How to Host an Eaglercraft Server for Friends: From Setup to First Join

Create a world that you and a friend can enter in your browsers, then return with the same player identities and saved progress. This guide follows the Sealos template from deployment to your First Join, a friend's arrival, and a restart check. The main example uses Eaglercraft 1.8 / Paper 1.8.8, with template release 2.2.7.

Choose a Hosting Path

Open the template to follow the walkthrough below. Keep this guide open while you deploy.

Opens the Eaglercraft template in a new tab.

Before You Deploy

Prepare these items:

• A Sealos account and a browser with WebGL support. The recorded gameplay checks used Chrome on a Mac with a keyboard and mouse.
• A game-version choice shared by all participants. Select 1.8 to follow the demonstrated path.
• A strong Administrator Password, stored privately, for the server management console.
• A stable player name and a separate personal password for each Player Account.
• Agreement to the upstream deployment's terms, including the Minecraft EULA. The template's startup configuration accepts that EULA.

A Resource Plan covers a monthly pool of compute, memory, storage, and traffic. On September 12, 2026, Sealos pricing lists Starter at $7/month for eligible first paid-plan purchases, with a $34/month listed regular price. Eligible new users can receive a seven-day trial. Open Cost Center in the Sealos desktop to review your offer, available resources, taxes, optional services, and actual charge before deploying; the pricing FAQ explains plan limits and billing.

For the full cost picture across free, paid, and self-managed Eaglercraft hosting, see Eaglercraft Hosting Costs: Free Options, Paid Plans, and Setup Trade-offs.

The checked template allocates 0.2 vCPU and 1 GiB memory to the main container, with a 1 GiB persistent volume. These are application allocations within your Resource Plan. Monitor memory, storage, and world growth as you play; player capacity depends on activity and resource availability.

Version labels describe different things: 1.8 is the game option, Paper 1.8.8 is the game-server version, and 2.2.7 is the packaged application release. The template also offers 1.12 / Paper 1.12.2. That option reached admin readiness and retained a storage marker in the earlier check; a truncated browser asset download left its full browser join unverified. Use 1.8 for the complete demonstrated workflow.

Deploy Your Eaglercraft Server on Sealos

1. Choose the version and Administrator Password

On the template page, choose Deploy Eaglercraft. In the deployment form, select 1.8 for minecraft_version, then set rcon_password: this is your Administrator Password. Keep it private and save it before continuing. Submit the configuration, then sign in when prompted.

Review the application resources and storage, then deploy. Completion state: the deployment opens in Canvas, where you can see your application's resource card. Keep the assigned application name so you can find this same instance later.

2. Open the admin console and wait for Paper

Open the application's link from its Canvas card. It leads to /admin on your application's public host. Enter the saved Administrator Password and choose Confirm.

The management interface can open while the game server is still starting. On Overview, wait for Paper is ready before joining. Initial world generation and available resources affect the wait; readiness is the useful completion signal. If it stays in startup, inspect the application's logs from Canvas.

Admin console showing Paper readiness, the connected player ___, and the saved gold-block check. Captured during the September 10–11, 2026 verification.

3. Open the browser client and set your player name

Choose Join game from the console's Overview page. The hosted browser client opens; press a key when prompted to enable sound and complete any client information screen.

Before connecting, open Edit Profile, enter a stable player name of 3–16 characters, and choose Done. Use letters, numbers, and underscores, and keep the exact spelling and capitalization for future visits. The September 12 friend-join check used RiverBuilder and StoneExplorer. Choose your own available name. Quick join can initially assign a random name, so check the profile first.

The supplied Join game link can connect automatically after profile setup. To join from the menu, open Multiplayer. Release 2.2.7 preconfigures this deployment in the server list. Select that server and choose Join Server. Completion state: the world loads and the game asks you to register or log in. The authentication step below completes your First Join.

4. Register your Player Account

Have a private 6–32 character player password ready. Within 30 seconds of connecting, press T to open chat and enter:

/register <player-password>

Replace <player-password> with your own password, typed once, and press Enter. Keep the password as one argument. The selected template uses LoginSecurity with password confirmation disabled. Each player chooses their own password; the Administrator Password stays in the management console.

Completion state: chat shows “Successfully registered, you are now logged in.” You can move through and interact with the hosted world. If the registration window expires, select the same multiplayer server again and submit the command promptly.

First Join: player ___ receives the successful registration message in the hosted 1.8 world. Original September 10–11, 2026 browser evidence.

The earlier captured player is named ___. Keep that identity in mind when comparing the original screenshots; your profile will show the name you chose.

5. Leave and return with the same identity

Open the game menu and disconnect. Reopen the Browser Play Link, confirm your exact player name in Edit Profile, and join the preconfigured server again. Press T and enter:

/login <player-password>

Use the personal password you registered. Completion state: “Successfully logged in.” appears, and you return as the existing player. A fresh browser profile may need its player name set again. Changing the name selects a different identity on this server.

Returning login: the same player ___ successfully signs in after the original application's storage-preserving restart. September 10–11, 2026 evidence.

Invite a Friend to the Same World

On the admin console's Overview page, use Join game to obtain the Browser Play Link. Copy that link's address, including any supplied query string, and send it privately to your friend. It opens the hosted browser client. The friend's Player Account gives them their own game identity.

Your friend should open the Browser Play Link, set a different stable player name, select Multiplayer, and join the preconfigured server. They then register their own password using /register <player-password> within 30 seconds. On later visits, they use /login <player-password> with that same identity.

To confirm Friend Join, stay online together, meet at a recognizable landmark, and check both names in the admin console's player list. A message in game chat or a shared block placement helps confirm that you are interacting in the same world. Players with an existing client can instead add the displayed WSS address, using a client compatible with the selected game version.

Friend Join: RiverBuilder sees StoneExplorer beside the gold block, with both names visible in the online player list. Captured September 12, 2026 in two isolated Chrome sessions on one Mac and network.

Both players registered with separate credentials and were online together through the public HTTPS/WSS entry point. The server console also reported both names. This check used two isolated browser contexts on the same Mac and network; access from a second physical device or independent network remains outside the recorded test.

Friends can continue playing while your browser is closed, provided the hosted application stays running and reachable with an active plan or eligible trial. Your own browser controls your player session; the hosted application runs the shared world.

Restart and Check Your Saved World

A Persistent World lives on the application's persistent storage. Check it with a change you can recognize:

1. Place a distinctive block or small structure. Record its location and take a screenshot so you can compare it after restart.
2. In the admin console, use World tools to save the world, or run save-all in Command terminal and wait for the save confirmation.
3. Disconnect players. Restart the existing application through its Canvas resource controls, preserving the original persistent volume. Keep the same application, game version, and storage attached. Removing the volume removes the data that this check depends on.
4. Wait for Paper is ready, reopen the same Browser Play Link, and sign in with the same player name and /login <player-password>.
5. Return to the recorded location. Completion state: the recognizable change remains and your existing player can access it.

The original 1.8 check saved a gold block at -188 70 -178, restarted the application with its original volume retained, and signed in as ___. Both the browser view and the server's block check confirmed the retained gold block.

Persistent World: the gold block remains after the application restart and returning login by ___. September 10–11, 2026 evidence using the original persistent volume.

Keep a Recovery Copy separately from the active world storage so you have a source for recovery after accidental deletion or storage loss. The restart check proves continuity with retained storage. Exporting a copy, restoring it independently, and checking the Restored World are a separate recovery procedure. See the persistent storage guide for volume behavior and retention planning.

Understand the Client, Gateway, and Game Server

Browser client
    | secure WebSocket (WSS)
    v
WebSocket gateway
    | game connection
    v
Paper game server
    | saves world and player data
    v
Persistent storage

The browser client displays the game and receives your keyboard and mouse input. The gateway accepts the browser's WebSocket connection and forwards game traffic. Paper runs the shared world. This template packages the client, gateway, Paper, administration interface, and player-login support in one deployment; LoginSecurity stores accounts on its persistent volume.

A client's single-player world is stored by that browser. Joining the hosted multiplayer server uses the server's Persistent World. Use Multiplayer and the deployment's server entry to reach the world your friend is playing in.

Fix Common Join Problems

Continue with Manual Hosting

Running the server yourself on a VPS is a documented path: How to Host an Eaglercraft Server on an Ubuntu VPS walks through the runtime install, the systemd units, the Caddy HTTPS entry point, the admin panel over an SSH tunnel, and a rehearsed world restore.

If Docker Compose is already part of your workflow, Run Eaglercraft with Docker Compose deploys the same stack from one image with a persistent bind mount, a loopback-only admin panel, and a rehearsed backup and restore.

Once you have checked the first player, your friend's connection, and the retained world, keep the Browser Play Link and your private credentials for the next session. Start your shared world with the Eaglercraft template:

Opens the Eaglercraft template in a new tab.