How to Add a Plugin Pack on Aternos (2026 Up-to-Date Guide)

The Core Limits of Aternos

Before you upload a plugin pack you need to understand the restrictions Aternos imposes. When these limits are exceeded your pack either never loads at all or the server refuses to start.

What to Do Before Uploading a Plugin Pack

1. Decide on the Server Version

Log in to the Aternos panel and click the Software tab. Choose Paper (or Purpur) as the server software. A Vanilla server does not support plugins. Do not pick Craftbukkit, it is outdated. For the version, pick the one your plugin pack supports — 1.20.4 is the most common.

2. Stop the Server

The server must be off before you add plugin files. On the home page there is a large green Stop button, or a red Force Stop. If the server is not running already, you can skip this step.

3. Back Up Your Existing Plugins (If Any)

If your Aternos server already has plugins on it, take a backup before you install a pack over them. Go to the Backups section in the left menu and click Create backup. Since a free account only gets one backup slot, you may have to delete the existing backup before you can take a new one.

Method 1: Installing Plugins One by One

The best known way to install plugins on Aternos runs through the Plugins tab. Click Plugins in the left menu. Type the plugin name into the search box (for example EssentialsX). From the results, click the green + button to the right of the correct one. Aternos will download it automatically from Spigot/Modrinth and install it on your server.

This method only works for plugins that exist in the Aternos database. Custom plugins (for example a custom tag plugin from a plugin pack) will not show up here.

Method 2: Uploading Jars from the File Manager

The way to upload the jar files from your plugin pack, one by one or in bulk, is the Files section. Open Files from the left menu. You get an FTP-like file manager.

Change the folder path at the top to plugins/, or double-click the plugins folder. You can now upload your plugin jars here. Click the Upload button at the top right, open the file picker and select the jars. Aternos does not upload in parallel — it queues each file separately. Uploading a large pack can take 10-15 minutes.

Method 3: Uploading and Extracting a ZIP File

Instead of uploading dozens of jars one at a time, you can upload the plugin pack as a zip and let Aternos extract it. This is the fastest method, but it comes with a few restrictions.

• The ZIP file must be under 50 MB. Larger zips will not upload.
• The jars must sit directly inside the ZIP; if they are nested inside a parent folder they get extracted to the wrong place.
• Encrypted ZIP files are not supported; extraction is refused.
• The RAR format is not supported; convert to ZIP first.

Once you have uploaded the ZIP, right-clicking the file gives you an Unzip option. Before extracting, make sure you are in the right folder (plugins/). After extraction, remember to delete the original zip; it just wastes disk space.

Step by Step: The Plugin Pack Upload Process

Step 1: Go to the Plugins Folder

Follow Files → plugins/. If there is no plugins folder, create one with Create folder at the top (though normally Paper creates it automatically on first launch).

Step 2: Press the Upload Button

Select the zip of your plugin pack. An upload progress bar is shown. Depending on your connection speed this can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

Step 3: Extract the ZIP

Right-click the uploaded zip file → Unzip. Aternos will extract it inside plugins/. The jars and plugin folders land directly in plugins/.

Step 4: Check the Dependencies

If the plugin pack ships a list (KURULUM.txt), search for the dependencies named there (Vault, ProtocolLib, LuckPerms and so on) in the Plugins tab and install them. Skip any that are already in the pack.

Step 5: Check the Configs

If config files came with the pack, open the plugins/PluginName/config.yml files and check the basic settings (server name, starting balance for the economy, home limit and so on).

Step 6: Start the Server

Press the Start button on the home page. You may be put in a queue. Once the server is up, follow the logs from the Console tab. An ERROR line means a dependency or version problem.

Plugin Incompatibilities Specific to Aternos

Some plugins either do not work at all in the Aternos environment or cause a serious performance drop. The most common problem plugins:

• Dynmap / BlueMap: Web map plugins; since Aternos does not open external ports, the map is unreachable. Do not install them.
• CoreProtect (heavy logging): Writes every block change to the database; on 2 GB of RAM it destroys TPS. Keep features like disable-wb switched off in the config.
• Magma, Mohist (hybrid server): Aternos only supports Paper/Spigot; you cannot run a hybrid Forge+Bukkit setup.
• ChestShop + GriefPrevention: The two together eat 300 MB of RAM on their own.
• Old plugins with ViaVersion: If plugins released for 1.8 are forced to run on a 1.20 server through ViaVersion, 2-3 ms of delay piles up on every event.

Aternos File Manager Tips

To download files, right-click → Download. If you want to download the whole world, the Download world feature sits under Settings → World. Backups are taken from here as well.

If you uploaded the wrong file, right-click → Delete to remove it. To delete several files, select them with the checkboxes and use Delete selected. Aternos does not back up deletions; think twice before you delete.

