Realms or your own server?
If your child wants a Minecraft world to share with friends, there are two usual ways: Realms, which Mojang runs inside the game, or a server you rent from a host like us. Both are good. This page sets out how they differ, so you can choose.
Realms is the better choice if
- Everyone plays Bedrock, mostly on consoles, and you want them to join straight from the game
- It’s a small group of friends, 10 or fewer at once
- You don’t need mods or plugins
- You’d rather pay inside Minecraft and have no other account
Your own server is the better choice if
- Friends play a mix of Java and Bedrock and want the same world
- They want mods, plugins or a modpack
- More than 10 friends play at once
- You want to undo mistakes hour by hour, or see what happened on the server
- You’d like a person to email when something goes wrong
Side by side
Realms changes from time to time, so check minecraft.net for its current prices and limits before you choose.
| Question | Minecraft Realms | An Exclsv server |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Mojang, inside Minecraft | Exclsv, a UK company, on our hardware in the UK |
| Setting up | A few taps in the game | Order on our website. Ready in a few minutes |
| Players at once | Up to 10 friends | No limit from us; the memory you choose decides |
| Consoles | Bedrock Realms join straight from Xbox, PlayStation and Switch | Not yet. Consoles can’t type an address, and joining from the friends list isn’t ready in HQ |
| Java and Bedrock together | No. Java Realms and Bedrock Realms are separate | Yes, with one switch on a Java server |
| Mods and plugins | Marketplace add-ons on Bedrock. No mods on Java | Paper plugins, Fabric, Forge and NeoForge mods, and modpacks |
| Undoing mistakes | World backups you can restore | Snapshots every hour for up to 48 hours, and off-site backups every 6 hours with 7 daily copies kept |
| Who can join | Players you invite | Players you add to the whitelist |
| Paying | A subscription through the game store | Monthly or quarterly by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. From £4.99 a month |
| Help | Minecraft’s help pages and support | A person, by ticket or email |
If you choose us: how it works for families
The account is yours, because you have to be 18 or over to hold one. Your child gets their own child login for the everyday jobs.
Questions parents ask
Is a rented server safe for a child?
It’s as safe as the people your child lets in. With the whitelist on, only players you add can join. We don’t run public lists of servers, and the page friends use to join shows no messages or chat.
Can I see what happens on the server?
Yes. From your own login you can read the console log, which shows who joined and what they typed in chat, and see who is online now.
Can my child’s friends on Switch join?
Not yet. Consoles can’t type a server address, and joining from the friends list isn’t ready in HQ. Friends on phones, tablets and Windows can join a Bedrock server with the address and port.
What if we try it and it isn’t right?
Cancel within 72 hours of your first purchase (one per customer) and we refund all of it. After that you can cancel any time, and the server runs to the end of the period you paid for.
Can we move a Realms world to your server?
Yes. Download the world from Realms, then upload it in HQ’s files.
Still not sure? Ask a person.
Tell us which consoles and devices your child’s friends use and we’ll say which option suits them, even if it’s Realms.