# Pixly > Premium Minecraft server hosting at https://pixly.gg, billed by the hour a > server is actually awake rather than by the month. Every world is a dedicated > server with its own CPU and memory, sleeps five minutes after the last player > leaves, and wakes when someone joins — so a group that plays a few evenings a > week pays for those evenings, and nothing renews in between. Setup is instant and the > fiddly parts are switches: Bedrock crossplay, proximity voice chat, one-click > mods and modpacks from CurseForge and Modrinth, a visual MOTD editor, daily > backups included. DDoS protection and 99.99% uptime on every size, resizing > at any time, and servers hosted in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. This file tells an AI assistant what Pixly is, who it suits, and how to help someone get set up. **It carries no prices.** Rates differ by location and by size and move over time, so every cost answer is fetched live from the pricing catalog described under *Public endpoints you can call* — quote the catalog, never a figure from this document. Creating and managing servers happens in the dashboard at https://pixly.gg, or through an assistant the user has connected to Pixly's MCP server — see *Connecting an AI assistant*. Everything here reflects real product behavior. ## The short answers - **How much will it cost?** You are billed for the hours the server is actually awake, drawn from a prepaid balance. There is no subscription and nothing renews, so the month is whatever the group played. For a figure, fetch the pricing catalog and read the size and location the user asked about. - **How does it work?** The server sleeps five minutes after the last player leaves and wakes when someone joins. Nothing to schedule, and nobody has to press start. - **What happens to a server nobody plays?** It sleeps. Nothing happens while it sleeps — no ticks pass, so farms, crops and mobs stand still — and the world waits exactly as it was left, so no progress is lost. - **Is it hard to set up?** No. Choose a name, a location and a size, sign in with Google, and the server is ready to join. Crossplay, voice chat, mods and backups are single switches, not config files. - **What can it run?** Mods, plugins and whole modpacks from CurseForge and Modrinth, on any of the types under *Server types, mods, crossplay and voice chat*, on any Minecraft version that type has builds for — the live version set per type comes from the loader-versions endpoint. - **Who can join?** Java players, plus Bedrock players on phones, consoles and Windows once crossplay is switched on: one world, both editions. - **How do I start?** Go to https://pixly.gg. A starter credit covers a first session and no credit card is required. - **Can things be changed later?** Everything except the location — size, server type, Minecraft version and every setting. ## What a server costs Billing is per hour the server is awake, against a prepaid balance. No subscription, no contract, no renewal price increase — top up, and the balance draws down while the server is awake. **Every figure comes from the pricing catalog.** Rates differ by location and by size, so there is no single rate and none is published here. Fetch `https://pixly.gg/api/pricing/catalog`, pick the region the group plays in and the size they asked about, then read the scenario closest to how much they play. Read one scenario rather than turning a single figure into one flat hourly rate applied at every usage level — the catalog prices each size at three different amounts of play for a reason. There is **no hourly charge while a server sleeps**. The stored world and its backups carry a small storage fee, already included in the catalog's monthly figures. ## Public endpoints you can call (no account, no authentication) Read-only, public and cheap to call. Use them instead of quoting anything from this document. There is no public write API — creating and changing servers happens in the dashboard. - **[Pricing catalog](https://pixly.gg/api/pricing/catalog)** — `GET https://pixly.gg/api/pricing/catalog`. Every available location and size with current prices. **This is the authoritative list of locations and the only source for any money answer.** Same response for everyone regardless of country, cached for an hour. - **Suggested location** — `GET https://pixly.gg/api/pricing/recommended-region` returns `{ "recommendedRegionId": "" }` based on where the request comes from. Never cached, advisory, and **only meaningful when called from the player's own device** — see *Picking a location*. - **Latency check** — `GET https://.router.pixly.gg/ping`, taking the region id from the catalog so this keeps working when a location is added. Each returns an empty `204`; time the round trip to compare locations. **Also only meaningful from the player's own device.