I have some questions for the #Minecraft players here.
What is the advantage of hosting my own #minecraft server? Would having a private server be something a 5-year-old would enjoy? I plan to learn to play, but I don't think it is a game that I would particularly enjoy. I'd be playing just to spend time with the kiddos, rather than them just quietly playing alone.
Also, which #Minecraft private server should I start with?
Minecraft Realms would require you pay a monthly subscription fee, but it does pretty much everything for you to manage it and it offers worlds to enjoy as games and still be able to have a 'main world' to explore. Mojang pretty much made this option for people in your situation. Best part: You really *REALLY* want to have some oversight into who your kid interacts with. This would allow YOU to be in control of that.
There are many other servers to choose from, but the fatal flaw in your case is that servers of interest to someone age of 5 would tend to be ones also of interest to child *predators*. Some servers work to monitor and boot out predators. More or less. More often much, much less.
My suggestion is to look at the "Realms" option and subscribe for a month or two. I would be quite happy to answer questions you may have as best as I am able. There are also a few Mojang devs here on the Mastodon federation who can also answer questions.
Month-to-month lets you drop the service if it doesn't do what you want to move on to other options. Also be aware there is "Minecraft" which is the Bedrock version for your phones, Windows PC machines, and so on, and is most likely the option you are already using. There is also the Java version of Minecraft which is the version I prefer. Without some clever behind the scenes work, the two versions DO NOT cross-platform play. Windows will allow you to play "Minecraft" (Bedrock) and "Minecraft Java".
If you have questions, please do post those here. I will try to watch and answer, and I expect quite a few other very wonderful to chime in. #Minecraft #MinecraftRealms
@Romaq @mhamzahkhan to be honest Realms really aren't bang for buck. I'd go for a third party hoster. There are plenty of services, I'm happy with Nodecraft.
Enable the whitelist/allowlist function and you have a perfectly safe private server with better performance than a realm (while having more options)
Yeah, Realms does have distinct disadvantages. The big positive is "I don't need to know anything of what I'm doing and I give it a month before my kid loses interest and my interest along with it."
https://extravm.com/minecraft.php is the one we are using for the small circle of family and friends we have. I'm able to use a third-party mod to let Bedrock players enjoy our server as well as the default Java we prefer to play.
But as my primary purpose was "what do you need to get started figuring out what you needed," I decided not to sell what I'm using even though I'm quite happy with it. I would be happy to help you decide what might be best for your situation, but I don't know what platform you prefer. And again, my plan wasn't to sell you something before you knew you needed it to solve a specific concern of yours.
I do also want to note what @CodexNotFound is very true. Realms has "performance limitations" to provide the service they do, and your options are very limited. The GeyserMC plugin I use so I can play Bedrock on my Java server? That is NO CAN DO with a Realms server. You want more than yourself and 9 other players at the same time? Nope, ain't happenin'. There are various issues too much to get into here. *I* wouldn't use Realms. Third party servers do, in fact, offer much more. But if the point is to "try and figure out if this thing is going to last more than a month subscription," that's where you figure out where Realms comes up short on what you wish to do, then decide what best provides what you want at the price point you can afford. :)
