The best Minecraft servers 2023

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Want to join the best Minecraft servers in 2023? Joining any one of the varied Minecraft servers in this list will invite you into a magical world full of like-minded fans, builders, redstone masters, and survival experts. Minecraft worlds are infinite, so what better than sharing one with others?

While vanilla, single-player Minecraft itself is one of the best PC games in the world, there’s nothing better than jumping into a world with friends. After all, some extra hands make for more magnificent Minecraft builds. The servers below aren’t just for builders though, as we’ve got worlds for TV fans, parkour experts, PVP pros, and more, so dive into the expansive world of multiplayer in the building game with these incredible Minecraft servers. Head to the bottom of the list if you need to know how to join a Minecraft server.

Here is a list of the best Minecraft servers to join in 2023:

 a sprawling island of mushrooms in the Hypixel server.

Hypixel

Server IP address: mc.hypixel.net
Game modes: minigames, sky wars, hunger games, hardcore, parkour

No list of the best Minecraft servers is complete without the largest and most famous one: Hypixel. Hypixel is still the most popular Minecraft server in 2023, undoubtedly thanks to its many game modes, including Cops and Crims, Duels, and a Murder Mystery.

Their SkyWars game mode is a precarious PvP take on the classic Minecraft Skyblock server. There’s a dazzling variety here, making the Hypixel Minecraft server a great place to laugh with your blocky pals.

 Mineplex Sky Wars, with zombie guardians stood around.

Mineplex

Server IP address: eu.mineplex.com or us.mineplex.com
Game modes:
minigames, survival, sky wars

Mineplex is an enormous Minecraft server platform, containing multiple arenas and zones for a hefty number of game types. Mineplex is populated by thousands of players at any time across a plethora of minigames and experiences.

From the usual survival games fare – inspired by the battle royale genre – to more unique experiences such as Cake Wars, where you must defend your cake from the hungry foes on the enemy team, all while trying to scoff their cake at the same time. There’s also MineStrike, which is a Minecraft take on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive; one team tries to plant the bomb on one of two designated sites while the other team defends them.

Mineplex has something for everyone, including a slightly stripped-back Bedrock version of the server if you’re not playing on Java.

 a pirate harbour surrounded by leafy green trees in Manacube.

Manacube

Server IP address: play.manacube.com
Game modes: parkour, survival, PvP, creative, skyblock, factions, prison

Manacube is one of the only large Minecraft factions servers with minimal ‘pay to win’ elements, thanks to its recently balanced shop. It’s also got a vast Minecraft Skyblock server, plus survival, parkour, and creative servers.

Manacube is especially well-known for its excellent parkour gameplay. If you’re looking for something a little different, its Islands game mode tasks you with surviving on a mostly-submerged island – while staying away from the poisonous water. Or there’s Olympus, a prison-based server where you’re assigned your own personal plots of land, ranking up as you make money, gaining access to new, more profitable areas.

 Gen IX Pokemon Sprigatito appears in the Minecraft world thanks to the Pixelmoncraft server.

PixelmonCraft

Server IP address: play.pixelmoncraft.com
Game modes: pixelmon, role-playing

The Pixelmon mod is one of our favourite Minecraft mods, and the only thing that could make it better? Multiplayer, of course! PixelmonCraft is just that, and is hands down one of the best Minecraft servers ever. It takes the popular Pokémon-themed Pixelmon mod and turns it into a  multiplayer experience.

Not only have the geniuses behind PixelmonCraft recreated the areas and towns of Pokémon games faithfully, but they have also replicated as much of the gameplay as possible. Animals in Minecraft are replaced with Pokémon, and they can be caught and used in battle. As you would expect, there are gym leaders to fight, Pokémarts to shop in, and long grass to avoid. Don’t forget to choose the right Minecraft skins to wear into any of these servers, and our list includes the perfect Ash Ketchum skin for PixelmonCraft.

This server proves Minecraft’s blocky beauty is the perfect home for the Pokémon games, and it feels like the Pokémon game for PC you always wanted.

 The Complex Pixelmon home page load screen, featuring Lapras and other water and ice pokemon.

Complex Gaming

Server IP address: hub.mc-complex.com
Game modes: pixelmon, skyblock, factions, prison, hunger games, survival, creative, minigames

Complex Gaming is another very popular Minecraft server with a great variety of gamemodes, including survival, PvP, and PvE. While the hunger games, skyblock mode, and the spectacular creative realm come highly recommended, Complex Gaming – like Pixelmoncraft above – also has a version of Pixelmon which is especially popular, allowing you to catch and trade hundreds of Pokemon.

