Minecraft’s biggest flex is that it is a multiplayer video game that can be played by both adults and kids. It has sold more than 100 million copies all over the world and is still counting. Minecraft is not only a video game, but it has helped many gamers build a community on social media. It boosts your problem-solving skills and also improves your creativity.
But on the Minecraft server, you cannot add the plugins or build the controls alone. And that’s why players collaborate with others to build a better and more powerful version of the game, that allows certain actions, which are not normally available in the vanilla form of the game. In this post, we are going to talk about how to host and configure a Minecraft server with No-IP. The good thing is that the steps are easy to proceed with, and they hardly take some minutes to get going.
What Should You Use Instead of an IP Address?
Your router’s IP address is going to change anytime since the DHCP client is related to the ISP’s DHCP servers. And when the IP address changes, it will immediately break your Minecraft server. But you can use a hostname instead of an IP address, and to do that, you can create an account with a Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) service. There are two companies that let you do that:
- No-IP (http://noip.com)
- Dyn (http://dyn.com)
But before we go ahead and discuss how to host a Minecraft server with No-IP, you need to understand the differences between DNS and DDNS. You can call it a TCP/IP network service that converts hostnames to IP addresses when it comes to DNS. For example, if you type http://servers.minecraftforum.net on your browser’s search field, your computer’s DNS server will try to convert the domain name (FQDN) into an IP address of that web server. But when you are working with No-IP, they will map an FQDN to your router’s IP and adjust the mapping immediately when your router’s IP address changes randomly.
In the next section, we will use a hostname instead of an IP address of your router. But it won’t change the functioning of the services, and they will still work the same.
Setting Up No-IP
We will use No-IP in this section, but no matter what other Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) service you are using, the steps will probably be the same. So let’s start with the steps below.
First, you need to create a free No-IP account and then convert the router’s IP address to a hostname that will be easy to remember.
Step 1: Go to https://www.noip.com/sign-up and register for a new No-IP user account.
Step 2: Try to ignore any “premium” plans that the companies are offering to provide you with additional features for extra money. You don’t usually need those features.
Step 3: While registering for NO-IP, you will have to choose a domain name. Ddns.net is a free domain name option that you can choose. But if you have a premium account, you can choose more domain names according to your preference.
Step 4: You can choose your own preferred hostname as well. This will allow your friends to remember the name of your Minecraft server.
Step 5: During the sign-up process, you will have to provide your email address, and they will send you a verification link to that address.
Step 6: After logging in through the confirmation email, click on the Hosts/Redirects option from the top menu bar.
Step 7: Then click on Manage Hosts from the side menu.
Step 8: Verify if your custom FQDN matches the IP address of your router.
Step 9: Click on Dynamic Update Client from the side menu and click on “download/install this software” to your Minecraft server so that you can keep track of whenever the public IP address of your router changes. The Dynamic Update Client will update the No-IP mapping whenever it detects a change in your router’s IP address.
If you play Minecraft, setting up and hosting your own server can make you look cool to your friends. And it is also easy to do so. Once you set up the No-IP account, you can follow the steps mentioned in the next section to host a Minecraft server.
How to Host a Minecraft Server with No-IP?
First, we hope that you have already created and set up your No-IP account. You have added a host to your account in the previous section, and now, you are going to follow some more steps in this section. Make sure you have a Minecraft account and the Minecraft server software. If you don’t already have an account, create one, and then follow the steps below:
Step 1: Download the Minecraft Server software package to start the server.
Step 2: Install and configure the Minecraft server by going to this link and following the on-screen instructions.
Step 3: Forward port 25565 to the internal IP address of the router’s server. You can do this from portforward.com. First, they will ask you for the model number of your router and the application software you want to forward. Later, they will provide you with a detailed step-by-step guide that will help you forward your port to the router.
Step 4: When the previous step is done, visit www.portchecktool.com to see if port 25565 is successfully forwarded to your router. If it is, you would see a “Success” message.
Step 5: Now, connect your server to Minecraft and share that info with your friends. Share the hostname and port number with your friends so that they can join your Minecraft server. For example, the “hostname.domain.com:25565” is a combination of hostname and port number.
Conclusion
The biggest importance of connecting Minecraft server with No-IP is that whenever your router’s IP address changes, you won’t have to configure your server all over again. Your friends who know your hostname and port number all alone can join you and play Minecraft with you.