Your own Minecraft server, ready in minutes.
HostCraft sets up everything (the server, Java and all the settings) and runs it from one big Start button. No command lines and nothing else to install.
Free for everyone · Windows 10 & 11 · Java Edition 1.8 → 26.x · Portable version (no install)
Windows may warn that the app is from an unknown publisher. Click More info → Run anyway.
Everything a home server needs
Built for players hosting for their friends, not sysadmins.
8-step setup wizard
Pick Paper, Vanilla, Fabric or Purpur and any version. Name it, choose the world, add your admins, and you're done.
Java included
Each server gets its own portable Java, so there's nothing to install and no version mix-ups.
Launcher-style dashboard
Start/stop, a coloured console, players, live CPU & RAM graphs, settings, backups.
Friends can actually join
The exact address to share, a router-by-router port-forwarding guide, automatic port opening (UPnP) and a reachability test.
Plugins & mods
Browse and install from Modrinth in one click. Bedrock crossplay with Geyser for phone and console friends.
Safe by default
Automatic backups, crash auto-restart, whitelist and online-mode explained in plain English.
Live 3D map
Turn on BlueMap in the wizard and watch your world and everyone in it live, right in the app. Share the map with friends through a free link.
No port forwarding? No problem
Behind CGNAT or can't get into your router? Share your server through a playit.gg tunnel instead, set up from the Network tab.
Keeps itself up to date
New versions download and install inside the app with one click. No hunting for a new installer.
See your world, live
Tick one box in the setup wizard and HostCraft installs BlueMap for you. It turns your world into a 3D map you can explore in the app or any browser, with every player shown where they are right now.
- Built into the app. A Live map tab next to the console, no extra setup.
- Players move in real time. Find your friends, your base or that village you lost.
- Real 3D. Tilt and fly over your builds, or switch to the Nether and the End.
- Share it with one click. Same-Wi-Fi link, port forwarding, or a free https link that works from anywhere.
3 online
Learn how Minecraft servers work
Free, plain-English guides, whether you use HostCraft or set everything up yourself.
Make a server by hand
Java, the server file, the EULA and a start script, step by step on Windows.
Friends can't connect?
What each connection error means and how to fix it.
Fix server lag
Tell server, network and client lag apart, then find and fix the cause.
server.properties explained
Every important setting, with sensible values for a friends' server.
No port forwarding?
CGNAT, student halls and mobile internet: the free ways round it.
Back up your world
What to copy, how to do it safely while the server runs, and how to restore.
Free forever, and ad-free if you chip in
Every feature is free. HostCraft shows a few small, clearly labelled ads to pay for itself. Donate £5 or more on Ko-fi and it's ad-free for you, forever: open Support HostCraft in the app and enter your Ko-fi email.