10 Best Minecraft Survival Servers (2024)

With a massive community, Minecraft is one of the most fun online multiplayer games. Some players hop in to interact with friends while others seek out full-fledged adventures. If you are in the latter bunch, you have come to the right place. We are covering some of the best Minecraft survival servers that feature unique Minecraft biomes, custom mobs, and a lot of interesting quests. The only thing that gets as close as their level is the best Minecraft adventure maps. But most of them won’t allow you to play with your friends, making them close to irreplaceable. With that said, there’s a lot for us to unpack in these servers, so let’s dive right into the best Minecraft survival servers that you shouldn’t miss out on!

1. Mineplex

• Java Address: us.mineplex.com
• Bedrock Address: pe.mineplex.com

This server is home to one of the largest Minecraft communities. If you want a server that has the most active players, reliable hosting, and fun gameplay, this is one of the best Minecraft survival servers you need to opt for. This server’s survival mode has a simple aim – you have to gather resources and kill other players. The last person standing wins the survival round.

Coming to the gameplay, the map has different types of chests scattered throughout the blocky Minecraft world. You can even find many crafting tables while exploring. And to make things even more interesting, we get supply drops similar to other battle royale games. They spawn at night with a beacon beam revealing their location. This intense action-packed survival gameplay is almost as intensive as an FPS shooter game.

2. The Seed

• Java Address: theseedmc.com

As we continue down our list of the best Minecraft survival servers, you will notice a pattern. Most of these servers are custom-made and even change the basic Minecraft experience at some level. But “The Seed” is a little different. Yes, it still has a few custom features, but its overall aim is to keep the experience as close to vanilla Minecraft as possible.

The interesting part of this server is that you get to live in a town-based world. That means you get a player-driven economy, the ability to make shops, and even have pets. If you are able to make a few new friends on this server, you can have yourself a whole life in The Seed. However, keep in mind that it’s still a survival server, just based on your connections this time.

3. The Mining Dead

• Java Address: us.miningdead.com

When talking about the best Minecraft survival servers, zombies are bound to show up. With the Walking Dead as its theme, the server goes all out on apocalyptic vibes. If fighting other players isn’t enough for you, this server gives you plenty of mob-based alternatives to fight. So, if you like zombies, do test your luck against hungry mobs and a beautiful map.

The part I enjoyed the most was the recreation of cities on this server. And as if that wasn’t enough, we also get to use guns and melee weapons in Minecraft. This server offers direct competition to some of the best Minecraft modpacks, thanks to such features.

4. Applecraft

• Java Address: play.applecraftmc.org

Continuing the spree of Java-exclusive servers, we have Applecraft. It takes the friendliness of society-based servers and expands it with plenty of custom adventures. This mostly PVE server has found the balance between rankings and community. On one hand, you have to compete with players and best them to survive dangerous entities in this unique Minecraft survival server. On the other, the server stops other players from raiding or grieving.

However, there’s a PVP world mode too if you want to go beyond fighting entities. The world allows raiding and griefing on this server. A popular part of this server is the new Minecraft maps that the owners keep releasing. To top these new creations, almost each of these maps has a contest attached with exciting prizes.

5. Grand Theft MC

• Java Address: gtm.network
• Bedrock Address: gtm.network

If you haven’t guessed from the name, this is the best GTA lookalike survival server in Minecraft. You get to play in similarly-named cities like MineSantos, Sanktburg, and New Mineport. All of them are inspired by Rockstar Games’ GTA video game series. If you are joining this server using Java edition, you get the added benefits of unique Minecraft mods. One of them includes 48 custom weapons.

Since the server is one of the oldest GTA-based servers, it has a very active multilingual community. You can get weapons, vehicles, and even a chance to gang up with players, just like GTA Online. Not to forget, the added nostalgia of the GTA world won’t let you leave until GTA 6 comes out.

6. WilderCraft

• Java Address: play.wildercraft.net

What we have here is another fair and friendly community server. This survival server allows you to earn ranks, trade, and play fun mini-games. Newly released features and regular contests keep the community active and fun to spend time with. A unique part of this server is a custom ender dragon. If you have what it takes, you can challenge it and other game bosses for amazing in-game rewards.

Other than that, we get player-based shops, dungeons, random mobs, and treasures. Each activity and adventure add to your survival XP while helping you level up inside the server. Though, don’t get too busy collecting XP. To keep things balanced for new players, the server gets a complete reset twice a year. You can then start afresh and try to top the leaderboard in a new season.

7. The Archon

• Java Address: pvp.TheArchon.net

Our next option on this list of the best survival servers feels like a whole new game within Minecraft. It has plenty to offer, and almost all its offerings are unique and fun. This community server takes regular survival worlds to next level by offering unique game modes around it. We get skyblock, factions, outlands, prison, and even robbery game modes to explore.

Coming to the survival part, you get unique items like in-game jobs, custom monuments, and even skydrops. The jobs on this server are a source of income that helps you survive, just like in real life. All you need to do is pick a job, and you will get money to do basic tasks like mining or killing mobs on this best Minecraft survival server.

8. Hypixel

• Java Address: mc.hypixel.net

Hypixel is one of the most active Minecraft servers that is home to a giant community. The server in itself offers 12+ unique games that you can explore. These include paintball warfare, Vampirez, the walls, warlords, and even building battles as game modes. You can also get custom Minecraft skins from popular pop culture series, including MCU movies.

Coming to the main survival mode, we get Blitz Survival Games. You can join it in solo or team mode. There are even special loots like Blitz Star that players can capture. Adding on to it, you get a lobby system, parties, guilds, and even coins. Overall, this server is enough to give you a complete multiplayer experience in a single spot.

9. Datblock

• Java Address: play.datblock.com

Datblock is another large and popular server on our list of best Minecraft survival servers. The game modes it offers are survival, skyblock, one-block, creative, factions, earth towny, and more. You can always expect to find over 500 active players every hour of the day. The new content that comes out each month is a major reason behind such an active community.

The server gets even more fun with its custom structures and exclusive content. If you are just starting with Minecraft multiplayer, it’s an ideal server for you to join. You can experience almost all possible game modes with enough active and friendly players.

10. MCCentral

• Java Address: mccentral.org

Minecraft Central is one of the most popular and longest-running servers currently on our list. There are several game modes that you can enjoy on this server, including Factions, Minigames, skyblock, prison, and many more. The active community ensures that you have a forum, a rigorous set of rules, and a lot of players on one of this best Minecraft survival servers.

What makes this server a little different than most is that it has an option for you to use your own mods. Most servers put a complete ban on all mods. But you can use many of the allowed best Minecraft mods on this server. Admins have no issues with mods unless they give any major advantage that you can use over other players.