Guide: Give your Minecraft server a domain name, for free

IP addresses are a string of numbers that serves as a computer's 'address' on the internet. Minecraft servers either use a domain name (like server.minecraft.net) or an IP address (like 12.34.56.78) to connect. But did you know domain names just redirect to an IP address? Websites, game servers, and more use domain names instead of IP addresses to make it easier to remember for users.

Depending on how you host your Minecraft server, there are multiple ways to get a domain name. If you pay a service to host it (including a VPS), they might have a setting for domain names built-in. But if they don't, or you are hosting it yourself, you can get a domain name for your server for free easily.

Note: You must have port-forwarding enabled for your Minecraft server, and be able to access the server with it's IP address from outside your local network. Your server also must have a static IP address. We cannot help you with port-forwarding or making your IP address static. This guide works for Minecraft PC servers, PocketMine (Minecraft PE) Servers, and should also work for nearly every other type of video game server.

Using DuckDNS
DuckDNS might be the best choice if you want something simple, fast, and completely free. The only disadvantage is they only have one domain (xyz.duckdns.org) to choose from, but you do get four at once.

1. Login to the website using your Google, Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit account.


2. Type the subdomain you would like and click Add Domain. For example, if you want myminecraftserver as a sub-domain, your full server address would be myminecraftserver.duckdns.org.


3. This will add the subdomain to the list on your account. Type in the IP address of your server (not the port) in the text box and press 'Update IP'.


4. If your IP address ever changes, simply repeat step number three. You're done!

No-IP
No IP does the same thing DuckDNS does, but it has more domains available on a free account. In addition, they also have paid accounts that allow to you have up to 25 domain names and additional domains/security to choose from. The main disadvantage is that if you have a free account, you must login once every 30 days or your domain will be deleted (you can get email alerts in advance to remind you).

1. Sign up for an account at their website.


2. Once you are logged in, click the 'Hosts/Redirects' tab at the top of the page and click 'Add a Host'.


3. Enter the subdomain you would like, and on the dropdown menu select the domain you would like. Even with a free account, there are several to choose from (including a 'serveminecraft.net').


4. Make sure DNS Host says enabled, enter your server's IP address in the text field, and click 'Add Host' at the bottom of the screen.


5. If your IP address ever changes, simply repeat step number four. You're done!

There are countless other services that do this, just search online for 'Dynamic DNS' services. I've tried both of these with my personal server and they worked great. Let us know if you have any questions in the comment section.