Aternos alternative: a 24/7 Minecraft server

Play Your Way is a paid host, and this page is ours. It doesn't say free hosting is bad. It explains what a free Minecraft server such as Aternos is built for, when that stops fitting your group, and what a paid server here adds if you need it to stay online.

What does Aternos give you for free?

A lot. Aternos's homepage says "We are free, and we will always be free for everyone at any time. There is no possibility to pay for anything." It lists:

• Java and Bedrock. Vanilla, Snapshots, Paper, Spigot, Purpur, Glowstone, Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, Quilt and Arclight for Java Edition, and the official Bedrock server software.
• Mods, plugins and modpacks. "Add plugins, play with your favourite mods or use one of many preconfigured modpacks for your very own experience."
• Players. "Unlimited slots": "Play with as many friends as you want without unnecessary slot limitations."
• Backups. "We can keep a backup of your server in your Google Drive, just in case you need it."
• Your own worlds and address. "You can upload any world you want to play", and "Use your own domain to connect to your server."

Checked against Aternos's homepage on 26 October 2026.

Why does my Aternos server keep stopping?

Because nobody is on it. Aternos's Stop countdown help article says: "Aternos has many users around the globe. Unfortunately, we are not able to serve all users at the same time, because our resources are limited. Because of this, we have to stop empty servers without players."

The same article explains the countdown:

• A timer in the left corner of the green bar on your server page "tells you when your server will be stopped to free up the allocated resources for another user."
• When it's under a minute, a +1 button appears, and pressing it "adds another minute to the timer which gives you more time to join your server."
• "As soon as at least one player is on your server the timer vanishes and your server will stay online. After the last player has left your server the timer will come back and start to count down from the beginning."

So an Aternos server is there while people are playing on it. A friend who logs on after everyone else has left finds it stopped, until someone starts it again.

Checked against Aternos's help centre on 26 October 2026.

When is a free Minecraft server enough?

For most groups that play together, Aternos does the job and costs nothing. It runs the main Java and Bedrock server software, mods and modpacks, with no cap on players. If your friends only need the world while someone is playing, there's no reason to pay.

When should I move to a paid server?

Two things usually push a group over:

• It has to be online when you aren't. Friends in other time zones, a community that drops in at any hour, or a server you don't want to start by hand each time.
• You want RAM you can count on. A large modpack or a busy server runs best on a known amount of memory, and a paid plan states its RAM up front.

None of these means your free server did anything wrong. They mean the group wants a server that stays up on its own.

Is there a 24/7 alternative to Aternos?

Yes. Any paid Minecraft host can run a server around the clock, and ours is one of them. As of 26 October 2026, this is what a Minecraft server here gives you, taken from pages already on our site:

• It keeps running without you. The server runs on our hardware, not your PC, so it keeps running after you close the dashboard or turn your computer off. It goes offline when it's stopped or crashes, or when holiday mode or a suspension switches it off.
• Sydney hardware. Every server runs on dedicated AMD Ryzen 5000-series hardware in OVHcloud's Sydney data centre. The Ping to Sydney pill on the games page measures your own ping before you buy.
• Software and modpacks. Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge or NeoForge, switched along with the Minecraft version from the JAR Manager tab, and modpacks installed in one click from CurseForge and Modrinth. Modded Minecraft server hosting lists popular packs.
• RAM you can size. Each plan card states its RAM and the players it suits. On Vanilla or Paper that is up to five players per GB, and with mods N GB holds N to 2N players. How much RAM does my Minecraft server need? has the numbers.
• Java and Bedrock. It is a Java server, and phones join through the Crossplay tab, which installs Geyser.
• Backups, refunds and price. Backups on demand from the Backups tab, restored by you. A full refund within 72 hours of a purchase or renewal payment, set out on the refund policy page. Prices are in AUD with no per-player pricing, and every Minecraft plan is on Minecraft server hosting.

If you're weighing up other paid hosts too, what to check when choosing a Minecraft host in Australia lists the same checks for any of them.

How do I move my Aternos world to a paid server?

Your world comes with you. Move your Minecraft world from Aternos walks through the whole job, and How to upload a Minecraft world covers importing a zip with the World Import tab. Download a copy of the world first, then set up the paid server beside it.