For a group of friends, choose hosting around three practical questions: when everyone can join, what the complete service costs, and who will look after the world. A hosted server accommodates friends logging on at different hours. Shared World centers on a live session kept open by one player. A home computer or DIY VPS demands hands-on maintenance for the runtime, network access, and recovery copies.
A low advertised monthly price is useful for building a shortlist. The purchase decision also needs the server's actual allocation, your group's activities and the work involved in getting back online after a problem. Mining near an existing base and exploring new terrain put different demands on a server.
This guide is published by Sealos, one of the providers being compared. Its selection criteria are the total hosting payment, the declared multiplayer experience, setup and recurring work, and demonstrated recovery. Documentary Evidence means a dated provider statement. Practice Evidence means an observed operation with its configuration and measurement scope recorded.
The first-join tutorial already verifies the client-versus-server version distinction and the distinction between an application restart and a recovery from a separate copy. This guide keeps both distinctions and applies them to the buying decision.
What a Complete Hosting Offer Needs
An Eaglercraft browser session connects to a game server through a WebSocket gateway. A browser client delivered over HTTPS needs a compatible secure WSS connection. Hosting the client page, running Paper, exposing the gateway, and storing the world are four distinct components.
Check the game version at both ends. A browser client labeled 1.8 and a server package labeled 2.2.7 refer to different version schemes. The Sealos package's demonstrated path uses the 1.8 client with Paper 1.8.8. A provider's ability to change its Paper version needs verification with the gateway and authentication configuration that your friends will actually use.
The Sealos template packages the client, gateway, Paper and web administration interface together. Players create their own accounts; the administrator keeps the management password private. With any alternative, confirm which components are supplied, which you install, and how a friend gets from the shared link to authenticated play. Include required domains, ports and other extras in the cost.
Free, Paid and Self-Managed Paths
| Path | Who runs the shared world | Main ongoing responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Paid game hosting | The hosting provider's server | Player access, configuration, service payment and recovery copies |
| Sealos template | Your hosted Sealos application | Server Allocation, Resource Plan capacity, players and saved data |
| Eagler.Host | The provider's hosted service | Account/resource conditions, any credit tasks and independent copies |
| Shared World | The host's compatible browser session | Keeping that session available and preserving its world |
| Existing computer or DIY VPS | The machine you administer | Runtime, networking, updates, monitoring and recovery |
Eagler.Host advertises free hosting with resource upgrades earned through tasks. Read the Eagler.Host service page alongside the hosting terms: the provider reserves resource changes and termination, and assigns backup responsibility to the world owner. Check the actual allocation, version and retention conditions in your account. These are provider statements checked September 14, 2026.
Shared World is a choice for a live gathering with a host present. The first-join tutorial describes that branch; verify the sharing support of the particular client you use. Its session model matters when friends expect to return at different times throughout the week.
For a home machine, count electricity using your measured average power draw: kilowatts multiplied by operating hours and your electricity rate. For example, an assumed 50 W for 720 hours uses 36 kWh. At an assumed $0.20/kWh, that is $7.20 for electricity. Hardware, connectivity and maintenance add their own costs. Those inputs are an illustration to replace with your own measurements.
Oracle Always Free is a documentary DIY option. Check account eligibility, available capacity, instance architecture and idle-resource rules before planning around it. A VM still needs a compatible server, gateway, network configuration and maintenance.
Understand the Payment Before Comparing Resources
Compare the cash a new buyer must spend to keep the complete service running for the stated billing period. Record currency, region, quantity, mandatory extras, taxes and payment fees. Monthly equivalents for annual purchases should sit beside the actual amount due at checkout.
Use three separate price labels:
- Introductory Price: the offer available under specified eligibility and duration conditions.
- Regular Listed Price: the provider's public ordinary price on the source date. Confirm the particular subscription's renewal terms separately.
- Actual Hosting Charge: the amount charged for the tested purchase, including its billing period, extras and applicable fees or taxes.
Hosting Haven's order configuration deserves a close check. On September 15, 2026, a guest browser session configured a single-unit Dirt cart at $1.00 per month with every optional extra set to zero. Each optional slot prices separately: backups at $0.10 each, databases at $0.05 each, and additional ports at $0.10 each. Every billing cycle from quarterly to triennial is an exact multiple of the monthly rate, so paying for longer terms matches the standard monthly price. Guest checkout works without an account. The page displays the gateway fee dynamically: Stripe adds $0.33 ($1.33 total), PayPal adds $0.52 ($1.52 total), and Cash App adds $0.00 ($1.00 total). A promo code offering 15% off for three months remained unapplied. Its sales page advertises daily backups; confirm the included backup facility and independent export access before relying on that feature. The sales page and order form were checked September 14–15, 2026; a cart is a quotation stage, with payment still ahead.
