cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/1305653
I used to host minecraft at a gameserver hosting service where you can easily click to select mods and so on.
I figured I can host it on a more powerful cloud vserver for cheaper if I can spare the hosting tools.
Can I just copy all the game files to a new server and run it with the same command, I think Java Software works that way right? It wouldn’t care for libraries installed by the os, that correct? Both servers are Linux based, but the new one would be on ARM architecture - again, should be irrelevant thanks to Java right?
I’ll give it a try, just wanted to see if anyone has tips on what to look out for.
I figured if I get proper startup and shutdown scripts setup I could even spin down the instance when I know nobody will be playing for a while and save some money. It would cost about 50 cents per month to have a separate persistent storage where the scripts could save to / recover from…
Any thoughts would be appreciated! Cheers
As long as you’ve got all the plugins, and server jar files, you’re going to be able to run on another server with appropriate Java installation. Depending on processor speed, ARM might not yield as good of TPS as the other server as most ARM processors tends to have slightly lower clock speed in favor of more cores, whereas Minecraft thrives on single processor clock speed.
Thanks, that’s what I assumed. I’m hoping it’ll be easy to switch to better specs in the cloud and still affordable, especially if it’s easy to spin down the server on demand. We’re usually playing “in bursts” of a few weeks…
I tried this concept a while back with some of my friends… one thing I discovered with smaller communities is that activity begets activity, and same thing holds true for the lack of activity… by turning server off during perceived “off” hours to save a buck or two, it robs people of that serendipitous connection with each other when they randomly play during those off windows. Giving people the option to turn the server on, at least in my case, didn’t seem to help because they’re not looking to kick start my server when they’re on the server selection screen.
So unless you have very dedicated community all sharing a very rigid off schedule (I.E. “we’re all in same class during these hours, so no one will be around, and everyone has the keys to start the server in case if they’re sick”), I wouldn’t recommend automation of turning on and off of the server.
Check out the itzg docker Minecraft server build. Not sure if it’s exactly what you’re looking for but it makes hosting a server very easy if you’re familiar with docker
I use those images with great success. I have 2 bedrock and a Java edition with Forge on it with great success.
Oh thanks a lot for that recommendation, I was looking for docker images but nothing seemed just right.
No worries! If you really want to save money take a look at the cloud formation (AWS) implementation of it. It would take some trial and error to find the parameters to best suit you and friends, but it uses spot pricing to take advantage of the cheapest hardware possible. It’s linked in the docs (but I always have to dig for it), so direct link is here https://github.com/vatertime/minecraft-spot-pricing
I’ll add - I struggled to find a cloud host that was actually competitive compared to game hosting companies. I went through a few before I settled on one that was so cheap I just couldn’t get close with running my own. My friends like to play with a lot of mods so we needed a decent chunk of RAM.
The only way I would get it to be viable from a financial standpoint was with cloud formation. I played around with it a bit but never ended up deploying - as I say - the host I settled on was so cheap it was just easier long term.
This is how Java is intended to work, ie with the JVM.
Minecraft has specific requirements though, so best to check how the hardware is going to like it.
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It’s running! I had to use the same Java version but that was basically it. Maybe I’ll share the start-up/persistence scripts if they’re done soon-ish.