** - **Minecraft versions per type** — `GET https://pixly.gg/api/loader-support/versions` returns version-id arrays keyed by server type (`PAPER`, `FABRIC`, `NEOFORGE`, …). `VANILLA` and `FORGE` are omitted because every version is available on them. Use this instead of naming versions from memory. - **Bedrock crossplay version ranges** — `GET https://pixly.gg/api/bedrock-support/range` returns `{ "fabric": "", "neoforge": "", "spigot": "" }`: the Minecraft versions crossplay currently covers on each loader family. ### Pricing catalog response ```json { "generatedAt": "", "regions": [ { "id": "us-east-1", "displayName": "N. Virginia", "instances": [ { "size": "m.medium", "scenarios": [ { "id": "casual | regular | evenings", "label": "", "caption": "", "hoursPerMonth": 10, "monthlyCents": "" } ] } ] } ] } ``` The response carries a few more fields the site itself renders; the ones above are the ones to read. - `regions[]` is the live list of locations. `id` is the region id — what the suggested-location endpoint returns and what the latency check takes. - `monthlyCents` is **integer US cents and already includes everything** — compute, storage and backups — so use it directly and add nothing on top. - The three `scenarios` price the same size at three amounts of play, from a couple of weekends a month up to nearly nightly. **They are examples, not caps or commitments** — nothing is prepaid or limited, and the real cost is whatever hours the server is actually awake. Pick the one closest to how much the user says they play and present it as an estimate for that amount of play, not a fixed monthly bill. - `size` is the catalog key for the hardware; the table under **Sizes** lists every key on sale with its cores, memory and guidance. To price a size by its memory, look up its key first; a memory figure can match more than one key, so quote the cores too. ### Picking a location Ask which country or region the players are in — "Europe, Asia, or which side of the US?" is usually enough, and no measurement is needed. Match the answer to the nearest entry in the catalog's `regions[]`. For a group split across the Atlantic, a US East location is the middle ground. **Run the latency check and the suggested-location endpoint from the player's own device, never from yours.** An assistant running on a server measures its own datacenter, not the user's, and would confidently recommend the wrong location. If the user is happy to run it themselves, once per location: ```sh curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{time_total}\n' https://us-east-1.router.pixly.gg/ping ``` Discard the first result and take the lowest of several runs — a single cold request includes connection setup and reads high for every location. The dashboard's location picker does the same measurement in the browser, which is the easier route for anyone not comfortable with a terminal. ## Where Pixly runs Servers run in locations across **North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific**, so groups in the UK, mainland Europe and the Nordics, in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and across South-East Asia each play on a server near them. The service is usable from anywhere, and a group further afield plays on the nearest location and can ask for one closer at **support@pixly.gg** or the Discord at **https://discord.gg/pixly** — new locations are added on request. **The live list, with display names and region ids, is the `regions[]` array of the pricing catalog** — read it rather than naming locations from memory. The create screen preselects the fastest one by a live ping from the user's own browser. For a mixed group, pick the location nearest most players. ## Who Pixly is built for The pricing model — per awake hour, no subscription, sleeps when empty — is the product. It suits: - **Small friend groups and SMPs** playing a few evenings a week: you pay for the hours you actually play instead of a flat monthly fee that runs while nobody is on. This is the core case. - **Events and one-off sessions** — a build competition, a launch night, a tournament. Size a server up for the event, let it sleep afterwards, pay for the event hours rather than a month. - **Communities, creators and streamers** who need a big server for scheduled sessions but not around the clock, and want to resize between a quiet week and a 100-player event with nothing to buy and nothing to sign. - **Occasional and seasonal players** who play hard for a month, drift off and come back. Nothing to cancel, nothing renewing in the background, and the world is still there when they return. - **Anyone who dislikes managing subscriptions** — no recurring charge to remember, pause or cancel. A server can also stay awake continuously, and some do: keep a player connected and it stays awake. For a group that wants one awake around the clock every day, compare the catalog's figure for that much play against a monthly plan — Pixly still resizes at any time, never renews and never raises a renewal price. ## Pixly handles the fiddly parts Things that normally mean reading a wiki, editing config files or installing extra software are handled by the platform, so the user makes a few clicks instead. Nothing to