Deploy and Host Minecraft on Railway

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a sandbox video game where players can explore, build, and create in a block-based 3D world. It combines survival, creativity, and adventure without a fixed goal, allowing players to craft items, build structures, and interact with creatures in expansive, procedurally generated worlds.

About Hosting Minecraft

Hosting a Minecraft server involves running software that manages multiplayer gameplay, world data, and player interactions continuously. It requires configuring server resources like CPU, RAM, and storage to handle world generation, player connections, and game state synchronization. Hosting also demands maintaining uptime, managing traffic spikes, and ensuring stable network access. Deploying on platforms like Railway simplifies this by automating infrastructure management, handling scalability, network setup, and resource allocation so users can focus on gameplay without server maintenance burdens.

Common Use Cases

• Private Gaming Servers: Dedicated multiplayer servers for friends and communities with custom settings.
• Educational Environments: Controlled Minecraft worlds used for learning and teaching.
• Gaming Communities: Public or private servers hosting special game modes, mods, or events.

Dependencies for Minecraft Hosting

• Java Runtime Environment (usually included in images)
• Minecraft Server Software (e.g., itzg/minecraft-server Docker image)

Deployment Dependencies

• Minecraft Server Docker Documentation
• Environment Variables for configuration
• itzg/minecraft-server Docker Image on Docker Hub

Implementation Details

To connect to a Minecraft server hosted on Railway:

1. Access your project’s settings in Railway.
2. Locate the public networking section.
3. Copy the server IP to connect from your Minecraft client.

Server configurations like game mode, difficulty, player limits, and world settings are managed via environment variables supported by the Docker image.

Why Deploy Minecraft on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Minecraft on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.