How much a Minecraft server costs depends on how many servers your group runs. A Realm is one subscription for the whole group, and it runs one vanilla world at a time.
Game hosts bill by the gigabyte of RAM. Most sell each server as its own plan, and some let a bigger plan split into a few servers, but the bill still grows with every server and every gigabyte you add. A server of your own has one monthly price, and every game on it shares the memory it has.
What each group pays
These bills come from Mojang's Realms plans and three mainstream game hosts' pricing pages, checked Oct 15, 2026, in US dollars before tax, on monthly billing. Those hosts work out to $2.59, $3.00 and $3.75 per GB of RAM a month. We left out a fourth host's budget line, which its own page lists with older DDR4 memory and no backups.
One host halves its price if you pay for a year up front. DreamHost's yearly term also costs less a month than its monthly one, so compare the same term on both sides.
Memory comes from each game's own guidance. The Minecraft Wiki puts a vanilla world at 1 GB for up to four players and 4 GB for 10 or more. A server with plugins gets 6 GB, the bottom of Paper's memory advice. Paper also says Java needs another 1,000 to 1,500 MB outside that, so we price it at 7 GB: a 7 GB host plan, or 8 GB where a host's listed plans skip 7. Two hosts also have custom builders, which we didn't price.
| Your group | Minecraft Realms | Mainstream game host | Stack 16, Pelican Panel preinstalled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two servers, plugins and vanilla (11 GB) | Not offered | $28.49 to $42.98 | $22.99/mofor 3 months, then $34.99/mo |
| Three servers, adding a 1 GB small world (12 GB) | Not offered | $31.08 to $57.97 |
The server line shows the introductory price and what it renews at, and every comparison on this page uses the renewal. At the middle of the three hosts, two servers come to $35.98 a month and three to $41.97. Stack 16's regular price comes in under that host and the dearest one at both sizes, and the third server doesn't change it.
Three friends on one vanilla world
For three friends on one vanilla world, Bedrock's cheapest Realms tier fits exactly, backups come with it, and nobody in the group has to run a server.
Ten friends on Java who want plugins
A Java Realm runs Mojang's own vanilla server, and the Minecraft Wiki's list of Realms limits says mods and plugins can't be installed. Paper, a plugin server for Java, asks for at least 6 to 10 GB no matter how few players
. With Java's own room on top, the three hosts charge $18.13 to $27.99 a month for one Paper server.
If one small server is all your group will ever run, a game host is the simplest way to get it, since the host looks after the machine. On your own server, Stack 16 holds a Paper world with Java's room and space for more. Our RAM guide has the Pelican settings that give Java that room. Stack 8 leaves about 5.7 GB, under Paper's 6 GB low end before Java takes its share.
The same group running two servers
Say the group keeps its plugin survival server and adds a 4 GB vanilla server for creative building. At the hosts that's two plans and 11 GB, the first row of the bill table. On Stack 16 the pair takes about 11.6 GB once Wings adds its share, inside the 14 GB left after the system's 2 GB.
Then add a small vanilla world at 1 GB, for up to four younger players. At the hosts that's a third plan, and the bill becomes $31.08 to $57.97, because two of the hosts' smallest listed plans are 2 GB and 4 GB. On Stack 16 it takes about 1.2 GB of the room that's left, and the monthly price stays the same. A host bill rises with each server you add, while your own server's price doesn't change until you need a bigger plan.
What Realms, a host and your own server can each do
| Minecraft Realms | Game host | Your own server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $3.99 on Bedrock, $7.99 on Java or Realms Plus | By the GB of RAM, per server | One plan price for every server on it |
| Players online at once | 3 on Bedrock, 11 on Java or Realms Plus | Set by the RAM you buy | Set by the RAM you give each server |
| Servers running at once | 1 world (3 stored) | One per plan, or a few on a plan some hosts let you split | As many as the RAM holds |
| Plugins and mods | Not on Java; add-ons on Bedrock | Yes | Yes |
| Java and Bedrock players together | No | With the Geyser plugin | With the Geyser plugin |
| Other games | Minecraft only | Depends on the host | Any game with a Pelican egg, in the same panel |
| Backups | Included | Included at some hosts | Yours to set up |
Realms keeps Java and Bedrock players apart, so a Java player on a PC and a Bedrock player on a Switch can't share one. On a Java server, Geyser installs as a plugin and lets Bedrock players join. Its Floodgate add-on lets them sign in with their Bedrock account, so nobody has to buy Java.
Adding a second game
Palworld's server requirements list 16 GB of memory and 4 or more CPU cores, and add Recommended for larger than 32GB
. It boots on 8 GB, but Palworld warns that raises the chance of out-of-memory crashes. Realms only runs Minecraft, so this one's a host-or-server choice.
At the three hosts' Minecraft rates, the 7 GB Paper plan plus a 16 GB Palworld server comes to $59.57 to $99.98 a month, with $71.99 at the middle host. We didn't price their Palworld plans, which may differ. The top of that range uses one host's listed 16 GB plan, a tier with dedicated cores.
On one server, the pair takes about 26 GB once you count the system's 2 GB and Wings' share, plus Palworld's 4 cores. That's a Stack 32 job, with 32 GB and 8 vCPU. Its regular price is about the same as the lowest of those host bills and well under the other two, and the second game is one more egg in the same panel. A Palworld server sized past 32 GB wouldn't fit beside Minecraft on one plan.
