For information about Coder Kids classes and camps, including online Minecraft classes, visit register.coderkids.com/onlineclasses.

The following list is not comprehensive, but it is a good start for kids or parents interested in getting their own server started, with or without mods. Our upcoming Minecraft mod series goes into more detail about creating a custom mod, and you will likely find that series interesting if you are looking into this topic.

Minecraft Servers

Paid Server Options:

Our top choice for a paid server is Apex Hosting. They have a control panel that allows adults and kids to pretty easily manage their server, see chat logs, and make whitelists of permitted users. If your child is familiar with Minecraft and OP controls, we’d recommend Apex. Prices on Apex are affordable, starting as low as $4.99 a month.

If you are a parent looking to set your child up with a server for the first time, I’d recommend keeping it “Vanilla”. A Vanilla server is simply one that runs the game without major modifications. After that, you can explore with running a Spigot server, which is what we run our Minecraft server on, and it allows a wide variety of plugins - for example, language filters, discord integrations, and a wide variety of other options This part does take quite a bit of research, and you might leave it up to your child to figure out fully.

At the moment Minecraft Realms does not support mods, but it does have a solid amount of custom games/worlds made by Microsoft and other people who play in Realms. If you’re interested in custom modding your own Minecraft world with friends you will need to pursue a custom server option like the one above or the options below.

Minecraft Realms is a service provided by Microsoft, where you can purchase your own server through Microsoft for a fee. It starts at $7.99 so that you can play with 11 people. The servers are provided through Microsoft and will provide a reliable connection. This option is not free. It’s a monthly subscription that you pay for the quality of service provided by Microsoft.

Free Server Options:

Setting up a free server takes some computer know-how and is not something we expect children under 15 to be able to do on their own. If you’re a parent, the following video does a really good job of explaining how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzs2RFrK5fo.

This process is not difficult - just takes some knowledge of files and some reading. Reminder that this is the free option, which comes with some downsides. We have tried to host our own server at Coder Kids, and it can get challenging and frustrating. Simply put, server companies like Apex Hosting and others are in the business of making servers run smoothly. If you run your own server from home, a number of things could go wrong. Power outages, internet outages, someone clicks something wrong on your computer - a whole variety of things. So if you want to give it a try, it’s fun to do, but it might not last or be an “always on” kind of solution.

Minecraft Modding

We recommend that kids not only play Minecraft, but that they also take time to make their own mods, using Minecraft as a fun tool for learning coding that will serve them throughout life. Learn about Minecraft Modding Classes here.

Minecraft Forge download for Windows 10 (Mac is a lot more complicated)

Forum for Minecraft Forge. If you are really into custom mods, and finding more about them, this is a good place to start/end.

Eclipse is a Java development environment. It’s a little advanced, and kids are recommended to know some basic Java already. Luckily, there is a ton of videos out there and A LOT of documentation (like the links above) on making your own mod/ joining the modding community. Making your own mod, and customizing others is easier than ever.

In our opinion, Code Kingdoms is one of the best ways to teach your kids Java if they are under the age of 15 - and better yet, it’s in the context of Minecraft! The program gives them a basic idea of variable types, functions, implementations and loops. The interface is easy to follow, and uses a lot of graphics to organize the code. It also comes with video tutorials for how to do each mod. Code Kingdoms is subscription based. But that subscription comes with coding tools, lessons, a private server for up to 25 people, and support for that server. If you’re interested in learning to mod and run a small server, this is for you.

Check out our interview with Ultimate Immersion (who makes some incredible mods) to get inspired!

We recommend these books for learning to code with Minecraft: