PowerupStackThe Free tier is possible because available hosting capacity is shared between many Minecraft servers. A server uses that capacity while it is online, even when nobody is playing. Free tier servers therefore stop five minutes after the last player leaves and start again when a player joins.
Why Free tier servers cannot stay online 24/7
Every online server occupies CPU and RAM that cannot be used to run another server at the same time. Leaving an empty server online reserves that capacity without benefiting any players.
If every Free tier server could remain online 24/7, inactive servers would consume much of the capacity needed by active communities. The instance queue would become much longer, fewer new servers could start, and PowerupStack could eventually have to pause Free tier signups.
Shutting down inactive servers returns their capacity to the shared pool. PowerupStack can then use it to start another Free tier server whose players are ready to play. This lets the same infrastructure serve more communities and keeps free hosting available to more people.
Why a Free tier server does not need to run 24/7
Players need the server to be available when they want to play, not while it is empty. Automatic shutdown does not delete the server, its world, or its configuration. It only releases the compute capacity until somebody needs the server again.
Auto-start on join starts an offline server when a player connects, without requiring the owner to open the panel. There can be a short startup wait, or a queue during busy periods, but the server remains available whenever players actually want to use it. This provides the practical benefit of an always-available server without wasting capacity on an empty one.
How automatic shutdown and startup work
The five-minute shutdown timer begins after the last player disconnects. If somebody rejoins before the timer expires, the server stays online. Otherwise, it shuts down when the five minutes have passed.
To start it again, select Start in the panel or connect using the correct details for your Minecraft edition:
- Java Edition: connect using the PowerupStack server address without entering a port. The address uses a DNS SRV record to direct the client to the assigned port.
- Bedrock Edition: enter both the server address and assigned port shown in the panel. Bedrock Edition does not support DNS SRV records, so it cannot discover the assigned port from the address. Do not assume the default
19132port.
You can also learn how to configure a custom DNS SRV record for a Java Edition server. Custom domains have different auto-start limitations from the managed PowerupStack address.
When you need continuous uptime
Budget, Standard, and Premium servers let you set the inactive shutdown time to any value from 1 to 120 minutes. You can also disable automatic shutdown completely when the server needs to stay online 24/7.
Keeping automatic shutdown enabled can still be useful on a paid server that is used only for scheduled sessions. Disabling it is useful for public communities, integrations, or other workloads that must remain reachable when no players are connected.
If you do not have a server yet, follow the free Minecraft server setup guide.