Short answer
Create a PufferHost account, create a server from the dashboard, choose the Minecraft version your friends are on, press Start, and share the server address. There is no port forwarding, no home connection requirement and no credit card.
A server you own is different from a Realm or someone else's lobby in one way that matters: your world, your builds and your settings are still there in two years, whoever leaves and whoever joins. The price is usually a terminal window, a router configuration and a computer that stays on.
This guide takes the hosted route instead, so you can be playing tonight. It is the shortest path we know of from no server at all to a world your friends can join, and it is the setup every other guide on this site assumes.
Before you start
- Minecraft: Java Edition on the version you want to play
- An email address
- The same Minecraft version as the people joining you
1. Create your account
Go to PufferHost and sign up with your email address. There is no card step and no trial: the free tier is paid for by advertising on the site, not by a payment method.
Your account is one per person, and the free tier gives one Minecraft server to it: a dedicated CPU core, about 3 GB of RAM, about 4 GB of SSD storage and 10 player slots. That is enough for survival with friends, a creative build server or a lightly modded world.
2. Create the server and choose a version
From the dashboard, create a server and give it a name your friends will recognise. Then choose the Minecraft version to run. Pick the version everyone already has installed, because that is the single most common reason a join fails.
A version can be changed later from the server's settings, but changing it upwards moves your world forward with it and cannot be undone by changing it back. Changing a server version covers what upgrading actually does.
- Server name: what appears in your friends' server list. Something they will recognise beats something clever.
- Version: the exact version your friends have, not the newest one available.
- Software: vanilla for Mojang's server, or Paper if you want plugins. Paper plays the same game and needs nothing from your players.
3. Start it and read the console
Press Start. The console shows the server starting, and the last line that matters is Done (...)! For help, type "help" — that means the world has generated and the server is accepting connections.
The first start generates a new world and takes a little longer than later ones. The copy button next to the server address copies it exactly, which is worth using rather than retyping from a screenshot.
[12:31:04 INFO]: Preparing level "world"
[12:31:05 INFO]: Starting minecraft server version 1.21.11
[12:31:06 INFO]: Done (8.402s)! For help, type "help"4. Join it, and bring a friend
In Minecraft, open Multiplayer, choose Add Server and paste the address. The server appears with its MOTD from server.properties, which is a reasonable place to tell people what the server is for.
To bring someone in, send them the same address. They do not need an account on anything, do not need to install anything, and do not need to be on the same network as you. If they cannot connect, the cause is almost always a version mismatch or a typo, and the connection guide is the checklist.
1. Minecraft: Java Edition, the same version as the server
2. The server address, copied not retyped
3. No account, no download, no mod
4. A spot in the 10 slots5. Set the rules of the world before you need them
Two settings are worth changing on the first evening. server.properties holds difficulty, gamemode, view-distance and motd; the file is regenerated on each start, so stop the server, edit, and start it again. And white-list decides whether strangers can find and join you: set it to true once your friends are on, and add each of them by name.
Everything else can wait until you have a reason to change it. A server that is configured on day one and then left alone is a server that plays well for months.
difficulty=normal
gamemode=survival
view-distance=6
motd=Our Minecraft server
white-list=true/whitelist add SomeFriendGood to know
- The server address stays the same for the life of the server, so it is safe to share in a message or put in a Discord channel once.
- Set
view-distanceto 6 or 8 on a free core. It is the single biggest performance setting available and players rarely notice the difference. - Nothing you do here requires a credit card, and there is no trial to convert. What the free tier includes is listed on the about page.
- Making a server for friends covers permissions and the practicalities of a shared world, and backups covers the one thing you cannot undo.
Common questions
Do I need port forwarding to make a Minecraft server?
Not with a hosted server. Port forwarding is only needed when the server runs on your own computer behind your router. A hosted server has a public address already, which is one of the main reasons people host rather than self-host.
Do my friends need to install anything?
No. They connect with the normal Minecraft: Java Edition client on the same version. That is the practical difference from a modded server, where everyone has to install matching mods before they can join.
How many players can join?
The free tier has 10 player slots, which is a limit rather than a promise of performance: ten players in a large explored world with big farms will feel what one core can do. Keep view distance lower before you add more people.
What happens when nobody is online?
After five minutes with no players the server goes to sleep to free up hardware, and wakes when the first player joins. The world is saved before it sleeps, so nobody loses anything; the first join back can take a few extra seconds.
Sources
Official documentation this guide was checked against.
Rather not run this on your own machine? PufferHost gives every player a free Minecraft server with 3 GB of RAM and 10 slots. Create a free server.