Relay
Pass-the-baton Minecraft hosting.
Your friends share a Minecraft world. Whoever's online runs the server on their own PC. When they quit, the world saves and the next person picks it up.
How it works
Click Host. Relay pulls the latest world from the cloud, boots a Paper server on your machine, and shows you an address your friends can paste into Minecraft. Their game reaches you through a Relay tunnel, so nobody has to touch port-forwarding or router settings — friends just paste the address and connect.
When you close the app, your world uploads to the cloud as the new latest version. A friend clicks Host the next day. They get the world you left, the same address as always, and the game keeps going. The world lives in the cloud. The server rotates between whoever happens to be online.
Anyone can host
No dedicated machine. No server to rent. Whoever opens the app and clicks Host runs the server.
The world stays
Worlds sync automatically. Quit at any point and the next person picks up where you left off.
Friends just connect
Every server has a permanent address. Paste it into Minecraft and connect, same as any server.
Plugins sync too
Upload a plugin once. Everyone who hosts that server gets it. No file passing around.
Why Relay?
Every option for running a shared Minecraft world with friends has a catch.
Paid hosting
$7 to $15 a month for a server that sits idle most of the time. You pay even when nobody's playing.
Free servers
Shared boxes. Long queues. Servers shut down after a few minutes idle. Ads on everything.
One friend's PC, on forever
One person stuck keeping it running. When their power blinks or they go on vacation, the world is gone.
Relay
Whoever's online hosts. The world syncs between sessions. Free to host on your own PCs — no idle server farm to pay for, no laggy shared box, no one person carrying the group. Optional $6/mo upgrades when you want more.
Grab Relay and go
Free to download, with a free server for everyone. Java's baked right in, so there's nothing else to install. Download, open, and you're hosting. Optional $6/month per-server upgrades add more storage and plugins when you want them (see pricing). Relay keeps itself up to date from here on out.
Version 0.26.3 · Works alongside the Minecraft Java Edition client · macOS coming soon.
Free to start, cheap to grow
Every account gets a free server. Upgrade any server for more storage and plugins when your group needs it — billed monthly, cancel whenever.
Free
$0
One server, on the house
- 1 server
- 2 GB cloud storage
- 1 plugin or datapack
- Up to 5 players online
- Normal, Flat & Void worlds
- 20 hrs/week hosting
Upgraded server
$6/month
Per server · renews monthly · cancel anytime
- 10 GB cloud storage
- 15 plugins or datapacks
- Up to 200 players
- Every world type + full control
- Unlimited hosting
- Cancel anytime — your world is kept
Extra servers
$5 one-time
Or $6/mo to start it upgraded
- Add a second (or third…) server
- $5 one-time for a free-tier server
- $6/mo for an upgraded one (no setup fee)
- Upgrade or downgrade any time
Add or switch a Relay Plugin (like Minigames or SkyBlock) on a server for a one-time $2.99 each. Cancel an upgrade and the server drops back to Free. If it's over the free limits it's archived — kept safe, never deleted — until you re-subscribe.
About
Relay is built for small friend groups, not public servers. That's why it can stay cheap to run and simple to use. Servers are invite-only. You decide who's in. Nobody finds you unless you send them a link.
The whole project runs on one tiny cloud machine and the PCs you already have. There's no idle server farm to pay for, so the free tier really is free — optional paid extras (per-server upgrades, extra servers, add-on game modes) are the only things that cost anything.
Questions
Is it ready to use?
Yes — download it above, install it, create a free account, and click Host. The free tier is genuinely free for you and your friends; upgrades are optional.
Is Minecraft required?
Yes. Relay runs the server, you join with the regular Minecraft Java client. Bedrock isn't supported.
Is Java required?
No, Relay bundles its own Java. You don't have to install or configure anything.
What happens when a host quits?
Relay saves the world to the cloud and the next person who hits Host picks up from there. The world auto-saves every few minutes during play, so a crash loses a couple minutes of progress at most.
How do friends connect?
Every server gets a permanent address. Paste it into Minecraft Multiplayer like any other server. Works the same whether you or a friend is hosting that day.
Is there a storage limit?
Free servers include 2 GB of cloud storage for the world and plugin files — plenty for a friend group's world. Upgraded servers get 10 GB.
What about modded servers?
Relay supports Paper plugins (Spigot-compatible). Drop a .jar in the launcher and everyone hosting that server gets it. Forge/Fabric mods aren't supported.
Still have questions?
Didn't find your answer above? Email us directly and we'll get back to you, usually within a day.