A Minecraft dedicated server your community can rely on

Why do servers lag?

Mostly because a tick took too long. Minecraft moves the world forward 20 times a second, which gives each step, or tick, 50 milliseconds. Farms, redstone machines, crowds of mobs and players exploring new land all have to fit inside that window. When they do not, the server cannot keep up 20 steps a second, and everyone online feels the world slow down together.

That is why the machine matters. A server that shares its processor with other customers can lose time it needed, right when your players are most active. A machine of your own keeps the whole processor for your world.

What your server needs

• Java 25. Minecraft 26.1 and newer will not start on anything older, and Paper requires Java 25 too. Versions from 1.20.5 to the 1.21 releases use Java 21.
• The server program. Mojang's official server file, or Paper, a popular version built for plugins and better performance.
• Memory. A small vanilla world for a few friends runs in 2 GB. Paper's advice is a minimum of 6 to 10 GB given to the game, however few players you have, and the rest of the server needs room left over.
• One open port. Players join on port 25565 unless you change it in server.properties.

Getting your world online

1. Install Java 25. Ubuntu 24.04 ships it as openjdk-25-jre-headless, in its universe section.
2. Make a separate user and folder for the game, and put the latest Paper download from PaperMC's website in it.
3. Start it once as that user. It stops straight away and creates eula.txt; change eula=false to eula=true to accept Mojang's terms.
4. Let SSH and then port 25565 through the firewall, so you do not lock yourself out, and start the world for good with the service below.

sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y openjdk-25-jre-headless

sudo useradd -r -m -d /opt/minecraft minecraft
# after downloading paper.jar from PaperMC:
sudo install -o minecraft -g minecraft paper.jar /opt/minecraft/paper.jar
sudo -u minecraft sh -c 'cd /opt/minecraft && java -Xms8G -Xmx8G -jar paper.jar --nogui'
sudo sed -i 's/eula=false/eula=true/' /opt/minecraft/eula.txt

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp
sudo ufw enable

Give -Xms and -Xmx one identical number, as Paper recommends, and never so high that the game could use up all of the machine's memory.

Keep it running by itself

So the world comes back after a reboot or a crash without you, run it as a system service. Save this as /etc/systemd/system/minecraft.service, then run sudo systemctl daemon-reload and sudo systemctl enable --now minecraft.

[Unit]
Description=Minecraft (Paper)
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=minecraft
WorkingDirectory=/opt/minecraft
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -Xms8G -Xmx8G -jar paper.jar --nogui
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

To see how hard the server is working, type /mspt in Paper. It shows how many milliseconds ticks are taking; anything under 50 means the world is keeping up.

Protect the world you built

Your world lives in folders beside the server file. Copying them while the game is saving can catch a file halfway written, so stop the server first (sudo systemctl stop minecraft), then copy the folders, and start it again with sudo systemctl start minecraft. To back up without stopping, use RCON, the remote console you switch on in server.properties with a strong password: turn saving off with save-off, force a full save with save-all flush, copy the folders, and turn saving back on with save-on, even if the copy failed. Store the copies somewhere other than the server, so one bad disk cannot take both.

The server that fits

Our game servers run on HPE enterprise hardware, and each one is connected through a network port no other customer shares at the access switch. You get the whole machine and root access, so you choose the operating system and everything on it. A server we already have racked is ready in about 30 minutes, although payment verification can add time.

Choose the data centre closest to your players, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Miami, New York or San Francisco, and because the port is unmetered, a full server on a Saturday night never runs into a traffic limit. If your world needs a particular processor or more memory, you can build the server to order.

Do you need a whole server?

Not for a few friends on a simple world, which runs happily in 2 GB on a spare computer at home or a shared Minecraft host. A dedicated machine is worth it for a public server, a world full of plugins, several worlds at once, or a community where lag at peak time would drive players away.

Questions people ask

Which Java should I install for Minecraft?

Minecraft 26.1 and newer needs Java 25, which is also what Paper needs. If you run an older version from 1.20.5 to 1.21, Java 21 is the one. Ubuntu 24.04 users want the openjdk-25-jre-headless package.

How much memory should I give Minecraft?

Paper's advice is no less than 6 to 10 GB, with the minimum and maximum set equal. Leave the rest of the machine's memory for the system, so the game can never use it all up.

What makes a Minecraft server lag?

Ticks that take longer than 50 milliseconds. The world advances 20 times a second, so busy farms, redstone and many loaded areas can push a tick over its budget. Paper's /mspt command shows you when that happens.

Which port do players connect to?

Port 25565, unless you change it in server.properties. Open it in your firewall, and give players the machine's IP, or a domain name that points to it.

Can I add plugins?

Yes, Paper runs plugins. Modded servers use a different server program with its own Java requirements, so check that before you choose a Java version.

How quickly can I start?

A server we already have racked is ready in about 30 minutes, though payment verification can add time. Installing Java and Paper takes an evening at most.