If you've ever been interested, here is a way to set up your own Minecraft Server using Microsoft Azure. Depending on what you use to play Minecraft, such as Windows 10 PCs or Macs, there are many reasons why you might choose to use Microsoft Azure to host Minecraft Servers instead of your own.
Here's an overview:
- No installation is required to choose a preconfigured Minecraft server virtual computer to launch from Azure Marketplace. - You can choose from a variety VM sizes that meet your performance and budget requirements. You can choose between limiting your home network access and exposing your home network network to the internet by running a server on your personal machine. Avoid hardware costs by only purchasing a virtual machine when you use it. You can then shut it down when it is not. Whitelist trusted players to connect from anywhere without wrestling with firewalls and port forwarding. - Freedom from worry about losing data to hardware failure with disks backed by Azure Storage Service. - If you mess up the whole machine no big deal, delete it and deploy another. You can start over from where you left off if your world is backed up from time to time.
Now that you understand the benefits of Azure, let us take a look at how to set-up your Minecraft Server.
1. Set up a Mojang account and buy Minecraft. These are required to play Minecraft, and to successfully set up a Minecraft Server.
2. Get a Microsoft Azure account. You can get a trial for free and some credits to your first month of Microsoft Azure.
3. Select the Minecraft Server Virtual Machine in the Azure Marketplace.
4. Click "Create Virtual Machine".
5. Next, log in to your Microsoft Azure Account. Click "Create"
6. Here you will need to complete some important configuration steps (some of which are optional)
- Pick a name for your server (the url for your server will be name.cloudapp.net) - Enter a username to use as an administrator - Define a password or upload an ssh key you will use to access your server - Select a server size / pricing tier, A1 will be a good size to start with - Optional: Configure Network, Storage and Diagnostics - Optional: Select or define a name to group your Azure resources - Optional: Select the subscription to use if you have got multiple - Select a location / data center to host your server, pick a location close to your users
7. Click "Create", and Azure will create your Minecraft Server. (This may take several minutes so wait!
8. After that's done, your Minecraft server will be ready. In order to connect to your server in Minecraft, use the URL and Port 25565 like this: Minecraftservername.cloudapp.net:25565
9. If you do not have the latest Minecraft version, you might get an error message warning you to update your Minecraft server. Update your Minecraft Server to the latest version.
10. You can log into your server to update and manage other settings using SSH (available only on Linux or Mac), or PuTTY (available only on Windows). Bash and SSH will be coming to Windows 10 later this summer in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.
11. After logging into your Minecraft server with you username and password, go to the folder of your Minecraft Server "cd /srv/minecraft_server".
12. MINECRAFT SERVERS Download the current version of the Minecraft server using CURL. Currently, this would be "sudo curl -remote-name ttps://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/versions/1.10/minecraft_server.1.10.jar". This is the link to download the latest server version.
13. You can edit the ops.json file while you are logged in to our server by placing it in the correct folder. The file can be edited using nano as follows: "sudo ops.json". Edit the file like shown below using your Minecraft username and unique ID. To find your Minecraft unique ID, click here
[ "uuid": "uuid", "name": "minecraft_username", "level": 4 ]
14. All you need to do now is to save the file. Save the file using "CTRL+ o" and exit Nano by using "CTRL+ x". To further manage the configuration settings of your server, you can also edit your "server.properties". More information about Minecraft server properties can found on the Minecraft Wiki.
15. In order to use the current version of Minecraft Server that you downloaded, you need to edit the service configuration using Nano like this: "sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/minecraft-server.service". You will need to reference the new version of the Minecraft Server here (see below).
16. Now all you have left to do is save the file, and exit Nano.
17. Next, you will just need to stop and restart the Minecraft Server service. You may also need "systemctl darmon-reload" to reload the systemd. Run "systemctl restart minecraft-server" to restart the service.
18. It may take some time for the service's restart to complete. After that, you can restart your Minecraft client to refresh the server and connect your server for creating your Minecraft Server.
19. Hooray! You are now ready to set up your Minecraft Server using Microsoft Azure.
If you have any questions or run into problems, please visit the Minecraft Wiki on Setting up a Server for more information. The Minecraft Wiki also provides useful information on configuring and managing Minecraft server configurations.