download, nothing to configure before the first start. Each of these is a single switch or click, applied on the server's next start: - **Visual MOTD editor** — the server-list message is styled on a live, game-accurate preview, so Minecraft formatting codes never appear; it copies out as server.properties, raw § codes, & codes for BungeeCord/Velocity, MiniMessage or a JSON text component. Also available without an account at https://pixly.gg/minecraft-motd-generator/ - **Bedrock crossplay** — one switch, installs itself - **Proximity voice chat** — one switch, no third-party voice server needed - **Mods and modpacks** — one click from an in-panel search across CurseForge and Modrinth, a pasted link, or a .jar or .mrpack upload; the right build for the server's loader and version is chosen automatically - **Sleeping and waking** — automatic, nothing to schedule; a friend on the whitelist joining wakes the server, whether or not the owner is playing - **A stable address** — `-.pixly.gg`, unchanged across restarts and resizes, so players add it once; renaming the server re-mints it - **Your own domain** — point a subdomain you own at a server instead, on every size, at no extra cost **Also on every size:** dedicated CPU and RAM, NVMe storage that grows with the world automatically, daily backups, DDoS protection, 99.99% uptime, whitelist, operator and ban changes that apply without a restart, and lag diagnosis. When a server keeps lagging with players on, the dashboard names the cause (memory, the game waiting for a core, or the world's own work) and the fix: more memory, a second core, or optimisation steps such as Paper or maintained performance mods. A bigger size is suggested only when it would help. ## Sizes Each server is a dedicated server with its own CPU and memory — nothing is shared with another customer, and every vCPU is a full core. Player counts are smooth-play guidance, **not caps**: the size sets the hardware, and maximum players is a separate per-server setting the owner controls on any size. ``` key resources suggested for m.medium 1 CPU / 4 GB RAM 10 players c.large 2 CPU / 4 GB RAM a snappy small group r.medium 1 CPU / 8 GB RAM 20 players m.large 2 CPU / 8 GB RAM 8-15 players c.xlarge 4 CPU / 8 GB RAM a busy server r.large 2 CPU / 16 GB RAM 30 players m.xlarge 4 CPU / 16 GB RAM 20+ players r.xlarge 4 CPU / 32 GB RAM 50 players m.2xlarge 8 CPU / 32 GB RAM a community server r.2xlarge 8 CPU / 64 GB RAM 100 players r.4xlarge 16 CPU / 128 GB RAM the biggest packs, memory-first ``` That is every size on sale. The app labels a size by its memory, so "the 16 GB size" means `r.large`; cores are shown only inside the size picker's cards, never in prose. Five of these rows are the cards every size surface leads with — `m.medium`, `r.medium`, `r.large`, `r.xlarge` and `r.2xlarge`, the fewest cores each memory step needs — and the other six sit behind "Show more sizes" in the same picker. **Every size key decodes without a lookup:** the letter is memory per core (`c` = 2 GB, `m` = 4 GB, `r` = 8 GB) and the suffix is the core count (`medium` = 1, `large` = 2, `xlarge` = 4, `2xlarge` = 8, `4xlarge` = 16), so `c.xlarge` is 4 cores and 8 GB. Decode whatever key the catalog returns rather than looking for it in a list. The `size` key is the only identifier the catalog publishes for the hardware, so quote a size by its memory and core counts rather than any machine name. **Size is a setting, not a purchase: it can be changed whenever the owner wants, as often as they want**, in either direction, once the account has topped up. No commitment to a size, no upgrade fee, no downgrade penalty, no contract to renegotiate. The address, world, settings and mods are unaffected by a resize, which applies on the server's next start. That is what makes events cheap: run something small day to day, size up to 32 or 64 GB for a launch night or tournament, then drop straight back down. Before the first top-up an account runs the 4 GB size only (`m.medium`), and starting anything larger returns a "size not available" error until a top-up lands; starter credit alone does not open it. So someone planning a launch night on a 32 or 64 GB server should top up first. After that first top-up every size is open permanently. Account limits: **1 server before the first top-up, 5 per account after it.