08/23/2026
Free Minecraft server
I am giving away Minecraft servers — 2 GB of RAM, free, while stock lasts. The same goes for Project Zomboid (2 GB) and Terraria (1 GB). No catch and no card: you get a real server on the same hardware the paid ones run on. If you want a bigger plan later, your first three months are 25% off.
What you actually get
- Minecraft — 2 GB of RAM. Enough for a survival server with a few friends, with full plugin access.
- Project Zomboid — 2 GB of RAM. For a smaller group of survivors on one map.
- Terraria — 1 GB of RAM. The Terraria server is light enough that it does not need more.
- Hardware in Germany. Ryzen machines, the same ones the paid servers sit on — not some forgotten box on the side.
- Me, directly. When something breaks you talk to me, not to a ticket queue.
Stock is limited and goes in order — first come, first served. When they are gone I will say so.
How to get one
- Sign up on mcbalkan.
- Message me on Discord and tell me which of the three games you want.
- I set the whole thing up and the server is yours — you just connect.
Discord is here — you talk straight to me, no ticket system, no bot.
What really fits in a 2 GB Minecraft server
This is the part most pages skip, so let me be straight with you. Paper's own documentation recommends 6–10 GB, no matter how few players. That is not wrong — it is advice written for large public servers with a lot of loaded chunks and fifty plugins.
For what most of us actually play — survival with three to five friends, vanilla or Paper, a handful of plugins — 2 GB runs perfectly decently. The current release is 26.2, and nothing has changed dramatically there.
Two settings help you most on 2 GB: drop view-distance to 6–8 and simulation-distance to 4–6 in server.properties. Every chunk the server keeps loaded is memory, and almost nobody notices the difference between 10 and 8 in play.
And one detail people miss constantly: do not give Java all the RAM you have. The JVM needs memory above your -Xmx value too, so on a 2 GB server set Xmx to around 1500M and leave the rest to the system. The same documentation says it for big servers: if you have 8 GB, use 6500M. Push Xmx to the full 2 GB and the OOM killer will eventually cut you off mid-game.
Terraria: why 1 GB is enough
Steam lists 2.5 GB for Terraria, but that is the requirement for the game, not the server. The dedicated server is far lighter: a small world and a few players fit into 1 GB without trouble. A large world and ten people is another story, and that is when 2 GB is worth it — 6 € a month with me.
Project Zomboid: where 2 GB starts to hurt
Zomboid is the hungriest of the three. Its dedicated server ships with -Xmx3072m in ProjectZomboid64.json — so The Indie Stone itself assumes 3 GB. On 2 GB you will run a smaller group on one map perfectly well, but the moment everyone spreads across the map and the server keeps a lot of cells loaded, you will feel it.
I would rather tell you that up front than sell you a server and leave you to work it out.
When you genuinely need more
- Modpacks. Any serious Forge or Fabric modpack wants 4 GB and up — 2 GB has no chance.
- Ten players and up. More people means more loaded chunks, and chunks are memory.
- Big worlds and long seasons. A world that grows for months brings its memory with it.
When that day comes, the 4 GB plan is 12 € a month — and if you came in through this free server, your first three months are 25% off. The discount applies to any bigger plan, not just 4 GB.
Why I am doing this
Because mcbalkan is a small, one-person host and I cannot outspend the big names on ads. What I can do is give you a real server and real support and let you see the difference yourself. Everything about Minecraft hosting — or just message me on Discord.