nobody is playing, which stops your balance from draining. But a sleeping server leaves your players at the door until you open the panel and start it. Let players start it solves exactly that: your players start the server themselves and you do nothing.

It is on by default on newly created servers (network setups aside). If you don't want it, one switch in Settings turns it off.

The difference between the two addresses

While the feature is on, the panel shows two addresses and both copy with one click:

  • Direct address — yourname.arcadeservers.com. Every Java version joins here, and mobile (Bedrock) players too if cross-play is on. While your server is off, this address does not work.
  • Waiting address — yourname.gir.arcadeservers.com. It accepts connections even while your server is off: the player sees a short waiting screen, your server starts, and they are let in on their own once it is ready.

In practice the rule is simple: if you want your players to be able to start the server, give them the waiting address. When you change your server's name both addresses follow it; there is nothing extra to do.

What the player sees

  1. The player adds the waiting address in Minecraft as a server and joins.
  2. If the server is off they land on a “PLEASE WAIT” screen that shows the server's state live.
  3. Once the server is ready the player is sent through automatically — no need to quit and rejoin.
  4. If the server is already up there is no waiting at all; the player goes straight in.

Starting can take a few minutes while your world is restored from the archive and the server is prepared. You get a notification each time, so you always know when your server was started and by whom.

Who is allowed to do it?

You choose. Right under the main switch in Let players start it there is a second switch: “Only my whitelist and operators may start it”. It has two states:

  • On (the default) — only your own lists. Who may start the server is decided by your server's lists; we don't keep a separate one:
    • Whitelist on → only the players on it may start the server.
    • Whitelist off → operators (OP) may start it.
    • Both empty → nobody can start it; we notify you when a player tries.
    That last rule is deliberate: joining a server is free, but starting one means an hour is charged to your balance. So when a server's lists are empty or could not be read, we give the right to start to nobody. If you want anyone to be able to start it, you choose that explicitly by turning the second switch off in Settings.
  • Off — your server is open to everyone. Any player who knows the waiting address can start it, even if they are not on your whitelist and not an operator. This is the state to pick if you want to run an open community server. What it costs: the hour it opens is charged to you, and the notification tells you who did it. There is no cap on the number of starts, so anyone who knows the address can start it as often as they like. If you want to keep spending under control, the daily spending limit in Settings is the one real tool: your server stops once it reaches it. On free servers nothing is charged.
  • A single start can mean a long day. As long as the player who started it stays connected, your server stays up and the hourly charge keeps running; idle sleep only kicks in once the server is empty. Since the number of starts is not capped either, the only thing that really caps spending is a daily spending limit: your server stops once it reaches it. If you run a server that is open to everyone, we recommend setting one.
  • Careful: starting and playing are two different things. 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 and you switch to open-to-everyone, a stranger starts your server, the hour is charged, and they are turned away at the door — the money goes, the game does not happen. If you really want anyone to be able to play, you also have to turn your server's whitelist off from the Players section.

If you want only the people you invited to start it, leave the second switch on, then turn the whitelist on from the Players section and add their names. Changes you make while the server sleeps still count; the current list is read the next time it starts. You can flip the switch back at any time and your choice is remembered.

Limits

  • No cap on the number of starts. A server can be started this way as often as people want; there is no daily allowance. You can still start it from the panel as often as you like. If you want to keep spending under control, set a daily spending limit.
  • Repeat attempts are slowed. Attempts arriving back to back from the same connection are held for a short while.
  • Balance is required. If your balance won't cover one hour the server does not start; the player is told the owner's balance is too low and you get a notification.
  • Not on networks. The section never appears on BungeeCord networks or servers attached to one, and network servers are not put to sleep either.

What it costs

A server started by a player is billed exactly like one you started yourself: the hour it opens is charged up front, and stopping before that hour ends refunds nothing. So this is a feature that can spend from your balance — which is why it matters who may use it.

On free servers nothing is charged: the hourly rate on the free tier is zero, so a player starting it is free too.

You have two tools for capping spend: a daily spending limit (the server stops when it is reached) and idle sleep (empty for 15 minutes and it sleeps). Together they stop a player-started server from staying up all night. The full model is in the hourly billing article.

Which versions support it?

The waiting address works on Minecraft 1.20.5 and newer Java versions. A player on an older version who connects to it is not taken to the waiting screen; they see a notice containing the direct address and have to join there instead.

Mobile and Windows 10/11 (Bedrock) players cannot use the waiting address: for them the server has to be up already. If your group plays mostly from phones, weigh that — detail is in the cross-play guide.

If you want it off

Turn off the Let players start it switch in your server's Settings. Once off, the waiting address stops working and no longer appears in the panel; only you start the server. Your choice is remembered and never re-enables itself.

Turning it off makes sense when you want full control of your balance, your server opens at set times, or your player group is large and people you don't know have the address.

Troubleshooting

  1. The server started but the player was not let in (and you were charged). Your server is open to everyone, but your server's own whitelist is on. You granted the right to start it, not the right to play. Either turn the whitelist off, or add that player to it.
  2. A player sees “you can't start this server”. Either the whitelist is on and their name isn't on it, or the whitelist is off and they are not an operator. Add them from the Players section. If you want anyone to be able to start it, turn off “Only my whitelist and operators may start it” in Settings — then this message never appears.
  3. “This server cannot be started right now.” Your trusted list is on but still empty, so nobody may start it — we notify you when a player tries. Add at least one name from the Players section, or turn the switch off to make your server open to everyone. We can read your list while your server is on, so starting and stopping it once from the panel is enough.
  4. “The owner's balance is too low.” Top up your wallet; starting needs at least one hour's worth.
  5. The player never sees the waiting screen, just a connection error. They are most likely using the direct address, which a server that is off does not answer. Give them the waiting address.
  6. The player is on an older version. Clients older than 1.20.5 don't get the waiting screen; they have to use the direct address.
  7. No second address in the panel. The switch in Settings is off, or the server is part of a network.

Common mistakes

  • Handing out the direct address and saying the server will start by itself. It won't; that only happens on the waiting address.
  • Turning the whitelist on and adding nobody. The right to start then falls to your operators (OP) — and if you have no operators either, nobody can start it, so your players see “this server cannot be started right now”. Add at least one name to the list; if you want anyone to be able to start it, turn the second switch off.
  • Wanting an open server but leaving the second switch on. If you want anyone in your community to be able to start it, you have to turn off “Only my whitelist and operators may start it”.
  • Turning the second switch off without setting a daily spending limit. While your server is open to everyone, a limit is the easiest way to keep your balance under control.
  • Spreading the address across a large community without setting a daily spending limit.
  • Giving the waiting address to a player on a phone; it doesn't work on Bedrock.
  • Turning the switch off and then wondering why players can't start the server — while it is off there is no second address at all.

Sleep mode is covered in full in the sleep mode article, and connecting step by step in joining your server.