ESN Docs

Docs › Minecraft

How to set up a Minecraft server on ESN Hosting

Buy and set up a Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Vanilla or Forge Minecraft server on ESN Hosting, accept the EULA, connect, and make yourself an operator.

ESN Hosting sets up Minecraft Java servers for you automatically when you buy a plan from the panel.

1. Pick a type and a plan

  1. Sign in and open Buy a server.
  2. Under What do you want to host?, choose Minecraft, then pick a type:
    • Paper: the usual choice. It's fast and runs plugins.
    • Purpur: Paper plus extra settings, and it also runs plugins.
    • Fabric: for mods that need Fabric.
    • Vanilla: plain Minecraft, with no plugins or mods.
    • Forge: for Forge mods and modpacks. Needs a plan with 2 GB of RAM or more.
  3. Choose a plan with at least 1 GB of RAM. Plans that are too small say so instead of showing a Buy button. More players and plugins need more RAM, so Advanced (2 GB) or bigger is a comfortable start.
  4. Pay on Stripe. The server appears on your dashboard within a minute or two.

2. First start and the EULA

  1. Open the server and choose Start on the Console.
  2. Minecraft asks you to accept its EULA (end user license agreement) the first time. The panel shows a prompt for it, so choose Accept. Or open eula.txt in Files, change eula=false to eula=true and start again.
  3. Wait for Done (…)! For help, type "help" in the console. That means the server is up.

3. Connect

Your server's address is shown at the top of its Console page and on the Network page, as an IP address and a port (ip:port). In Minecraft, go to Multiplayer → Add Server and paste the whole address, including the port.

4. Make yourself an operator

In the Console, type op YourMinecraftName (no slash) and press Enter. You can now use admin commands in game.

5. Change server settings

Open server.properties in Files to change the MOTD, difficulty, gamemode, max-players, whitelist and more. Save, then Restart. Don't change server-port: your server must use the port the panel gave it.

Uploading your own world

  1. Stop the server.
  2. Zip your world folder on your computer, upload it in Files and choose Unarchive.
  3. Name the folder to match level-name in server.properties (by default, world). Delete or rename the old one first.
  4. Start the server.

Next: add plugins or mods.

Still stuck? Use the live chat on the panel or ask in the ESN Hosting Discord. Last updated October 27, 2026.