Getting started

This walkthrough takes you from no account to a running Minecraft server. It assumes you have a Mojang or Microsoft account for Minecraft itself, plus an email address you can receive verification mail at.

1. Create your account

Go to the sign-up page.
Sign up with Google, Discord, or Facebook — or use email and a password.
If you used email, check your inbox for a verification link from support@saplinghosting.net and click it. If it isn't there, check your junk or spam folder, and move it to your inbox so the link works. OAuth signups skip this step.

2. Pick a plan

Head to pricing to compare plans. For most groups of friends running vanilla or lightly modded Minecraft, the smallest tier is plenty. You can change plans at any time. A running server restarts once to pick up the new plan.

3. Spin up a server

From your dashboard, click New server.
Pick a name, a Minecraft version, and a server type (the list shows what's available, for example Vanilla, Paper or NeoForge).
Optionally choose mods from the Modrinth search. They wait on the server's Mods & Plugins tab for you to install; Installing mods explains how.
Click Create. Provisioning takes about 30–60 seconds.

First time using mods? Start with two or three before piling on. It's much easier to track down the source of a crash with a small mod list.

4. Connect from Minecraft

Once the server status flips to Running, the dashboard shows a connection address like play.saplinghosting.net:30280. In Minecraft, go to Multiplayer → Add Server, paste that address, and you're in.

What's next?

Have a look at the other docs — especially Installing mods and Backups & restores — once your server is up and you're ready to start customising.