To enable some of these game modes, including Pixelmon, you first need to install a modpack. Although this takes a little more effort, it also means that whenever you don’t feel like joining the multiplayer server, you can still play Pixelmon in solo mode. If you’re looking for an epic environment to catch your first Pixelmon, try using our list of the best Minecraft seeds.

 several images showing new tiles available in the HiveMC server.

HiveMC

Server IP address: Bedrock only
Game modes:
minigames

As one of the largest and best Minecraft bedrock servers around, there will always be something fun for you to do in HiveMC. From hide and seek to survival games, HiveMC covers all sorts of genres. What’s more, this highly engaged community is coming up with new minigames – and maps to house them – all the time. To stay up to date with all the latest updates, check out their website. Sadly, HiveMC is no longer available on Minecraft Java edition.

 towering red buildings against a blue sky in The Archon.

The Archon

Server IP address: play.thearchon.net
Game modes: minigames, skyblock, factions, prison

The Archon has a monumental population of players enjoying regularly updated Minecraft game modes – it’s one of the most popular Minecraft factions servers and Minecraft Skyblock servers, and also offers robbery, prison, and outlands game modes.

 An aerial view of the huge Minr map.

Minr

Server IP address: zero.minr.org
Game modes: parkour, minigames

Minr is one of the oldest Minecraft servers around, meaning there’s years of content and builds to explore. Including a mix of parkour and adventure, Minr is filled with challenges for all difficulties that will keep you busy visit after visit.

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Among Us Performium

Server IP address: amongus.performium.net
Game modes: Among Us, battle royale

Minecraft and Among Us are two of the most popular games in the world right now, and since Minecraft has a wealth of creative possibilities – and Among Us has such an ingeniously simple formula – it was only a matter of time before the social deduction game found its way over to Minecraft.

Though there are Among Us Minecraft maps available to play with your friends, if you’d rather hop on a public server and play with the unsuspecting public, RGA Minecraft’s Among Us Server is open to all and requires no texture packs or mods to play, although it might look extra lovely with some Minecraft shaders.

The Among Us gameplay is cleverly recreated, with a boss health bar at the top showing your task progress, and tasks themselves performed as faithfully as possible – you’ll plot courses and destroy debris inside chests, for example – and you’re even provided with a compass to help you find your outstanding tasks.

 a man holding a gun in The Mining Dead.

The Mining Dead

Server IP address: hub.miningdead.com
Game modes: survival, role-playing, PvP

PvP and PvE combine in this server-wide recreation of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Fight, craft, and survive on the enormous map, fighting off walkers and other players alike. Much of the action plays out like a Minecraft version of DayZ, with players doing whatever it takes to make it out alive – a Minecraft survival server on a whole new scale. The Mining Dead also features key locations from TV series like The Prison, Woodbury, and Alexandria.

 The military base area in the Grand Theft Minecart server world.

Grand Theft Minecart

Server IP address: gtm.network
Game modes: role-playing, survival, PvP

Grand Theft Minecart brings two of the biggest games on PC together: Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto. Not old enough to walk into a brick-and-mortar branch of GAME to let loose on Los Santos with Trevor and chums? With houses to own, weapons to shoot and pesky policemen to evade, you can have a fantastic recreation of the GTA experience here – making this one of the best Minecraft servers out there.

 two people clashing swords while a village is on fire in Minewind.

Minewind

Server IP address: server.minewind.com
Game modes: survival, PvP, hardcore, minigames

Do not expect a particularly pleasant experience on the Minewind server. Instead, you get the ultimate playground for griefers, player-killing, and deception. Your goal is simple: try to survive for as long as possible – this is still Minecraft, after all – but you will also be up against endless Minecraft mobs, double-crossers, and killers.

 An aerial shot of villages connected by a bridge in the Minecraft server Minescape.

Minescape

Server IP address: minescape.me
Game modes: role-playing, survival

RuneScape fans can now experience leveling their skills to 99 in Minecraft on this meticulously built Minecraft RPG server, designed to look and feel just like one of the best free MMOs. Two years of tremendous effort have culminated in a very faithful reproduction of all the locations, mobs, and skills in RuneScape – Minescape has taken inspiration from both OSRS and RS3, so players of both should feel right at home.

 a pirate ship sailing in dark waters in PirateCraft.