How Sealos Plan and Allocation Costs Fit Together
A Resource Plan supplies the account's resource pool. Server Allocation assigns part of that pool to this instance. Account capacity already committed to other applications affects what remains available for your world.
On September 14, 2026, Sealos pricing lists Starter at $7/month for eligible first paid-plan purchases, with $34/month as the Regular Listed Price. Hobby lists $25/month introductory and $70/month regular. On September 15, 2026, the Cost Center app confirmed the $7 Starter charge across five consecutive monthly invoices on an existing account. This confirms $7 as the steady recurring renewal price for that subscription. The Eaglercraft instance ran inside the Starter plan's pool for the observed week with no charge beyond the subscription.
Starter's listed pool is 2 vCPU, 2 Gi RAM, 10 Gi disk and 10 GB traffic. The checked template's main container has a 0.2 vCPU limit, 1 GiB memory limit and a 1 GiB volume. The instance therefore uses a portion of the purchased pool. Plan upgrades and allocation changes are separate decisions.
For a new buyer, the full required plan payment belongs in the comparison. For an existing customer, calculate an incremental case from the resources already available. A server fitting within an already-paid pool adds zero plan payment for that billing period. Check plan limits and any required upgrade for the actual account. Keep that case labeled as existing-account use.
Traffic, disk and memory need their own headroom. World exploration creates additional terrain files, and player activity transfers data through the public connection. Record observed growth and usage with their activity window before projecting a month. Storage reserved for an independent recovery copy needs its own allowance.
Deploy an Eaglercraft Server on Sealos and Follow the Setup Guide to configure the matching version and complete player registration.
Results for Two, Five and Ten Players
A Concurrent Player Workload specifies how many authenticated players are active together and what they do. A Comparable Game Workload keeps the game version, starting world and activities consistent across providers.
The declared steady-activity threshold is TPS of at least 19 at a minimum of 95% of sampled points. Each evaluated workload requires five minutes of warm-up and at least thirty minutes of observation, repeated at least twice. Existing terrain activity and new-chunk generation are reported separately.
The measured two-provider runs that would populate this section have yet to be produced. The test protocol, candidate scope, and thresholds above describe the comparison method. Treat any minimum-cost claim as unverified until those run records exist.
The Lowest Passing Offer for a player target is the lowest tested or non-excluded purchase option that meets the declared experience and functional requirements. Keep the candidate trail with the result. A configured limit of 20 player slots describes a setting, while a ten-player result requires those players to participate for the measured workload.
Setup, Availability and World Recovery
Measure setup from the same starting point on both providers. Active operator time includes choosing options, configuring access and completing the first join. Elapsed time also includes provisioning and startup waits. Record each separately so readers can compare hands-on effort and time until they can play.
Describe ordinary management work concretely: inviting a player, saving the world, adjusting resources, renewing service and exporting a recovery copy. For availability, pair provider idle terms with the actual observation window and rejoin checks. Hosting Haven's sales page and SLA use different availability figures and scopes; establish which conditions apply to the purchased service.
A Persistent World survives ordinary restarts while its storage is retained. A Recovery Copy is held separately from that working storage. A Restored World is recovered onto replacement storage and checked through real play.
The first-join tutorial verified registration, returning login and a gold block retained across a restart on the original volume. The comparison's recovery check extends that evidence: export a separate copy and restore it independently. Then verify a known marker, player identity and inventory, authentication continuity, and browser re-entry.
Keep copies that include world files, player state and the authentication data needed for continuity. Protect exported credentials and account databases. A restore rehearsal tells you which files, commands and access you would need after losing the working storage. The complete step-by-step migration procedure will live in a separate recovery tutorial when it is published.
Choose Around Your Group's Next Month of Play
Start with the largest simultaneous group you expect, its activities and your acceptable administration effort. Use that workload's passing candidate and actual purchase cost. A friend who explores new terrain continuously can change the demands on the same world; revisit the allocation when play patterns change.
For occasional sessions around one host, evaluate Shared World. For a strict zero-rental budget, review free-hosting conditions and the work a DIY option requires. For a hosted world with less setup work, compare the measured paid offers, including their export and recovery paths. When you choose the Sealos path, open the Eaglercraft template and follow the Setup Guide.