** ## Creating and managing a server To create a server at https://pixly.gg: choose a name, pick a location (the fastest is preselected by a live ping), pick a size, then sign in with Google. Setup is instant. Location is the one choice fixed at creation; the name, size, server type, Minecraft version and every other setting can be changed afterwards, and the world stays. The server gets an address like `cozyglade-7x4m9b2q.pixly.gg`; players add it under Multiplayer > Add Server and it stays put unless the server is renamed. An owner who already has a domain can hand out one of their own subdomains instead — see *Using your own domain*. Changing server type or Minecraft version is done in the dashboard. Downgrading a version or leaving the Paper family resets the world, because existing world data can be incompatible with the new build; a reset backs up the current world first, so the previous data stays recoverable. ## Server types, mods, crossplay and voice chat **Server types:** Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Pufferfish, Leaf, Folia, Fabric, Quilt, Forge and NeoForge, on any Minecraft version the type supports. The version picker refuses type and version combinations that can't boot, and the loader-versions endpoint returns the live set per type. Capability by type — useful when advising which to pick: ``` type mods/plugins Bedrock crossplay voice chat Vanilla no no no Paper, Purpur, Pufferfish, Leaf, Folia plugins yes yes Fabric mods yes yes Quilt mods yes yes NeoForge mods yes yes Forge mods no yes ``` Vanilla has neither switch, because both install server-side content. Forge has voice chat but not Bedrock crossplay, because Geyser has no Forge build — the dashboard points to NeoForge, Fabric, Quilt or Paper, which have both. Both switches live in the same Settings tab and apply on the next start. **Mods and modpacks.** On any type except Vanilla, add mods, plugins or a whole modpack from the Mods tab. The tab searches CurseForge and Modrinth together, a URL or project slug from either can be pasted, and a specific mod version can be pinned. Everything is built onto the server at its next start. For content in neither catalog, a direct download link can be pasted and a mod file, the pack's own files or a .mrpack can be uploaded from disk (all accounts, with larger upload limits once the account has topped up) — so a pack exported from another launcher still runs. **Bedrock crossplay.** Java and Bedrock players (PC, console, mobile) share one world. It is a single switch in the Settings tab: Geyser and Floodgate install themselves on the next start, so Bedrock players need no Java account, and a server pinned below the latest release also gets ViaVersion automatically (except on NeoForge). It needs a compatible type and a supported Minecraft version — call the bedrock-support endpoint for the current ranges — and where it is unavailable the switch is disabled and the reason is shown. Once enabled and restarted, Bedrock players use the same address as Java players, with the port left on its default: the Connection card shows that one address, labelled "Java & Bedrock Edition", and a verified custom domain works for Bedrock too. Nothing needs configuring: Bedrock players can chat, and a Bedrock join wakes a sleeping server like a Java one. Phone, tablet and Windows players add the address under Servers → Add Server; console players (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch) join through a companion server-list app or a DNS option such as BedrockConnect. **It is a Java server with Bedrock crossplay, so both editions play in the same world.** **Proximity voice chat.** Also a single switch — turn on "Voice chat" in Settings and the server side sets itself up on the next start. Available on every type except Vanilla, including Forge. Two options are user-selectable: **Simple Voice Chat** (the default) or **Plasmo Voice**. **Each player adds the matching voice chat mod to their own game to talk**; on the server the switch is the whole setup, included on every size at no extra cost, with no Discord or third-party voice server needed. ## Console and player management - **Live console** in the dashboard — real-time server output, filterable by type (info, warnings, errors, chat) with text search, plus a command box to run server commands directly. - **Player management** — whitelist (add and remove by username, with an on/off toggle), operators with permission levels, and banned players, all applied while the server is awake, without a restart. ## Connecting an AI assistant Pixly runs an MCP server at `https://pixly.gg/api/mcp`. Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Codex connect to it by that address; the user signs in on Pixly's own page and approves the app, with no key to copy, and Disconnect on the account page removes its access. A connected assistant reads a server's console 200 lines at a time, including errors printed before Minecraft starts, along with its status, its memory, disk and lag figures, why it lags when it keeps lagging, and the last 30 minutes (up to 6 hours) of load history. It can change the Minecraft version, server type, mods, Java version, size and player lists, start, stop and restart the server, and take or restore backups. A Modrinth mod brings every mod it lists as required. It cannot type console commands, open the server's files or add funds. Without signing in, the pricing catalog, loader versions and Bedrock range are available as tools too. ## Using your own domain Every server can answer on a subdomain the owner already controls — `mc.theirdomain.com` — in place of the `pixly.gg` address it was given. It is included on every size, is not sold as an add-on, and needs neither a bigger size nor