How to make a Minecraft server with friends (Java + Bedrock, 1.21)

Starting a server for your friends used to mean port-forwarding, a spare PC left running, and someone’s internet getting hammered. In 2026 a managed host does it for you. Here’s the honest, no-fluff version for Minecraft 1.21.x.

Host it, or self-host it?

You have two real options:

• Self-host on a spare PC. Free if you already have the hardware, but you’re the sysadmin: port-forwarding, keeping the machine on, your home IP exposed, and the server is down whenever your PC is. Fine for a quick LAN-style session, painful for an ongoing world.
• Use a host. Someone else runs the hardware, gives you a panel, and handles the networking. The only real downside is cost — which is exactly why hibernation billing matters for a friend group: a server that sleeps when nobody’s on means you’re not paying for the 95% of the week it sits empty. That’s the model we built ChunkyHost around.

For an ongoing world with mates, a host wins. The rest of this guide assumes that.

Pick a plan by players, not gigabytes

Ignore the “more RAM = better” sales pitch. Minecraft’s tick loop is single-thread CPU-bound, so a fast core matters far more than a big number on the RAM column. Pick a plan by how many friends play at once:

• 2–10 friends, vanilla or a few plugins → a small plan (2–4 GB) is plenty.
• A 20–40 person community → a mid plan with dedicated CPU.

Not sure? Our RAM calculator will tell you the honest number — usually less than you’d guess.

Choose your server type

• Paper — vanilla gameplay plus plugins and big performance wins. The default recommendation for most friend groups.
• Vanilla — exactly like single-player, no plugins.
• Fabric / Forge / NeoForge — if you want mods or a modpack.

You can switch later, so start with Paper unless you already know you want mods.

Deploy and share the address

On a managed host the flow is: pick a region close to your group, pick the version (1.21.x) and type, name it, and hit deploy. About a minute later you get an IP or address. Send that to your friends — in Java, Multiplayer → Add Server → paste the address.

Before you invite everyone, set a few basics in server.properties: difficulty, PvP on/off, the player cap, and the MOTD. Our server.properties generator explains every setting in plain English and gives you a file to drop in.

Let phone and console friends in (crossplay)

Half your group is probably on phones or consoles (Bedrock), not PC (Java). You don’t need two servers. Geyser (with Floodgate) lets Bedrock players join a Java server on the same world: you install the Geyser plugin and share the Bedrock port. Worth knowing before you choose a host — ChunkyHost cannot run it today, because a server we provision has no way to install plugins. Full steps, and that caveat in context, are in Let your phone friends join your Java server.

Lock it down

Once it works, protect it:

• Turn on the whitelist and add your friends’ usernames so randoms can’t wander in.
• Make yourself an operator for admin commands.
• Check that backups are running — friend-group worlds are exactly the ones that get griefed or corrupted at the worst moment.

Before you commit

You shouldn’t overpay to find out if a host is any good. Start on the smallest plan that fits your group, invite a couple of friends, and see how it holds up before you size up. If the group drifts off for a few weeks, hibernation means the bill drifts off too — and you pause instead of losing the world.

Ready? See the plans.