PirateCraft

Server IP address: mc.piratemc.com
Game modes: role-playing, survival, PvP

If you think our list of the best pirate games isn’t blocky enough, then Piratecraft is for you. Sail, build, and plunder in PirateCraft, a server dedicated to the golden age of scurvy and theft. One of the most ambitious servers we’ve played on, Piratecraft even has a fully-functioning ship-to-ship combat mechanic. As with all Minecraft ideas of such magnitude, it’s a little clunky, but it works. Ships can be built and sailed across the seas, and cannons can be mounted to the hull and used to blast away enemy vessels.

On land, a simple but functional economy replicates the trade and booty of the period, and players can create their own Minecraft houses, and Minecraft builds on ‘safe zones’ to bunk and store treasures. Safe Zones are protected from griefers, meaning you can build as much as you like without fear of others trashing your masterpieces.

Piratecraft’s salty setting makes it one of the best Minecraft roleplay servers. Of course, if you’re roleplaying a pirate, there’s going to be some grief involved, and provided the owner is in a Safe Zone, other players can siege them. Attackers can destroy ‘soft’ blocks and generally make a nuisance of themselves until they either walk away or the defender surrenders. Similarly, ships can be stolen, provided the owner is not on board at the time.  So if you’re looking for a PvP Minecraft server with a twist, this could be the buried treasure you seek.

 Two guarding statues mark the former border of Gondor, built entirely from Minecraft blocks, in the Middle Earth server.

Minecraft Middle Earth

Server IP address: build.mcmiddleearth.com
Game modes: creative

If ever there were a classic world that would inevitably end up immortalised in textured blocks, it was Tolkien’s Middle-earth. This as-yet incomplete project is primarily based on Peter Jackson’s cinematic vision of Middle-earth. You can help push forward with the building of the world of men, elves, and creatures of shorter stature, so long as you follow the rules.

 a view of Winterfell in WesterosCraft.

WesterosCraft

Server IP address: mc.westeroscraft.com
Game modes: creative

If Middle-earth is our classic fantasy Minecraft server, then WesterosCraft is our modern great. From the Wall to The Red Keep at King’s Landing, WesterosCraft is a vast server with many of Game of Thrones’ landmarks recreated in astonishing detail. Most areas are built from the TV show designs, making much of this server like a trip inside HBO’s vision of the fantasy world. Kings Landing is especially awe-inspiring.

Like Minecraft Middle-earth, it is still a work in progress, with work currently being done to the Lannister bastion of Casterly Rock. Should you know your Winterfell from your Dreadfort, you can join in and help prop up the next house of death and tyranny.

 several players riding horses in Ranch n Craft.

Ranch n Craft

Server IP address: mc.ranchncraft.com
Game modes: role-playing, survival, economy, minigames

Line dancing, horse taming, and farming: Ranch n Craft is one of the best Minecraft servers if you want to drop the shootouts and saloon brawls of other Wild West-themed servers and stick to the simplicities of country life. With tons of equestrian-based features unique to the server, it is ideal for Minecrafters who feel most at home in the saddle.

Users can claim land and start their own ranches, breed horses, and farm crops to their heart’s content. What’s more, Ranch n Craft is one of the most peaceful servers out there, with its mostly griefer-free community and an army of helpful moderators.

How do I join a Minecraft server?

How to join a Minecraft Java server

To join a Minecraft server, first, find a server you like the sound of – like any of the ones mentioned above – and grab the IP address. Start the game, click ‘multiplayer’, then ‘add a server’. Next, pop the IP address  into the ‘server address’ and box and name the server anything you like – the latter is just how it appears in your list.

Now, make sure you click ‘done’ before heading back to your server list and finding your desired server. Hit the ‘join server’ button, and you will find yourself in a new, wonderful world of blocks and people who like said blocks. If you’d rather just start a new world with a few friends instead, check out our guide to Minecraft hosting.

How to join a Minecraft Bedrock server

Joining a Minecraft server in Bedrock edition is far more simple, but your choices are more limited. Upon launching the bedrock version of the game, scroll across from the ‘Worlds’ tab to the ‘Servers’ tab, where you will see the seven Bedrock edition servers available to you, including some of those above. You can jump in and out at will, so why not try them all out!

Now you know all the best Minecraft servers for either Java or Bedrock edition, you’ll never get bored of the king of sandbox games – if there were possible in the first place. Not only is there plenty of non-vanilla content in the form of servers, maps, mods, and Minecraft texture packs to keep your world feeling fresh, the vanilla game itself keep getting regular content updates, with the Minecraft 1.20 release date scheduled for later this year.

Additional contributions by Jordan Forward and Marloes Valentina Stella.

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