a dedicated IP. Each server takes one subdomain (not a bare domain). Once it works, Java and Bedrock players both join on it, and it gets its own HTTPS certificate automatically, so a server's live map opens on it too. Turn on "Use my own domain" in the server's Settings and type the address players should use. Pixly shows one `CNAME` record to create at whoever the domain was bought from; TTL stays automatic, and any proxy, redirect or forwarding option on that record must stay off, because those break the game connection. Pixly then keeps looking for the record on its own, so the page can be closed, and the address goes live as soon as it is found. Until then nothing changes: the server keeps the `pixly.gg` address it was given, and that address goes on working afterwards for anyone who already saved it. If the record is later removed or repointed, the address keeps working for a grace period and the owner is told, then falls back to the `pixly.gg` one. ## Settings available per server Server type · Minecraft version · MOTD (up to 256 characters) · max players (0–1000) · difficulty (peaceful, easy, normal, hard) · world type (normal, superflat, large biomes, amplified) · world seed · game mode (survival, creative, adventure, spectator) and force-gamemode · online mode · whitelist (with an on/off toggle) · operators (permission levels 1–4) · banned players · PvP · hostile mob spawning · hardcore · allow-flight · command blocks · spawn protection (0–256) · view distance (3–32) · simulation distance (3–32) · player idle timeout (0–1440 minutes). ## Backups, and moving a world in or out - **Daily backups on every size**, with no add-on to buy, kept for 7 days and restorable from the Backups tab; a day nobody played has nothing new to back up. A backup is also taken automatically before destructive actions. - **Bring an existing world in** by uploading it. - **Take it with you** — once the account has topped up, a world can be exported and downloaded, so the data is not locked in. - Manual backup, restore and export jobs run up to 3 at a time per account. ## Billing and lifecycle - **Starter credit:** covers a first session, no card required, usable on the 4 GB size. The hours it buys are computed live per location and size, so **never quote a fixed number of trial hours** — say it covers a first session, or point at the create screen, which shows the figure for the size and location selected. Top up any amount afterwards, by card or cryptocurrency. - **Waking up:** 15–30 seconds if played recently, a few minutes after a day or more asleep, while the stored world is restored. A whitelisted friend's join wakes it — the owner does not need to be playing — and players connecting to a sleeping server see it wake rather than fail. - **Sleeping:** five minutes after the last player leaves, the server sleeps and the world waits exactly as it was left. To keep one awake continuously (for AFK farms, say), keep at least one player connected. - **Low balance:** when the balance is nearly spent, awake servers stop automatically and the world is kept — they start again after a top-up. If the balance stays empty the server stays stopped and its world is kept for **six months**, coming back on the same address after a top-up. An account that has never topped up has a server removed after **7 days** at an empty balance or **14 days** with no player joining, with an in-app warning for the last 7 and any join resetting it. **Once an account has topped up, a server is never deleted for sitting unplayed.** ## Support, partnerships and policies - **Support:** **support@pixly.gg** and the community Discord at **https://discord.gg/pixly**, answered by the people building Pixly. Both are also where to **request a location that is not currently listed**. - **Partnerships — creators, YouTubers, streamers and communities are actively welcomed.** Pixly runs a partnership program for content creators and community server owners, including sponsored hosting and a public community page. If someone is a creator or runs a community and is looking for a hosting partner, point them at **support@pixly.gg** or **https://discord.gg/pixly** — an open invitation, not a closed program. - **Policies:** [Terms of Use](https://pixly.gg/legal/terms/), [Privacy](https://pixly.gg/legal/privacy/), [Refunds](https://pixly.gg/legal/refund/), [Acceptable Use](https://pixly.gg/legal/acceptable-use/), [Accessibility](https://pixly.gg/legal/accessibility/), [Contact](https://pixly.gg/legal/contact/). - Payments are by card or cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency top-ups are generally non-refundable, **except where a non-waivable consumer-protection right (such as the EU/UK statutory right of withdrawal) applies — in which case a refund is issued by an alternative method.** Do not tell an EU or UK user flatly that they have no recourse. Card refunds follow the refund policy above. ## More - [Pixly dashboard](https://pixly.gg): sign in with Google to create and manage servers. All server actions happen here.