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Minecraft was the second most popular video game in 2018, with over 144,000,000 copies sold.

Why is it so popular? Because it's not just a video game. It's an educational tool that teaches kids how to code, how to solve problems and how to exercise creativity. And it's also an open platform to be expanded by mod developers.

If you're new to the game, go and buy the game and start playing. But if you want to enjoy the full Minecraft experience, you'll need to set up your own private Minecraft server.

This guide will walk you through how to set up a Minecraft server on Windows or Mac. You can follow these steps to set-up your server and get started if you already own a dedicated server from us.

How to create a Minecraft server for Windows, Mac, or Linux

At the very core, these are the steps you'll need to follow to set up a Minecraft server:

1. Java 2 is the most recent version. Choose a location for your server 3. Download the Minecraft server software 4. gaming Start the Minecraft server 5. Check that your server has internet access

Take a look at your options

If you want to run a Minecraft server from home, make sure you have a powerful system that allows it to run smoothly.

You can host your server at a game server hosting company if you don't want it to be exposed to the world for security reasons. A Dedicated Server from Heart Internet is a great choice because it doesn't expose your home network to the outside world and saves you the headache of managing server hardware.

Let's get going!

Setting up a Minecraft server on Windows

Java - Get the most recent version

Minecraft is a Java-based video game. Make sure you have the most recent version of Java. Go to java.com/en/download to download the latest Java version and install it.

Next, you'll need to choose the location where you'd like to set up and run the server from. To keep everything organised, we recommend creating a dedicated folder to store all these files.

Once you've chosen a location, go ahead and download the latest Minecraft server setup software from the official site.

It will be downloaded as a.jar. Double-click the file to start the server.

You will also have to agree to the EULA agreement. Editing the eula.txt files and changing eula=false eula=true can accomplish this.

Now you're ready to start the Minecraft server.

Go to the Minecraft server folder where you installed the server files and initiate the server by executing this command:

Double-clicking the.jar file to restart the server is another option. In this case, you might need to allow the Minecraft server through the firewall.

That's it. Now that your server is running, you can start inviting people to connect to your server via your local IP address or via your external/ public IP address.

Enter your IP address into the Minecraft Server Status Checker to check if your server is accessible.

Mac OS X: How to set up a Minecraft server

Install or update Java

Java is included by default when you use a newer MacOS version. You might need to download and update a legacy Java version if you're running an older version.

Create a dedicated folder for all your Minecraft server files so everything is organised and easy to find.

Download the Minecraft server setup software from the official website.

This downloads as a .jar file, which you should save in the location you chose in the previous step.

Next, open TextEdit. Change the format to plaintext. Copy and paste the following code into the file

exec java -Xms1024M -Xmx1024M -jar minecraft_server.jar nogui

Save the file as start.command in the same folder where the other Minecraft server setup files are located.

You will need permission to make it work.

Open the Terminal and type chmod a+x with a space after the command. Drag and drop the start.command file to the terminal window and hit enter.

Start the server

Double-click on the start.command file to open a new terminal.

You might get error messages or missing file warnings if you are running the server for first time. This is normal and nothing to worry about.

You are now done! Now your server is running which means you can start inviting people to connect to it via your local IP address or via your external/ public IP address.

Check to ensure that your server is accessible

Don't forget to enter your IP address into the Minecraft Server Status Checker to check if your server is accessible.

Setting up a Minecraft server on Linux

As we have already mentioned, you don't need to host a server at your home. You can get a hosting plan for a game server like a Dedicated server from Heart Internet.

Next, connect to your hosting via SSH. If you are not familiar with the process, this support article will explain it.

While SSH'd into your host as the root user, enter the following command:

This will return a list containing the OpenJDK package that can be used to install Java. Let's select openjdk-7.jdk which is the OpenJDK 7 development kit.

To update the list packages from remote repositories use the following command

Next, install the software package you have chosen.

To install the storage space, press "Y".

Choose a location for your Minecraft server files

Create a new folder on your host where you'd like to save all your Minecraft server files. Then go to that folder.