How to Make a Minecraft Server on Mobile (Step by Step)

You can make a Minecraft server on mobile in two ways: open your Bedrock world to friends straight from your phone, or rent a server and run it entirely from your phone’s browser. What a phone can’t do is run Mojang’s official Bedrock Dedicated Server, which is built for Windows and Linux computers. This guide covers both options, with the limits of each and every tap from plan to first join.

Everything here works on Android, iPhone and iPad. Minecraft on phones and tablets is Bedrock Edition: Java Edition is only made for computers (Windows, macOS and Linux). That matters later, when you choose what kind of server to run and who can join it.

Can you make a Minecraft server on mobile?

Yes, but “server” can mean three different things, and only one of them keeps the world online after you put the phone down.

The player numbers come from the Minecraft Wiki and Microsoft’s server.properties reference.

Why a phone can’t run the official server

Mojang releases Bedrock Dedicated Server (BDS) for Windows and Ubuntu Linux only. Microsoft lists Windows 10 (version 1703) or later, Windows Server 2016 or later, and Ubuntu as the supported systems, and the Minecraft Wiki notes the Linux build is for x86-64 processors. Phones use ARM chips and run Android or iOS, so there is no official server build for them. Unofficial apps that try to fill the gap are not supported by Mojang, and they still depend on your phone staying on, charged and connected.

Option 1: open your Bedrock world from your phone

This is the quickest way to play together and needs nothing but the game. Your phone is the host: it runs the world and your friends connect to it.

1. Sign in with a Microsoft account in Minecraft. The Wiki notes that the host must be signed in and online for friends to join over the internet.
2. Check the world’s multiplayer setting. Open the world’s settings and go to Multiplayer. Multiplayer Game is on by default for new worlds, and the default access is Friends, so your Xbox network friends can join.
3. Add your friends by Gamertag from the game’s friends list.
4. Start the world and invite them. Send invites from the pause menu, or let them join you from their friends list.
5. Need more slots? With cheats allowed in the world, run /setmaxplayers 10. The Wiki gives 40 as the maximum, and the command doesn’t exist on Xbox.

Friends on the same Wi-Fi can also join without the internet if you turn on Visible to LAN Players. The full list of ways to get a group together, for both editions, is in how to play Minecraft with friends.

The limits of hosting on a phone

• The world closes when you leave. It lives on your phone, so nobody can build while you sleep or are in class.
• Your phone does all the work. Every player adds load on the same processor and battery you play with, and a call or a dead battery ends the session for everyone.
• Everyone needs the same game version as the host.

Running a server on a home computer instead removes the first limit but adds others: the PC has to stay on, and friends outside your home need you to port forward the Minecraft server in your router, which some internet connections don’t allow. Our guide on how to make a Minecraft Bedrock server covers that route step by step.

Option 2: a Minecraft server on mobile that stays online

A hosted server fixes the phone’s weak spots. The world runs on a server in a data center, so it stays up when your phone is locked, off or out of battery. You still do everything from the phone: the TheGameHosting panel is a website, so it opens in Chrome, Safari or any mobile browser, with no app to install and no computer needed.

On TheGameHosting, one plan runs every game, and Minecraft Bedrock and Java both need just 1 GB of RAM, so even the 2 GB plan runs them. Your server has its own public IP and port, so there is no router to touch, and it runs on AMD 9950X/7950X3D CPUs with DDR5 RAM in Dallas or Amsterdam, with DDoS protection on every plan.

How to make a Minecraft server on mobile, step by step

1. Pick a plan. Open the game server plans on your phone and choose the RAM. Plans start at $1.90 USD/month for 2 GB; more players, add-ons or plugins call for more RAM.
2. Pay. Enter FULL2026 at checkout for 15% off every payment for life. The server is ready about 60 seconds after payment, and the access details arrive by email.
3. Open the panel. Log in from the browser. Tip: use your browser’s Add to Home screen option so the panel opens like an app.
4. Choose Bedrock or Java. In Game Changer, pick Minecraft Bedrock Vanilla (Mojang’s official server), PocketMine-MP or Nukkit. For a Java server, switch to Minecraft Java and pick Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge or another platform in Version Changer. Make a backup first if the server already holds a world.
5. Start the server from the Console and wait until the log says it has started.
6. Copy the address. The panel shows the server’s IP and port, for example 203.0.113.25:19140.
7. Add it in Minecraft. Open Play, go to the Servers tab, scroll down and tap Add Server. Put the IP in Server Address and the number after the colon in Port, save and join. The details are in how to add a server in Minecraft Bedrock.

Send your friends the same IP and port. Bedrock players on Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows add it the same way; console players need an extra step, explained in how to join a Bedrock server on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch.

Managing your server from the phone

These are the panel sections you will use most, and all of them work on a phone screen.

On a Bedrock server, these are the commands and settings people use first. The defaults come from Microsoft’s Bedrock Dedicated Server guide:

• allow-list=true in server.properties (default false), then allowlist add <Gamertag> in the Console, keeps the world private. Use quotes if the Gamertag has a space.
• op <Gamertag> gives you operator rights.
• max-players (default 10), gamemode (default survival) and difficulty (default easy) are the lines most owners change. Restart after saving.

Small edits are easy on a touch screen. For a large world upload, sFTP from a computer is more comfortable, and it is included with every plan.

Phone players and friends on Java

A Bedrock server takes players on phones, tablets, Windows and consoles, but Java Edition players can’t join it. If part of your group plays Java on PC, run a Java server and add Geyser and Floodgate, so phone players connect through Geyser’s Bedrock port. The setup is in let Bedrock players join your Java server with Geyser On a hosted server, the plugin files go in the plugins folder through Files.

Skip the hard part: run it from your phone, online 24/7

If you want a world your friends can enter any time, hosting it on your phone won’t get you there, and a PC server means leaving a computer on and opening ports. With TheGameHosting, you pick a plan, pay, and about 60 seconds later you have a Bedrock or Java server with its own address, managed from your phone’s browser, with Console, Files and Backups in your pocket and 24/7 support by chat, email and tickets.

See the Minecraft Bedrock server hosting page for the Bedrock details, or go straight to the plans and pricing and use FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

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Hosting for these games

• Minecraft Bedrock hostingPhones, consoles and Windows
• Minecraft Java hostingPaper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge and more