Reading the Log When the Server Starts

After you upload the plugin pack and start the server, watch the console carefully. The lines from the first 30 seconds tell you everything:

[INFO]: Starting minecraft server version 1.20.4
[INFO]: Loading libraries, please wait...
[INFO]: Loading properties
[INFO]: This server is running Paper version...
[INFO]: Server Ping Player Sample Count: 12
[INFO]: Using epoll channel type
[INFO]: [EssentialsX] Loading EssentialsX v2.20.1
[INFO]: [Vault] Loading Vault v1.7.3
[INFO]: [LuckPerms] Loading LuckPerms v5.4.102
[ERROR]: Could not load plugin ChestShop.jar:
    java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Vault
[INFO]: Done (12.4s)! For help, type "help"

In this sample log there is an error because ChestShop could not load — Vault is missing. You need to add Vault, or if it is already there, fix the load order. Plugin load order is not alphabetical, it follows the depend declaration. But sometimes renaming a jar (for example renaming Vault to AVault) forces the load order to change — hacky, but it sometimes works.

Frequently Asked Questions About Aternos

My ZIP file will not extract after uploading, what should I do?

If the file size is over 50 MB, Aternos refuses to extract it. Open the pack on your computer and split the jars into separate zips, then upload again. Alternative: put the zip on a shared Google Drive link and pull it in directly with the upload-from-URL option in Files.

I installed a plugin but it is not in the /plugins list, why?

Three possible reasons: (1) the jar is corrupt or downloaded incompletely, (2) the server software is set to Vanilla instead of Paper, (3) the jar is actually a mod file (Forge/Fabric), not a Bukkit plugin. Mods do not work in the plugins/ folder.

TPS comes out at 15 instead of 20 when the server starts, what is wrong?

The plugin pack is pushing against the 2 GB RAM limit on Aternos. Large plugin packs are generally manageable on 3-4 GB of RAM. Disable unnecessary plugins; turn off heavy logging plugins like CoreProtect, or move to a VPS.

Players lag while joining the server, what should I do?

At peak hours, on a shared CPU, Aternos can drop TPS even with 3-5 players. This is not your server, it is a platform limitation. It cannot be solved on Aternos.

When Do You Hit the Limits of Aternos?

If you have tried to use Aternos for a serious project, you are probably seeing at least three of the following signals:

• Your plugin pack has 20+ plugins and you are getting RAM warnings
• Queue times at peak hours are climbing to 5+ minutes
• The server closes when it is empty and players do not come back
• TPS is constantly below 18
• You cannot run external services such as a web map (Dynmap, BlueMap)
• You keep hitting the size limit when uploading custom jars
• You cannot get out of offline-mode but you want premium verification
• You cannot keep more than one backup

If you are seeing several of these signals at once, Aternos is no longer enough for you. The next sensible step: your own VPS, or a managed Minecraft hosting service.

Moving from Aternos to a VPS

Moving from Aternos to a VPS is a serious jump, both financially and technically. The good news: a VPS at 100-200 TL a month removes every one of Aternos' limits.

If you want to run your own VPS and set up a Minecraft server on it, you have two options: (1) get a bare VPS and use your Linux knowledge to install Paper and place the plugins yourself; (2) take a managed Minecraft hosting service, where you are handed a ready-made panel and install and run plugins with a single click.

Migrating to a VPS: Moving Your Plugin Pack to the New Server

The biggest worry when moving from Aternos to a VPS: will you lose your world and player data? No. You can download everything from the Aternos file manager and transfer it to your new server.

• On Aternos, go to Files and download the world/ folder as a ZIP
• Download the whole plugins/ folder — configs included
• Download server.properties (settings like motd and difficulty live there)
• Upload to the new VPS with scp: scp -r world/ plugins/ server.properties root@ip:/home/minecraft/
• If any plugin config points at a MySQL host, update it to localhost
• On first launch, set eula.txt to eula=true

The whole process takes about 30 minutes on average. It can take longer for people with no VPS experience; the KEYDAL support team handles setup and migration free of charge over Discord.

What Aternos Premium Adds

When you hit the limits of the free version of Aternos, there is also a Premium option. For roughly 5-10 Euro a month extra, Aternos+ offers the following improvements:

• Idle timeout goes from 5 minutes to 60 minutes (the server stays up much longer)
• You get priority in the queue at peak hours
• You can keep more backups
• An extra 500 MB - 1 GB of RAM is granted
• Access to priority support channels

But even Premium does not replace a real VPS. A 60-minute idle timeout is a long way from 24-hour uptime, and 2-3 GB of RAM is still tight for a mid-sized pack. If you are paying 10 Euro a month, the same money buys a 200 TL Turkish VPS with 4 GB of RAM and 24/7 uptime.

Aternos Alternatives: Other Free Hosts

If you are not happy with Aternos but you are still looking for something free:

• Minehut: 1 GB RAM, 10 plugin limit, worse than Aternos but no queue
• Oracle Cloud Free Tier: A free-for-life ARM VPS with 4 GB of RAM — the best free option, but it needs Linux knowledge
• ExAroton: The pay by the hour version of Aternos, you pay for what you use
• Cubecraft: 512 MB RAM, commercial use prohibited
• Falix: Similar to Aternos but Europe-focused

None of these services is clearly better than Aternos. The real leap is moving to your own VPS.

