❎ [Guide] What Minecraft Hosting should I choose for 2019?

[FreddyJ]

A complete guide that will give you the knowledge needed to choose the right hosting.

Back in my days starting a Minecraft server was a little bit easier. The Bukkit project was beginning. MCProHosting was one of the best Minecraft Hosting service's (believe it or not) and then GGservers started their super cheap "$3.00/gb" Minecraft server plans.

Nowadays you have to choose between 100 plugins for your kitpvp server, 50 "companies" promoting $1/gb Hosting, 5 type's of server .jars, two types of panels and at the end of the day we tend to choose the cheapest option always (I commit this mistake sometimes too).

This guide is designed for people that want to change their current provider or want to start their next Minecraft network and don't know where to start.

The tricky thing about choosing the right Minecraft hosting provider is that most of the hosts have the same hardware, the same pricing, and the same panel. To be honest that the only thing that difference one from the other is how many clients they have and how they balance their nodes.

I think that you should rate your hosting with the following three key points.
Security | Pricing | Hardware

1. Security.
This is the first thing that concerns me these days. All hosts have full access to your files; this isn't something that we hide but Remember that you are hosting your server at a shared space and your host have a "master key" that allows them to look at your files. (Of course, they won't open any files, without any good reason mainly because its illegal unless they disclose in what circumstances they have the right to open your files) however, as new host's start to pop-out out of nowhere, they don't think about privacy and have little to none ethical responsibilities.

Think twice.

1$ GB RAM (60% DISCOUNT = 0.40$/GB) | Dok8cdHost | i7-7600k

Would you trust a business with that title, name, and pricing?

Those are usually run by a 16-year old that live in some Europe country where they have very vague law regarding privacy and the internet.

Don't complain when your files get leaked then.

2. Pricing
Here the truth. Margins in Minecraft Hosting are low in the long run. Most hosts can't scale over time because it's pretty difficult to scale a company that is "niche based" and charge $1.00/$2.00 per client/server.

Let me ask you. Why are you soo cheap when it comes to hosting?

A bottle of water cost $2.00 where I live.

Back in my day when I managed my server with a player base 700 players I was spending about $400+ per month just in servers because I didn't want to be cheap with what keeps my server online and running.

Fact: You wouldn't donate to a server that's is laggy.

If you to have a player base of 50 players, don't expect you can handle that traffic in a shared host with crappy hardware that charge you 1$/GB. Heck! Most hosts that charge up to 6$/GB can't handle that.

What would I do in a budget?

Step 1: While I am building my server. I would buy a shared space with *any* trusted provider.

Step 2: Once I finish. I'll Clean everything up (Config files, world's, etc.)

Step 3: See what is my marketing budget and try to predict how many players I will get in peak hours.​

Note: If your budget is $100 don't expect more than 40 players inside your server.

Case A: Less than 50 players. On one of this game modes:
- KitPvP
- FFA
- Prison server without a survival world
- Small mini-game that doesn't require world generation

I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 3/4gb ram. ​

Case B: Less than 50 players.
- Factions server
- Big prison server with survival mode after completion

I would try to pre-render all the world before players start joining the server and see what the current ram demand for my plugins is. I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 5/6gb ram.​

What I am trying to say is that most cases you don't need a dedicated server. Just config your plugins. Clean up your world and config correctly your Spigot.yml.

3. Hardware.

Like I wrote in RackCrate's thread

"One of the biggest mistakes Minecraft Owner's make is base their purchase decision entirely on the RAM amount. We encourage you to choose a host that its primary focus it's in their hardware performance/selection and customer service rather than RAM space."

"What we mean by this is that the difference between an outstanding host and a bad host is solely base on their CPU load and how they manage to distribute their servers."​

What I meant by this is that in most cases the only thing that matters when it comes to choosing a shared hosting is knowing how much is their average load on each machine.

There has been written plenty of guides on which CPU you should choose, SSD vs. HDD, DDR3 vs. DDR4 but here are two facts

• Hosts can lie about their CPU/Storage specs and capacity (The only way you can check that is via SSH, and you will never see that if you are in a Shared space).

• Public stats don't mean anything. Most hosts try to maintain an average RAM/CPU usage between 50/60% to ensure they don't oversell their nodes but keep in your mind that the cheaper is a host, the more they need to sell their shared space. Meaning that their average RAM/CPU usage level can go up at any time because maybe 10 of your new neighbors suddenly start using plugins that generate more RAM/CPU usage and may affect your server performance.

So Freddy, what hosting should I choose? You haven't answered the main question. Again.

A) Want just to build/create your server = Any provider where you feel safe is good.

B) If you already started your server and had some lag =

- View the RAM/CPU usage of your current server in your panel.
- Try optimizing all your config files.
- Try upgrading your ram a 0.5 GB or 1 GB more
- If it persists change to a new provider.​

C) You already have 40/50 players+ (not expecting to have 50 players) and your struggling with lag issues rent a dedicated server.

