Short answer
PufferHost's free tier gives one Minecraft server per account: a dedicated core, about 3 GB of RAM, about 4 GB of SSD and 10 slots, paid for by advertising rather than by a subscription. Create an account, create a server, and start it. There is no card step and no trial to convert.
"Free" in hosting usually means one of three things: a trial that converts to a bill, a free tier so limited it cannot run the game, or advertising paying the bill. This guide is about the third case, and it is worth being precise about which is which before you commit your friends to a server.
Being precise also means being honest about the limits: what you get, what the money pays for, and which parts of the experience depend on advertisements loading.
Free hosting compared
| Aspect | PufferHost free tier | Self-hosting | Paid hosting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, funded by advertising | Electricity and a PC that stays on | Monthly bill |
| CPU | One dedicated core | Whatever the machine has | Usually one core or more |
| Memory | About 3 GB | Shared with everything else on the machine | Typically 4 GB upwards |
| Storage | About 4 GB SSD | Local disk | Usually 20 GB upwards |
| Players | 10 slots | Limited by your upload speed | Set by the plan |
| Port forwarding | Not needed | Required | Not needed |
| PC must stay on | No | Yes | No |
| Uptime | Sleeps after five minutes empty | Only while the machine is on | Usually always on |
| Best for | Groups playing a few times a week | Tinkerers who want control | Servers that cannot sleep |
What the free tier actually is
One server per account, with a dedicated CPU core, about 3 GB of RAM, about 4 GB of SSD storage and 10 player slots. That is a small server, but it is a real one: a survival world with friends, a creative build server or a lightly modded world all fit, with sensible settings.
The cost is met by advertising on this site rather than by a payment method. There is no card, no trial countdown and no feature that unlocks after a week.
CPU one dedicated core (two threads)
Memory about 3 GB RAM
Storage about 4 GB SSD
Players 10 slots
Servers one per account
Price $0Create the account and the server
Sign up at PufferHost with an email address, then create a server from the dashboard. Give it a name, pick the Minecraft version your friends have installed, and press Start.
The address appears in the server page as soon as it is created, and it is what everyone connects to. Nothing else is needed: no client software, no account with a hosting provider, no configuration on your own machine.
- Your players connect with the normal Java Edition client on the matching version.
- The server sleeps after five minutes empty and wakes on the first join.
- Your world is saved before it sleeps, so an empty server is not a lost world.
Understand what the advertising is for
Ads are the revenue. The public guides, the knowledge base, the calculators and this site are all readable without them, which is a deliberate choice: the information is the product, and the advertising pays for the hosting rather than gatekeeping the guides.
That has one practical consequence for a server owner: settings that depend on advertising, such as the ad gate in the dashboard, can affect you if you block ads. If you use an ad blocker, expect the dashboard to behave differently; the guides and the knowledge base are unaffected.
Know the limits before you plan around them
Three GB of RAM fits a small world. It does not fit a large modpack: those routinely need 8 GB and up, and a modded server also needs every player to install the same mods, which is a different project from this one.
One core is enough for a handful of players, view distance kept modest. Ten players in a heavily explored world with big farms will feel it, and the honest response is lower view distance and smaller farms rather than more players. The RAM calculator will tell you when you have outgrown it.
view-distance=6
simulation-distance=6Know what is paid and what is not
This guide, the knowledge base and the calculators are free to read and stay readable whatever happens to the advertising. What the tier gives you is one server with those resources, and that is the whole offer.
If your server outgrows the free tier, the honest options are trimming the world and the settings to fit, or paying a hosting provider more money. What does not work is assuming a bigger server will appear for free; it will not.
Good to know
- One server per account means one world to look after. That is plenty for most groups, and it is a limit worth knowing before you plan a network of worlds.
- The free tier sleeps when empty. If your friends play at set times, that is invisible to them; if your server runs scheduled jobs, it is a reason to keep something on.
- Making a server is the step-by-step version if you have not started yet, and the cost calculator compares the free tier with what hosting costs per month.
Common questions
Is it really free, or is there a trial?
There is no trial. Creating a server costs nothing and stays free; the hosting is paid for by advertising on the site. There is no payment step to get through and no card to add.
What do I get on the free tier?
One Minecraft server with a dedicated CPU core, about 3 GB of RAM, about 4 GB of SSD storage and 10 player slots. That suits a small world with friends; a large modpack needs more memory than this.
Can I run a modpack on the free tier?
Small ones, yes, with 3 GB of RAM and careful settings. Larger packs need 8 GB or more, and a Fabric or NeoForge server is a different piece of software with its own setup. Check the mod's own requirements before assuming it fits.
Does an ad blocker break my server?
The game is unaffected. Some dashboard pages are gated on advertising and will not load for you, which is why the guides and the knowledge base are deliberately not behind a gate.
What if my server needs more than 3 GB?
Then 3 GB is not the right size for it. Trim the world and the view distance first, and if that is not enough, compare paid hosting with the cost calculator rather than hoping the free tier grows.
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.