Which plan fits which group
| What the group runs | Game memory (estimated) | Plan that fits |
|---|---|---|
| One Paper server with Java's room | About 7 GB typed for a 6 GB heap | Stack 16 (Stack 8 leaves about 5.7 GB) |
| Paper, a 4 GB vanilla world and a 1 GB small world | 12 GB typed, about 12.7 GB with Wings' share | Stack 16 |
| Minecraft plus Palworld | 23 GB typed, and 4 cores for Palworld | Stack 32 |
We set aside about 2 GB of each plan for Debian, the panel, Wings and Docker. Pelican doesn't publish a figure, so that reserve is our planning number. Wings' default settings add 5% on top of the memory you give each server above 4 GB, 10% up to 4 GB and 15% up to 2 GB. Java's room sits inside each server's own figure, and the 2 GB reserve stays as it is.
We checked how much memory a Minecraft server takes on Oct 22, 2026, on our own test machines (2 vCPU, arm64, with 4 GB and 8 GB), not DreamHost servers. We used itzg's minecraft-server image, a widely used community Docker image, instead of Pelican's egg, with test players (bots). Each server took its full memory setting plus about 300 to 500 MB for Java: 4.4 GB for a 4 GB setting and 6.6 GB for a 6 GB setting. A 6 GB Paper server on the 8 GB machine left under 1 GB free, less than the 2 GB we set aside for the system and panel. That's why a Paper world doesn't fit Stack 8 here. Java's share was smaller than the 1,000 to 1,500 MB Paper advises leaving, but our test was short and light, so we keep Paper's figure for planning. A fresh Pelican panel used about 200 MiB of its own at rest, with no games running. We didn't measure Palworld, modpacks, a real group's play, or the system, panel and Wings together with a game, so the 2 GB reserve is still a planning number. For player counts, modpacks and the heap setting, see how much RAM your Minecraft server needs.
Running it on a PC at home
Running Minecraft on a PC at home costs electricity. At the July 2026 US average of 18.31 cents per kWh, from the EIA's average residential rate, a PC drawing 100 watts around the clock uses 73 kWh a month.
The 100 watts is an example, so swap in your own machine's draw and your local rate. A small machine drawing 15 watts would cost about $2 a month. It also has to stay on, and your friends connect to your home IP through a port you forward on your router. A server gives them its own address, and each game's port opens when you create its server.
What the server price leaves out
DreamHost support is available 24/7 for the hardware, network and connectivity. The operating system, the panel and your games are yours to manage, and backups are yours to run. Our own estimate for that work is an hour or two a month of updates and backup checks.
Your own server
- One monthly price for every game server that fits the plan
- Per-server permissions for console, files, backups and schedules
- Scheduled tasks work from the first boot
What you take on
- You run the updates
- Pelican Panel is at its 1.0 release candidate stage, and only its latest release gets fixes
- Backups are yours to schedule
If you're weighing panels, our guide to Pelican vs Pterodactyl compares the two.
Choosing for your group
Choose Realms if
Your group fits one Realm, plays one vanilla world, and nobody wants to run a server.
Choose a game host if
Your group runs one small server and wants someone else to look after the machine.
Choose your own server if
You run two or more servers, or more than one game, and want one monthly price for all of them.
Minecraft server cost FAQs
Do my friends pay for a Realm too?
No. Each Realm is its own subscription that the owner pays, and the friends they invite play free. New subscribers get a one-month trial that renews at the monthly price.
How much is a Minecraft server for 10 people?
Without plugins, a Java Realm holds you and ten others. With plugins, Paper asks for at least 6 GB, and Java needs another 1,000 to 1,500 MB outside that. That's a 7 GB host plan, or 8 GB where a host's listed plans skip 7, at $18.13 to $27.99 a month at the three mainstream hosts we checked.
Do console players need anything else?
Multiplayer on a console needs that console's own online subscription, sold separately, for a Realm or a server of your own. Switch, Xbox and PlayStation players also need a workaround such as BedrockConnect to join an outside server, which GeyserMC's console guide walks through.
Is Pelican Panel free?
Pelican is open source and free to use, so the panel adds nothing to the server's monthly price.
Can we add room later?
You can move up to a bigger Stack plan, or add a second server from the Additional Wings Node template. That one has no panel or login of its own, so your games stay in the panel you already use.
Sources
- Minecraft Realms & Realms Plus: Play Together Online, Mojang / Microsoft, Oct 15, 2026. minecraft.net/en-us/realms
- Realms, Minecraft Wiki, Oct 9, 2026. minecraft.wiki/w/Realms
- Server/Requirements, Minecraft Wiki, Oct 9, 2026. minecraft.wiki/w/Server/Requirements
- Aikar's flags, PaperMC, Oct 9, 2026. docs.papermc.io/paper/aikars-flags
- Requirements, Palworld Server Guide (Pocketpair), Oct 9, 2026. docs.palworldgame.com/getting-started/requirements
- Wings Docker configuration (memory overhead), Pelican on GitHub, Oct 9, 2026. github.com/pelican/wings/blob/main/config/config_docker.go
- Pelican, Pelican, Oct 9, 2026. pelican.dev
- Geyser, GeyserMC, Oct 9, 2026. geysermc.org
- Floodgate, GeyserMC, Oct 15, 2026. geysermc.org/wiki/floodgate
- Using Geyser with consoles, GeyserMC, Oct 15, 2026. geysermc.org/wiki/geyser/using-geyser-with-consoles
- Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, US Energy Information Administration, Oct 9, 2026. eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a
- VPS overview, DreamHost Help Center, Oct 9, 2026. help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/50476238203028-VPS-overview