There are no subscriptions and no auto-renewal at ArcadeServers: you have a prepaid wallet, and you're only charged for the hours your server stays online.
The upfront hour
Each hour of use is charged at the start of that hour. Stop the server mid-hour and you've paid for the hour you're in — it isn't refunded, but the next hour never begins.
There is no pro-rating: an hour you start is a full hour, whether the server runs ten minutes or fifty. To start a server you need at least one hour's worth of balance; otherwise Start warns you without charging anything.
Every charge appears in your wallet history with its time, amount and server name.
While the server is off
Nothing accrues while the server is off; your files, worlds and backups stay where they are.
Short pauses don't cost a second upfront charge: if the hour you paid for hasn't elapsed, stopping and starting again stays inside it. Restart in the panel opens no new hour at all — the meter keeps running.
Idle sleep
On new servers idle sleep is on by default: with no players for 15 minutes, the server puts itself to sleep, so your balance isn't spent while nobody plays.
You wake it with one click; being ready can take a few minutes. On paid packages you can switch the setting off under Settings and your choice is remembered; on the free tier it can't be. The panel offers on and off only, with no control for the duration. See the sleep mode article.
If the server crashes
A crash stops the meter, so a crashed server isn't billed. If a server crashed within the last hour, restarting it takes no upfront hour and no balance check — trying again costs you nothing. Once it runs cleanly for an hour, billing resumes on its own. The Console and Logs sections show why it went down.
If your balance runs low
You're warned by email before it runs out, at most once a day. If it runs out anyway, the server is put to sleep and the panel says the hourly charge couldn't be taken. Nothing is deleted.
Top up, wake the server with one click, and carry on; sleeping time is never billed. See adding funds and refunds and balance.
The daily spending limit
Each server can have a daily ceiling, set under Settings. Counting follows the Turkish calendar day, resets at midnight, and covers every item charged to that server, with refunds subtracted.
At 80 percent you're notified; at the ceiling the server is stopped. It doesn't start itself the next day, and starting it by hand the same day is blocked too — the decision stays with you. Raise the limit or turn it off to carry on.
If you move to a bigger package
Upgrading from the Resources section drops the credit for the hour you already paid: your next start takes a fresh upfront hour at the new rate. Changing the Processor type in the same section opens the server on a new machine, whose first hour is charged upfront and needs at least one hour's balance.
Where are the extra charges?
Manual backups and file downloads are free, and beyond the hourly rate nothing else is deducted: File Protection is on and free on every server, and it isn't switched off. Current rates are live in the panel; how the price is built up is in the pricing guide.
If you see a charge you didn't expect
- Open History in the panel: shutdown reasons are written there — manual stop, idle sleep, balance running out, daily limit, crash.
- Check the server name on the wallet entry — the charge may come from a different server.
- Compare hours against real play: every started hour counts in full, so 3 hours 5 minutes appears as 4 hours.
- If you started and stopped many times, each new hour is a new charge, while repeats inside one hour are free.
- If you upgraded, confirm the charges are at the new rate.
Common mistakes
- Starting the server early to wait for friends: a started hour counts in full, so it is charged with nobody connected.
- Turning idle sleep off and leaving the server up for days; an empty server is still charged every hour.
- Expecting the current hour back after an early stop. It refunds nothing, it only prevents the next hour.
- Deleting a server to stop the cost: a stopped server is not charged at all, and deleting removes all its backups.
- Setting the daily limit far below real usage, then being surprised when the server stops.
Which choice fits your case
- You play now and then: leave idle sleep on and use the hour you've paid for.
- You play at fixed times: define start and stop tasks under Tasks and set their times in the Scheduler, so the server shuts down even when you forget.
- Several people manage the server: set a daily limit, so one forgotten session can't burn the balance overnight.
- You're taking a long break: stop the server — a stopped server is not charged, and your worlds and backups stay in place.
- You want a budget: multiply the panel's hourly rate by your daily play hours; started hours count in full.