Do not be fooled renting a 128gb ram server in an L' series that cost $80 per month. You won't handle 100 players in that.

From experience, I ran an 200 players factions servers (with custom plugins and special effects) in an E3-1230 v2 / 32GB ram / 128 SSD drive (never used more than 16GB's tbh but I always thought it was a safe bet to have more ram).

I will create a complete guide for choosing the right dedicated server soon.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Nitrous-Networks]

As it right now I am not completely updated but I haven't seen a single Minecraft host in this forum that ensures their up-to-date with the GDPR; from what I've heard is not that hard to get a certificate from them but it does have a rigorous process.

You don't require a certificate to be compliant with GDPR regulations, you just need to be registered with the ICO and make sure you follow all articles laid out under GDPR. Most of the articles are quite vague and provide a basic outline on what should be done in terms of security and privacy. We, as a company, are registered to the ICO and GDPR compliant.

 

[ItzMayed]

We, as a company, are registered to the ICO and GDPR compliant.

Self promotion smh

 

[JamboIE]

I see some people asking about some hosts.
Could I get your opinion on https://rednode.cloud/

I'm thinking of moving to them and I'd like to see what you think

 

[jayt387]

Can y’all not do self promotion on this post, FreddyJ owns a company himself and he didn’t promote it like you guys are currently doing.​

 

[Nitrous-Networks]

Self promotion smh

No self promotion intended, so my apologies if it came across that way. Simply pointing out that there are Minecraft hosts on this forum who are compliant. Will happily remove that if OP requests it, otherwise i'll leave it up for transparency.

 

[Lyphiard]

Can y’all not do self promotion on this post, FreddyJ owns a company himself and he didn’t promote it like you guys are currently doing.​

You do realize that this entire thread is (unconsciously) self-promoting, right?

Even if OP doesn't explicitly promote his company's name, the audience is told to accept the same values that his company promotes, whether this was done intentionally or unintentionally I cannot say.

 

[Flawws]

If you’re going to go with hosting look at how they present themselves. It’s like looking how someone turns up to a meeting is he slacking and is his shirt hanging out like a dress.

A hosting company works in the same way. Did they bother to invest into good graphics? Do they care enough to pay for advertising?

It’s simple really, and logic.
Think about it if they spend money and dedication on the way they show themselves then they have also spent money on good hardware. This is all about Logic there’s nothing complex.

Thanks,
Flawws.

 

[quantomworks]

Hosts can lie about their CPU/Storage specs and capacity (The only way you can check that is via SSH, and you will never see that if you are in a Shared space).

As a disclaimer we at MC Server Hosting offer SSH to users on their shared space. Other than that this was a very good article.

 

[FreddyJ]

Talking about security, I have checked out a lot of hosts before starting my own business and sadly, most of them (even big companies) are terrible with security.

One major flaw I noticed in a lot of hosts is that they use phpMyAdmin without any kind of anti bruteforce and they don't even spend time to configure it (which makes it use the Unix connection by default and let people log into their database as root even when they deny external root login).

You can check if a host has actually configured their database or not by going to their phpMyAdmin/setup (ex. https://random.host/phpmyadmin/setup or https://sql.random.host/setup)

I didn't notice that until now Ethereal739.

You don't require a certificate to be compliant with GDPR regulations, you just need to be registered with the ICO and make sure you follow all articles laid out under GDPR. Most of the articles are quite vague and provide a basic outline on what should be done in terms of security and privacy. We, as a company, are registered to the ICO and GDPR compliant.

May I ask you, what about in scenarios where it's a Data Breach? or simple as a system administration looking/leaking files? does any commission/council look into it ?

You do realize that this entire thread is (unconsciously) self-promoting, right?

Even if OP doesn't explicitly promote his company's name, the audience is told to accept the same values that his company promotes, whether this was done intentionally or unintentionally I cannot say.

Though about that before making the post. Trying my best to not make it about the companies and more about the mindset of the typical consumer.

Pretty sure that most of us can start a thread about servers specs, best practice's and much more but in what we can agree on is that there are plenty of hosts in this market and at the end of the day. I am sure that most people will choose the one that they "like".

• Not the one with the latest and greatest hardware
• Not the one with super fancy website
• Nor the one that invested on IT Security experts or a $160/h graphic designer

The consumer end up choosing the one that they feel kinda safe at a cheapest price point possible and stick with them to the end.

If you’re going to go with hosting look at how they present themselves. It’s like looking how someone turns up to a meeting is he slacking and is his shirt hanging out like a dress.

A hosting company works in the same way. Did they bother to invest into good graphics? Do they care enough to pay for advertising?

It’s simple really, and logic.
Think about it if they spend money and dedication on the way they show themselves then they have also spent money on good hardware. This is all about Logic there’s nothing complex.

Thanks,
Flawws.

