Oracle Cloud's Always Free tier is the most generous free cloud offering available. You get up to 4 ARM-based VMs with a total of 24 GB RAM and 4 OCPUs. But free comes with strings attached. Here is what you actually get and where it falls short.
What the free tier includes
- Up to 4 Ampere A1 (ARM) instances.
- Total of 24 GB RAM and 4 OCPUs shared across instances.
- 200 GB total block storage.
- 10 TB outbound data transfer per month.
- Always Free, no credit card charges (a card is required for signup verification only).
You can run a single VM with 24 GB RAM, or split it into smaller instances.
The real limitations
Availability
The biggest problem is getting an instance. Free tier ARM instances are heavily oversubscribed. In popular regions (like US East or EU Frankfurt), you may get "Out of capacity" errors for weeks. You need to repeatedly try or use automation scripts to claim an instance when one becomes available.
Idle reclaim
Oracle can reclaim idle Always Free instances. If your VM shows low CPU usage over an extended period, Oracle may mark it for deletion and give you a warning. Minecraft servers that are idle between player sessions can trigger this.
ARM architecture
The Ampere A1 uses ARM processors, not x86. Most Minecraft server jars work on ARM with Java, but some mods and tools expect x86. Performance per core is decent but not comparable to a Ryzen 9 in single-thread speed.
No DDoS protection
Oracle's free tier does not include game-grade DDoS protection. A targeted attack will take your server offline.
Support
Free tier users get no support. If something breaks, you are on your own.
Is it worth it for Minecraft?
For a private server with 2-3 friends who do not need 24/7 availability, it can work. You get enough RAM for a modded server. But the availability issues, idle reclaim risk, and lack of DDoS protection make it unreliable for any community server.
When to use paid hosting instead
If you want guaranteed availability, DDoS protection, NVMe storage, and a control panel that manages everything for you, paid hosting is worth the EUR 2-5/month.
The short answer
Oracle Cloud Free VPS is generous on paper (24 GB RAM, 4 OCPUs) but hard to get, at risk of reclaim, and lacks DDoS protection. Good for testing, not for communities.
Space-Node VPS plans start at EUR 3.39/month with KVM, NVMe, and DDoS protection. See our VPS hosting plans or Minecraft hosting.