Minecraft Server Hosting Comparison - What Makes The Best?
Choosing a Minecraft server isn’t easy. Some boast awesome features and five-star reviews, but they are often terrible once you start using them. Worse, after learning the truth, you're stuck starting over and migrating your world to yet another new server. And if you’re running mods and plugins, this transition is an even bigger pain!
To spare you trial and error, we’ve explained how to choose the best Minecraft hosting in this guide. You'll see what features to look for, ideal pricing, and what to avoid. Plus, you’ll learn all about our offerings at ScalaCube—the best game server hosting service—and why customers have stuck by us for years.
Minecraft Server Hosting Comparison - What Makes The Best?
- Price$2
- SlotsUnlimited *
- Game serversUnlimited **
- ModpacksOver 1000
- Free Website+Forum✔
- Price$8
- SlotsLimited
- Game serversLimited
- Modpacks56
- Free Website+Forum-
- Price$9
- SlotsLimited
- Game serversLimited
- Modpacks42
- Free Website+Forum-
- Price$9
- SlotsLimited
- Game serversLimited
- Modpacks94
- Free Website+Forum-
1. Server Uptime
It doesn't matter what features a host has if their servers are constantly crashing or down for maintenance. The best Minecraft hosting servers have reliable uptime, so their customers never lose access to their worlds.
At ScalaCube, we take this further with 99.9% uptime. You likely won't experience any downtime while using our Minecraft servers.
2. Fast and Easy Setup
Setting up a Minecraft server takes extensive setup and tweaking, even if you're an experienced user. And if you’re adding mods, plugins, or using custom JARs, it’s even more time-consuming.
That’s why the best-modded Minecraft server hosting providers simplify server setup. Creating a new ScalaCube server is a two-minute process—even if it’s your first time hosting on Minecraft.
3. Extensive Player Slots
Many hosting companies charge outrageous prices for adding extra player slots to your server, leading to a cost much higher than their initial listed rates. Who wants to pay extra just to have your friends on your server (which is why you made it in the first place)?
That’s why we offer unlimited player slots with all premium plans. You get what you pay for with ScalaCube—and no surprises—which is why many consider us the best game server hosting overall.
4. DDoS Protection
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is when a bad actor tries to take your server down by overloading it with connection requests. If your server doesn’t have DDoS protection, trolls can mess with your server uptime and ruin your reputation with your users.
That’s why we include DDoS protection out of the box at ScalaCube. This stops attackers in their tracks and keeps your server safe from takedown attempts.
5. Full FTP Access
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) lets you access and modify files on your server. It's the best way to manage mods, world files, seeds, game rules, and everything else about your Minecraft world.
When a Minecraft host doesn’t allow FTP access, you depend on their interface to modify your world’s files. This greatly limits how much you can customize your servers, which is why FTP is a must-have for those looking for the best server hosts for Minecraft.
6. Plugin Support
For the unfamiliar, a plugin is a file that adds functionality to a Minecraft server. People use plugins to change things in the game, such as editing hundreds of blocks at once or adding different multiplayer game modes to the server. A plugin isn’t to be confused with a mod, which changes Minecraft itself.
When conducting a Minecraft server comparison, plugin support should be at the top of your list. Without it, you can’t add crucial plugins like WorldEdit, Factions, and ClearLagg. At ScalaCube, we make plugins easy with native installation. Find the one you want, and select it for instant installation.
7. Mod Support
With mods, you can enhance Minecraft's existing gameplay or turn it into something completely new. But, with how complicated the setup can be, many people struggle to install them successfully.
Instead of spending hours learning how to configure mods, you can choose a host that turns the process into a one-click installation. When it comes to native Minecraft mod support, our ScalaCube Minecraft server hosting beats all others by featuring over 1000 modpacks.
8. BungeeCord Support
BungeeCord lets you link Minecraft servers together so players can move between them without manually reconnecting. It’s useful for servers offering several game mods, like Skyblock and Hunger Games.
At ScalaCube, we provide full support for BungeeCord. Combined with unlimited player slots, ScalaCube is the best 24/7 Minecraft server hosting for users looking to build large-scale multiplayer experiences.
9. Automated Backups
Having your server erased by griefing or a hardware failure is a Minecraft player's worst nightmare. If your world isn’t backed up, all your hard work goes down the drain.
So, in your Minecraft server hosting comparison, rule out any server not offering automated backups. We keep players’ worlds safe with easily-configurable backups running as often as you need.
10. 24/7 Technical Support
It’s unrealistic to think you’ll never have technical issues with your server. You might mess something up, suffer problems with your server, or not understand certain setups. When those issues happen, you need reliable tech support available at all hours of the day. If your host's support only works during certain hours, you'll have to wait until they're back online.
Imagine dozens of people waiting for you to fix server issues, and you don't have any help from your provider. Such situations are prevented with ScalaCube thanks to our 24/7 live customer support.
11. Affordable Pricing
Having fun with your friends on a multiplayer Minecraft server shouldn't cost a fortune. Sadly, many providers charge steep rates to add player slots or a reasonable amount of RAM. Their rates may sound good upfront, but you'll quickly find out their starting specs aren't enough for high-quality multiplayer gaming.
So when you’re making a Minecraft server hosting price comparison, make sure a potential host’s cheapest rates actually buy a server that’s fit to play on. ScalaCube servers start at $5 a month with unlimited player slots, unlimited game servers, and 1.5 GB of RAM. With so much power at such a low price, it’s the best cheap Minecraft server hosting on the market.
12. Pocket Edition Hosting
A great Minecraft host shouldn't just be available for desktop users.
That’s why we offer a premium service on Pocket Edition, letting you take your dedicated hosting experience anywhere.
What Is the Best Minecraft Server Host?
With all the powerful, consumer-friendly features outlined above, it’s clear that our ScalaCube service is the best Minecraft server hosting available. Get your Minecraft server now, and stop wasting time on unreliable hosts.
To hear some praise from real players, check out ScalaCube reviews from our customers.