Aternos is free and it is fine to start with; we are not going to tell you otherwise. But it shuts your server down when nobody is left inside and puts you in a queue when they are at capacity — they explain this themselves in their documentation, because their resources are limited and shared among everyone. If your friends have ever logged on to find the world switched off, you have outgrown it. Here the server stays on and starts when you say so, from €5.99/mo. And you can check it before paying.
| What changes | Astrol Nodes | Aternos (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From €5.99/mo | Free |
| Shuts down when nobody is inside | No | Yes, on a countdown |
| Queue to start | None | Yes, when at capacity |
| Resources | Yours, from the plan you buy | Shared and limited |
| Hardware | Ryzen 9 · DDR5 · NVMe | Not published |
| Java, Bedrock and crossplay | Yes | Java and Bedrock |
| Try it without paying | Two open servers and a 24h trial | The whole thing is free |
Worth saying plainly: Aternos does exactly what it says it does, and explains it in its own help pages. They stop empty servers because their resources are limited and have to be shared among millions of people, which is also why there is a queue when they are full. It is not a bug or a trick: it is the price of being free. In their own article about the queue they recommend paying if you do not want to wait.
There are three signs and they are always the same. Your friends log on while you are away and the world is switched off. You agree on a time and end up waiting for it to boot. Or you want farms, redstone or mobs ticking away and you cannot, because the server stops the moment the last player leaves. If any of those sound familiar, the problem is no longer the host: you need a different category of service.
Your server is on whether anyone is inside or not, and it starts when you say so, with no queue. The RAM and CPU in your plan are yours and are not shared out. And you get full panel access to upload whatever you want: worlds, plugins, mods or a whole modpack. It is the difference between a place where you play and a place where you build something.
We keep two servers open, one in Germany and one in Miami, that you can join right now to see how they run from your own connection. And if you want to test your own, we give a free 24-hour trial requested through a ticket, no card needed. Coming from something free, the sensible thing is not to trust a website: go and look.
Because it is designed that way, and they explain it in their help pages: they stop empty servers to free the resources for another user, since their capacity is limited. When the last player leaves, a countdown starts and the server stops when it reaches zero. It is not something you configured wrong.
Same reason. When more people want to start servers than there is capacity available, a queue forms and you move up as other servers stop. It is how they share a free service among a lot of people, and they say so openly in their documentation.
No. It is a free service that does what it promises and is more than enough for many people. The thing is that a server which switches itself off and starts when a slot frees up does not work for a community playing daily, for farms that need to keep ticking, or for a serious project. That is where it stops fitting, not before.
Yes. Download your world backup from their panel and send it over; we set it up with your plugins and configuration, and we do not charge for the migration. We have a whole guide on how it works.
Our Minecraft plans start at €5.99/mo with VAT included, and the price you see is the price you pay. Compared to free it will always be more expensive, so the useful question is whether you need the server on while you are away.
No to both. The server is yours for as long as you keep it: no queue to start it and it does not stop because nobody is inside. You can stop and start it yourself from the panel whenever you like, but that is your call, not a timer.
Yes, two ways. There are two open sample servers, juega.astrolnodes.net in Germany and juega-miami.astrolnodes.net in Miami, that you can join right now. And we give a free 24-hour trial, no card, requested through a ticket.
Yes. Java and Bedrock, with crossplay so people can join the same world from mobile or console, and one-click modpack installs from the panel. You can also upload your own if it is not on the list.
Then think about it. If the server will sit idle five days out of seven and you do not mind waiting for it to boot, staying on something free is a reasonable decision. We make sense when you want the place to stay alive while you are not looking.
Frankfurt and Miami. We are a Spanish company and invoice in euros with VAT, but the hardware is not in Spain and we would rather say so. From Spain, Frankfurt is more than enough for Minecraft; if your community is in Latin America, Miami is the option.