Pick a plan
A vanilla Minecraft Java server holds ~10 players on 4 GB RAM. Modded packs (Forge/Fabric) want 6–8 GB minimum. Hourly billing is great while you test.
Install Java
apt install -y openjdk-21-jre-headless screen
Download Paper (recommended)
Paper is a drop-in vanilla replacement with major performance wins.
mkdir -p /opt/minecraft && cd /opt/minecraft curl -L -o server.jar https://api.papermc.io/v2/projects/paper/versions/1.21/builds/latest/downloads/paper-1.21.jar
First run + EULA
java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui
It exits because you haven't accepted the EULA. Edit `eula.txt`:
eula=true
Keep it running
screen -S mc java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar server.jar nogui
Detach with `Ctrl-A D`. Reattach with `screen -r mc`. For production, use a systemd unit instead — `screen` doesn't restart on reboot.
Firewall
ufw allow 25565/tcp
Tips
- Set `view-distance=8` in `server.properties` — the default 10 is heavy on CPU.
- Run `/spark profiler` (Paper plugin) when frame times drop.