Player Management on Aternos

Aternos has limited dedicated tooling for player management; the main management plugin is EssentialsX. For bans, kicks and mutes:

• /ban <player> <reason>: Permanent ban
• /tempban <player> <duration> <reason>: Temporary ban (30m, 2h, 7d)
• /kick <player> <reason>: Kick
• /mute <player> <duration>: Mute in chat
• /banlist: List banned players

Aternos has no ban panel of its own; all of it is managed from inside the game. For professional ban management you need to add a plugin such as LiteBans or BanManager.

Server Identity and Branding on Aternos

On Aternos your server address is assigned as yourserver.aternos.me. You do not get your own domain or a dedicated IP. There are a few ways to soften this disadvantage:

• Pick a short name: You can change the server name from the Options section on Aternos. A short 5-8 character name is easy to remember.
• CNAME record: If you have your own domain, you can point play.yourserver.net → yourserver.aternos.me. But this still leaves the port as the one Aternos assigned.
• SRV record: You can add an SRV record to hide the port. Players connect without typing a port.
• Polish the MOTD: Even if you cannot change the server name, you can build a strong brand image through the MOTD.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I see how many hours I have used on Aternos?

Usage statistics are not shown in the Aternos panel. However, the Your server has been online for X hours this month message you see in the browser shows your monthly usage. There is no cap, but queue times can grow during heavy use.

Can I move a plugin pack from one Aternos server to another Aternos server?

Yes, you can download the files from one Aternos server and upload them to another. But this is a manual job; Aternos has no migrate function of its own. Download the world and plugins folders as a zip and upload them to the new server.

Is there any way to use MySQL on my Aternos server?

Aternos does not offer MySQL. However, you can connect from Aternos to free MySQL hosts such as PlanetScale, Supabase or FreeSQLDatabase.com. Use the external server's IP as the host in the config. This solution has a performance problem, because every query travels from Aternos to that external server and back.

How do I monitor my server's TPS on Aternos?

You can profile TPS on your server with the Spark plugin. But because the Aternos CPU is shared, low TPS may come from other servers rather than from your plugins — which makes the reading misleading.

Is my world deleted when I leave Aternos?

If you do not open your server at all for 90 days, Aternos may reclaim the resources and delete your world. Taking regular backups and downloading them off-platform is always good practice.

A Plugin Update Strategy for Aternos

Keeping plugins up to date is critical for security and compatibility. On Aternos, plugin updates happen in two ways: automatically from the Aternos database through the Plugins tab, or manually through Files. The automatic method is the most stable one; but the Aternos database sometimes has not indexed the newest release yet, and then the manual route is unavoidable.

• Stop the server before every plugin update, it prevents half-finished uploads
• Read the log after updating — a new release sometimes requires a config change
• Take a backup before important config changes — you may have to roll back
• Do not apply several updates at once — you will not know which update caused the problem

Tips for Optimizing Your Aternos Server

What you can do on Aternos to keep TPS high on 2 GB of RAM:

• View-distance: Lower it to 6 in server.properties (the default of 10 is far too high)
• Simulation-distance: Lower it to 4 — fewer entities get ticked
• Max-players: 15 players is reasonable on 2 GB of RAM on Aternos
• Mob spawning limit: monsters: 30 in bukkit.yml
• Pre-generated world: Generate the world in advance with the Chunky plugin
• CoreProtect logging: Turn on the disable-wb: true setting, it uses less RAM
• Disable inactive plugins: Every plugin consumes RAM; switch off the ones you do not use

Summary: The Aternos Plugin Pack Process

There are three ways to upload a plugin pack to Aternos: (1) Aternos' own database from the Plugins tab, (2) uploading jars one by one from the Files section, (3) uploading and extracting a ZIP in bulk. The fastest method is number 3; but watch the 50 MB limit. After installation, read the logs, complete the dependencies and check the configs. If TPS is low, reduce the plugin count or consider moving to a VPS.

Aternos being free is genuinely valuable, but for anyone who wants a serious player community it is a platform that will fall short within 3-6 months. The Premium version helps, but not as much as a real VPS. For projects that keep growing over the long term, making time for a VPS or managed hosting is unavoidable. Until then, Aternos supports you quite well for testing simple packs.

One last thing: if your needs have outgrown Aternos, join our Discord community. You can talk to experienced server owners about growing a server, choosing plugins and picking a VPS, and get pointed in the right direction. Using Aternos as your first server platform and then carrying what you learned there over to a VPS is a classic road map; thousands of server owners have taken that path.

Testing your plugin pack on Aternos gives you experience in a real environment. But the platform limits show themselves quickly; do not lock yourself inside those limits, prepare your growth plan early.