Tuomas Pasanen

Here I explain how to run Minecraft Java server on Azure Virtual Machine.

What you need to create virtual machine on Azure cloud

Microsoft Account
Register Azure tenant
Add your credit card for billing
Create or select Azure subscription

Create virtual machine on Azure

You need virtual server for running Java Minecraft server. This virtual server can be any Linux or Windows operating system which can run lateste Java version. For example:

Create new virtul machine:

Create new resrouce group on Azure
Create new virtual machine, for example Ubuntu 24.04

Select size for vm:

For 1-10 players server with 2vCPU and 4GB of RAM is enough in most cases
You can resize the server later

Setup auto shutdown to minimize costs:

Select time on your time zone when server can automatically shutdown and stop spendin money

Setup SSH key for secure connetion to your server:

Download ssh private key on your pc or laptop and keep it safe

Configure all other things as you like and create server:

SSD disk is recommended and keep public inbound ports closed on this phase

Now you should have server up and running and see it on Azure resource group.

Network settings:

Configure firewall inbound rules under "Network settings"
You need one rule from your IP address to virtual machine SSH port 22
And another rule from your IP address to Minecraft Java service port 25565
If you need to open Minecraft server for other players, then you need to add more rules from their source IP addresses
It is not recommended to open any port to server from "Any" sources if not sure what to do

Now you can login to server using SSH private key and from your home IP address.

Install and confiugre Minecraft Java server

Minecraft Java server downloads can be found https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download/server

Example of logging to server and install Minecraft Java server:


                  # Login to linux server with SSH
ssh -i your-vm-ssh-private-key.pem azureuser@your.server.ip.address

# Update Ubuntu OS First
sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install latest Java 
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jdk -y

# Create new folder for Minecraft server 
mkdir minecraft-1.2.1

# Create symbolic link for Minecraft 
ln -s  minecraft-1.2.1 minecraft

# Download Minecrat Server
cd minecraft
wget https://piston-data.mojang.com/v1/objects/59353fb40c36d304f2035d51e7d6e6baa98dc05c/server.jar

# Start Minecraft server first time 
java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui

# Setup eula.txt 
vi eula.txt

eula=true

# Setup server properties
vi server.properties 

difficulty=easy
gamemode=survival
hardcore=false
max-players=10
server-port=25565

# Start Minecraft server as background process
java -Xmx2048M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar nogui &

Configure Minecraft Java server properties

Above you can see some examples of "server.properties" file configurations. You can modify it as you want. For example, if you want to start server in "harcode" mode, you need to set:

hardcore=true

You need to restart Java server to take new configurations in use.

You can now launch your Minecraft on your gaming pc or laptop and start multiplayer session. Add new server and configure name for the server and server address. Use your Azure virtual machine ip addresses and server-port of Minecraft configured earlierd.
For example:

Server address: 123.22.34.56:25565

Now you should see new server online and start playing!

Automate server start and stop process for reducing costs

Now server is up and running, but also costs are running all the time. You might want to stop spending money when you are not playing. So it is time to automate server for launching Minecraft Java server up every time serves is powered on in Azure portal. We already configured virtual machine automatic shutdown when we created the server and that can be adjusted in the virtual machine configurations as you wish.

Here is example, how to automate Minecraft server automatic startup in Ubuntu Linux:


                  # Create new linux service 
sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/minecraft.service

# Configure service
[Unit]
Description=Minecraft Service

[Service]
User=azureuser
Group=azureuser
WorkingDirectory=/home/azureuser/minecraft/
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -Xmx2048M -Xms2048M -jar /home/azureuser/minecraft/server.jar nogui
RestartSec=10
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable service 
sudo systemctl enable minecraft.service

# Check services status, stop or start
sudo service minecraft status
sudo service minecraft stop
sudo service minecraft start

Now every time you shutdown the virtual machine that new "minecraft service" shutdown the Java process down first cleanly and then the vm shutdoen itselft. And every time you start the virtual machine from Azure portal, it starts up "minecraft service" automatically. And you are ready to play!

How to update Minecraft Java server with new version

When you want to update new version of Minecraft, follow this process:

Login to virtual machine
Download new Minecraft server version
Update new version of Java
Create new folder for new version Minecraft and point symbolic link to new version
Copy eula.txt, server.properties, "world" folder and all files except the server.jar from earlier version folder to new version folder
Start the Minecraft server

Now you have existing state of the game in new version and with symbolic link the automation works without any else modifications.

Conclusion

It is very cheap to run virtual machines and services on Azure when you automate the shutdown and startup process. You can keep server up and running only that time you are using the service and avoid spending money of idling resources. In Azure cloud services costs are per seconds of running capacity and mostly for example playing Minecraft you pay only couple of Euros per month.

Next time you want to play Minecraft, you go to Azure portal, just press virtual machine start button and you are ready to go!