Forge
The loader classic modded Minecraft is built on — long mod lists and heavyweight packs live here. Pick the version your mods expect, from 1.12.2-era classics to the current release, and the matching server build installs itself.
Modded hosting
Modded Minecraft server hosting, from a Modrinth link to a running pack.
Pixly is modpack server hosting without the folder wrangling: pick a loader, paste a link to any Modrinth mod or modpack, and the server assembles everything itself the next time it boots — the correct server build, the Java it needs, the pack's own configs. You pay per hour only while the server is online.
~10 free hours to try · no card · instant setup
The install
How modpack install works on Pixly
There's no file-manager step and nothing uploads from your PC. The dashboard is where you decide what runs; the server itself does the downloading. Here's the actual mechanism, end to end.
Pick mods in the dashboard
Every server has a Mods tab — labeled Plugins on the Paper family. Paste a Modrinth link or slug, or take one of the popular picks shown there, and Pixly previews the project against your loader and Minecraft version before anything installs. A mod that won't fit is flagged at that moment, not discovered as a crash later.
The server installs at startup
Your selection is saved as a list, and on the next boot the server fetches each project straight from Modrinth, matched to the pinned version and loader, and places it where that loader expects — the mods folder for mod loaders, plugins on the Paper side. Adding or dropping something later is the same loop: save, restart, done.
Whole modpacks, pinned to a build
A modpack is one entry, not eighty: the pack's full mod list and its configs arrive together. Track its release channel, or pin one exact build so the pack only changes when you decide — and per mod, a release/beta/alpha channel plus an optional flag give individual installs the same control.
Every loader, ready to go.
Pick one — setup comes with it.
Choose the server type your mods or plugins need and set any Minecraft version — snapshots, betas, even old alphas — with the right Java build picked automatically.
NeoForge
Forge's actively developed successor, where most new Forge-style mods land on Minecraft 1.20.1 and later. If a modern pack lists NeoForge in its requirements, this is the one to pick.
Fabric & Quilt
Lightweight and usually first to support each new Minecraft release — snapshot servers welcome. Quilt, the Fabric-compatible fork, is available as its own server type when a mod calls for it.
Paper & plugins
Paper runs plugins rather than mods: everything installs server-side, so players join with a completely stock client. Prefer a fork? Purpur, Pufferfish, Leaf, and Folia are here too.
Versions & Java
Any Minecraft version, and the Java to match
Modded Minecraft lives across a decade of game versions, and each era expects a different Java underneath. Pixly treats both as part of the server, not homework for you.
Pin the version your pack expects
Mods are built against specific Minecraft releases, so the version picker isn't biased toward the newest one. Set the exact release your pack calls for — whether it shipped years ago or this week — and every Modrinth install resolves against that pin instead of whatever happens to be current.
Java resolved from the version
The Java that Minecraft requires has stepped up several times over the game's history, and a wrong pairing refuses to boot at all. Pixly reads the version you pinned and starts the server on the matching Java build automatically, so the compatibility table stops being your problem.
Overridable when a mod insists
Auto is the default and the safe pick, but Settings carries a Java selector that can force a specific build — useful for the rare mod that demands one Java and refuses anything newer. Choose it and restart — the server comes back on that runtime.
Sizing
How much RAM modded actually needs
Modded is where hosting gets oversold. The honest version: pack weight varies by an order of magnitude, and nobody can benchmark your pack for you — so Pixly makes trying cheap instead of making guessing expensive.
Memory sized to the plan
Each plan is a dedicated slice of a real machine, from 2 GB on the smallest to 64 GB on the largest, and the game process's memory is set from the plan automatically — no launch flags to edit. What you pick is genuinely what the pack gets.
Weight comes from worldgen and machines
A light vanilla-plus set runs happily where a kitchen-sink pack starves. The hungry parts are fresh terrain generation and the contraptions that tick every second — which is why the same pack demands more during the first days of exploring than it will once the map has settled.
Resize instead of guessing
Start small, watch the dashboard's memory readout, and move the plan up — or back down — when the pack asks for it; the world and its address stay put. Because billing is hourly, a bigger size only costs more for the hours someone is actually playing on it.
The grid below is the live price list for every size and region — modded carries no surcharge; a heavy pack simply wants a size with enough memory behind it. The pay-per-hour Minecraft server hosting page explains the billing model itself, the cost guide works out what a Minecraft server costs per month at real play patterns, and the hourly meter stops whenever the server sleeps between sessions.
Honest limits
What changing your mind actually costs
Mods write into the world itself, and no host can undo that with a toggle. Rather than hide the sharp edges, the dashboard names them and hands you the recovery tool at the moment you need it.
Switching loader resets the world
Server type is a Settings dropdown, not a new server — but a world generated under one loader can't be trusted under another, so a type switch goes through a world reset, with a backup taken first. Pick the loader early; change it deliberately.