Sadly most people don't look at it that way

4 months ago I worked for a sale's team here in NC and they told me that they are 3 types of clients in the internet

• Impulsive buyer (They are the same as IRL)
• The cheap one (The one that instead of using LiveChat, they use tawk.to) (Don't care about the little details)
  
• Expert (The customer that knows everything and he asks a ton of questions for nothing)

As a disclaimer we at MC Server Hosting offer SSH to users on their shared space. Other than that this was a very good article.

Great job. I am just curious about how you manage the potential security risk? or its like a VPS with a panel installed ?[DOUBLEPOST=1542817428][/DOUBLEPOST]

What about a skyblock server with about 75 players + a 650 * 650 hub

The thing with SkyBlock, like any other World Generation game mode is that it demands a certain amount of power.

If you have 75 players in a Sky Block server I would rent a dedicated server from OVH or Psychz so you don't worry about any techinical issues

I know that Psychz have a good deal for an "E3-1230 V5" (You don't need more than 16gb. Tbh its too much)

You won't need that much ram if you are running just a hub and a SkyBlock.

 

[quantomworks]

Great job. I am just curious about how you manage the potential security risk? or its like a VPS with a panel installed ?

We do not disclose our security practices for the safety of our customers. However, any that believe they notice an exploit may email [email protected] for further review.

 

[Nitrous-Networks]

May I ask you, what about in scenarios where it's a Data Breach? or simple as a system administration looking/leaking files? does any commission/council look into it ?

If you have a data breach of any sorts where personal information is leaked then you need to report it to the ICO within 72 hours of being made aware of it. There are plenty of exceptions to when you need to report it but I would suggest reading the GDPR documentation on this.

 

[Kuo]

Gotta say you've done so good with this. This is possibly one of the best tips for buying a server. The problem with hosting a server is that everyone is looking to beat each overs prices. But then they are loosing out on a massive profit margin. Like I'd like to ask a small host what dedicated server revellers do they know of. Guarantee the first 3 that come out of there mouth would be OVH, SoYouStart and Hetzner. Everyone relies on them sites, while they sometimes provide some good offers. There is so many other good companies out there who can provide high quality servers than what OVH does. Like after 3 google searches, I was able to find 3 dedicated server re sellers who offer 64GB (I personally don't like running more than 64, as the more servers can put more stress on the CPU) for near £60, which means I can offer it less than £1/GB. New hosts don't realise the importance of research. Thats why most of them fail. It costs them way 2 much to stay up.

 

[Xaos]

Gotta say you've done so good with this. This is possibly one of the best tips for buying a server. The problem with hosting a server is that everyone is looking to beat each overs prices. But then they are loosing out on a massive profit margin. Like I'd like to ask a small host what dedicated server revellers do they know of. Guarantee the first 3 that come out of there mouth would be OVH, SoYouStart and Hetzner. Everyone relies on them sites, while they sometimes provide some good offers. There is so many other good companies out there who can provide high quality servers than what OVH does. Like after 3 google searches, I was able to find 3 dedicated server re sellers who offer 64GB (I personally don't like running more than 64, as the more servers can put more stress on the CPU) for near £60, which means I can offer it less than £1/GB. New hosts don't realise the importance of research. Thats why most of them fail. It costs them way 2 much to stay up.

In a perfect world, sure everyone would use the best provider, but in reality people only want the cheapest deal. You can start a host at $5/GB with good servers, small profit margins and low sales or you could start a host at $2/GB with probably almost the same quality but at a fraction of the cost. OVH is one of the biggest dedicated server providers in the world (biggest in Europe) so it's not that strange that many people use them. I don't see using OVH is a bad thing, they didn't get among the biggest by doing stuff wrong. Also saying you can resell a £60 for £1/GB is only going to make you lose money. You are not fracturing in costs like licences, site hosting, PayPal fees, and much more. That part is what many people who look for a cheap server, and new hosts, are not thinking about and that is why many of them fail.

 

[Kuo]

In a perfect world, sure everyone would use the best provider, but in reality people only want the cheapest deal. You can start a host at $5/GB with good servers, small profit margins and low sales or you could start a host at $2/GB with probably almost the same quality but at a fraction of the cost. OVH is one of the biggest dedicated server providers in the world (biggest in Europe) so it's not that strange that many people use them. I don't see using OVH is a bad thing, they didn't get among the biggest by doing stuff wrong. Also saying you can resell a £60 for £1/GB is only going to make you lose money. You are not fracturing in costs like licences, site hosting, PayPal fees, and much more. That part is what many people who look for a cheap server, and new hosts, are not thinking about and that is why many of them fail.

Thats true, But with website costs I am able to easily cover that. For my website, Gamepanel VPS and WHMCS License all you would need is a extra £20, I shopped around for the best deals. Found a OVH Partner which offers better prices than what OVH does for a way cheaper price, thats why I am saying you should shop around. Its way more helpful and easier to run knowing that your Dedicated server didn't cost you £80 and you need to make that back. Personally until I know I can make a decent profit off Minecraft I stay away from hosting it. Source Games are at its peak right now with request. Thats what I model all of my purchased machines over. Performance on these new intensive games.