Version downgrades are guarded
Raising the version is an ordinary save; lowering it isn't, because worlds can't be opened by an older Minecraft. A downgrade is made explicit: it requires a reset, asks for confirmation, and snapshots the current world automatically before anything is touched.
Removing mods leaves files behind
The server-side installer adds mods to the world volume but never deletes them when a list is cleared — orphaned jars would keep loading forever. Pixly watches for exactly that and pins a banner offering a one-click reset, so a clean break is one confirmation away and the old world stays in backups.
One more edge worth naming: Bedrock friends can join a modded world, because the Geyser bridge installs as just another mod on Fabric, Quilt, and NeoForge — though not on Forge, which Geyser doesn't support. The crossplay Minecraft server hosting page covers what translates cleanly and what stays Java-only.
Pick a size. Pay for time you play.
Pixly’s pay-per-hour Minecraft server hosting only charges you for the hours your players are actually online — an affordable, budget-friendly alternative that works out cheaper than a flat monthly plan for the way you really play.
N. Virginia…
Most popular
Meadow
Perfect for 10 players
1 vCPU · 4 GB
Estimated cost by playtime
Weekend
$0.99/mo
10¢/hr
Regular
$2.99/mo
7¢/hr
Every evening
$8.49/mo
7¢/hr
Village
Perfect for 20 players
2 vCPU · 8 GB
Estimated cost by playtime
Weekend
$1.49/mo
15¢/hr
Regular
$5.49/mo
14¢/hr
Every evening
$15.49/mo
13¢/hr
Town
Perfect for 30 players
4 vCPU · 16 GB
Estimated cost by playtime
Weekend
$2.99/mo
30¢/hr
Regular
$9.99/mo
25¢/hr
Every evening
$27.99/mo
23¢/hr
Kingdom
Perfect for 50 players
4 vCPU · 32 GB
Estimated cost by playtime
Weekend
$3.99/mo
40¢/hr
Regular
$13.49/mo
34¢/hr
Every evening
$37.49/mo
31¢/hr
Realm
Perfect for 100+ players
8 vCPU · 64 GB
Estimated cost by playtime
Weekend
$6.99/mo
70¢/hr
Regular
$24.99/mo
62¢/hr
Every evening
$70.99/mo
59¢/hr
All plan prices are estimates — you’re billed only for the hours your server is awake, so your real monthly cost follows how much you play.
No credit card to try Prepaid — top up what you need No player limit — you set the max Daily backups included
FAQ
Modded hosting questions
It's hosting where the server runs a mod loader instead of the stock jar, so gameplay-changing mods and full modpacks load server-side for everyone who joins. On Pixly the loader, the server build, the Java runtime, and the Modrinth downloads are all part of the managed setup — your job is choosing what to run, not assembling it.
Open the Mods tab and paste the pack's Modrinth link, or choose one of the popular packs listed there. Pixly saves the choice; the server then builds the full pack — every mod plus its configs — the next time it starts. One pack runs at a time, and you can pin an exact pack build so an update never lands uninvited.
Every moddable type Pixly offers — Paper, Purpur, Pufferfish, Leaf, Folia, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, or Quilt — plus stock Vanilla when you want no mods at all. The Paper family takes plugins rather than mods; the mod loaders take Modrinth mods. Whichever you pick, the right server software is installed for the Minecraft version you pinned.
It depends on the Minecraft version underneath: releases before 1.17 run Java 8, 1.17 through 1.20.4 need 17, 1.20.5 and later use 21, and the newest releases step up to 25. On Pixly you don't chase that table — the server resolves Java from your pinned version, with a manual override in Settings for the rare pack that insists otherwise.
There's no honest universal number: a light quality-of-life set can live in 2 GB, while big kitchen-sink packs are happiest with far more, especially while new terrain is generating. Pixly plans reach 64 GB, and because billing is hourly and plans are switchable, the cheap answer is to start small, watch the live memory readout, and resize when the pack tells you.
The files a pack installed stay on the world volume — the boot-time installer never uninstalls, and a world already shaped by those mods wouldn't be clean anyway. The dashboard flags exactly this and offers a one-click world reset, which backs the old world up first. Re-adding content later is just the normal install path again.
Yes on Fabric, Quilt, and NeoForge, where the Geyser bridge installs alongside your mods and server-side mechanics apply to everyone. Forge is the exception — Geyser doesn't run on it. Bear in mind that Bedrock clients may show stand-ins for modded blocks and items, so heavily custom packs look best from the Java side.
No — the price is your plan's per-hour rate whatever you run on it. Heavier packs tend to want larger plans, which cost more per hour, and that's the whole difference. Idle time works like any Pixly server: it hibernates when empty, there's no hourly charge while it sleeps, and a small storage fee keeps the saved world.
Put your pack on a server tonight
Create a server, pick the loader, paste the pack. Start with ~10 free hours and pay for the time you play.
No card to start