Create: Astral Server Hosting in Australia
Create: Astral is a factory building modpack where your group works through chapters of quests together, from waterwheels and cogs all the way to rockets and custom planets. It is built for shared megaprojects, which makes it one of the best packs around for a long running group server.
This guide covers how much RAM you need, what to look for in a host, and how to get a Create: Astral server running in Australia in a few minutes.
What is Create: Astral?
Create: Astral is built around the Create mod, where machines are physical contraptions of cogs, belts, and pistons rather than magic boxes with an interface. The pack wraps that in a progression of five plus chapters of quests, custom recipes, and a space program: you craft your way to a Moon portal early on, then push out to custom planets including Mars and Mercury, each with their own worldgen, mobs, and resources, in search of a lost civilization.
The reason it suits a long running group server is that nothing in the pack is a solo errand. Every chapter needs bigger shared infrastructure than the last, so groups naturally end up with a communal factory that everyone keeps extending, rather than scattered solo bases.
Create: Astral runs on Fabric for Minecraft 1.18.2 and includes around 196 mods. That is an older Minecraft version, but the pack is still actively updated on it, and MCHosts automatically selects the right Java version for whichever version or modpack you install, so this is not something you need to configure yourself.
How much RAM does a Create: Astral server need?
Modpack RAM requirements depend mostly on the number of mods loaded and how many chunks players keep active. Create: Astral is a curated pack rather than a kitchen sink, so it is lighter than the giants, but Create contraptions do real work every tick, so the load grows with your factory rather than just your player count.
| Players | Recommended RAM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 5 | 6GB | A comfortable fit for a small group in the early and mid chapters |
| 6 to 10 | 8GB | The sweet spot for most groups, with headroom for a serious shared factory |
| 10+ | 10GB or more | For larger communities with big contraptions running around the clock |
Modded servers reward headroom, and in this pack the endgame factory your group builds in chapter five is far heavier than anything in chapter one, so if you are between two plan sizes, the larger one is usually the better experience. The one thing more RAM cannot fix is an oversold host. Many budget plans put lots of customers on the same hardware and let them fight over it, and because Minecraft does most of its work on a single thread, that shows up as lag at peak times no matter how much RAM you buy. Our guide to choosing an Australian host explains the overselling trade-off in more detail.
Why host Create: Astral in Australia?
Every interaction in Minecraft is a round trip between your computer and the server. From the Australian east coast, a Sydney server responds in roughly 10 to 40 milliseconds. A server in the US or Europe takes 150 to 300 milliseconds, which makes combat and general movement feel noticeably sluggish.
In Create: Astral you place, adjust, and link machine parts hundreds of times a session, and on a high latency connection every one of those interactions has a small delay that makes precise contraption building feel clumsy. Combat on the planets suffers the usual laggy fate too.
Plenty of big hosts default to US or European locations on their cheapest plans, so always check that an Australian location is available and whether it costs extra.
Setting up a Create: Astral server on MCHosts
Here is the whole process from start to finish.
- Pick a plan with at least 6GB of RAM from our plans page.
- At checkout, click Browse Modpacks, search for Create: Astral, and select it. Your server deploys automatically within about 60 seconds with the pack already installed and the Fabric setup handled for you.
- Start the server from the control panel and connect with the matching Create: Astral profile from the CurseForge app or a Fabric compatible launcher like Prism Launcher.
Already have a server with us? Open the MC Settings tab in the control panel and click Select ModPack to install or switch to Create: Astral at any time.
Every plan includes 100% dedicated RAM with no overselling, automatic backups, and a 7 day money back guarantee, so you can test real performance from your own connection before committing.
Performance tips for Create: Astral
- Pregenerate your world. Chunk generation is the most expensive thing a modded server does. Pregenerating a few thousand blocks around spawn with a tool like Chunky prevents lag spikes when players explore.
- Keep view distance sensible. A view distance of 6 to 8 is plenty for modded servers and dramatically reduces the load per player.
- Leave Ram Optimizations on. Every MCHosts server includes a Ram Optimizations toggle in MC Settings that applies modern tuned Java flags, the kind of garbage collection setup you would otherwise have to research and configure by hand. It is on by default, so just do not turn it off.
- Schedule a daily restart. Modded servers accumulate memory bloat over long sessions. On MCHosts there is an "Enable scheduled daily restart" toggle in the MC Settings tab, so set it once at a quiet hour and forget about it.
- Build one shared factory rather than five private ones. The pack is designed for it, and one well planned production line loads far fewer chunks than the same machines duplicated across every player's base.
- Add clutch gearing to idle contraptions. Contraptions spin and consume tick time whether or not anything needs their output. Wiring big production lines through a clutch or gearshift so they can be switched off keeps an idle factory close to free.
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM do I need for a Create: Astral server with 6 players? 8GB is the sweet spot for a group that size, giving enough headroom for a serious shared factory alongside exploration. See the table above for other group sizes.
Can Bedrock players join a Create: Astral server? No. Create: Astral requires every player to run the modpack on Minecraft Java Edition, so console and phone players cannot join. If crossplay matters to your group, a vanilla or plugin based server with GeyserMC is the way to go, and that is free on every MCHosts plan.
Can I add extra mods to Create: Astral? Yes. You can upload additional Fabric mods through the file manager or SFTP, as long as they match Minecraft 1.18.2. Take a backup first, since the pack's custom recipes mean not every mod plays nicely with it.
How do I update the server when Create: Astral releases a new version? Take a backup first, then open the MC Settings tab in the control panel, click Select ModPack, and choose the new version. The panel handles the rest.
We loved All of Create. Is Create: Astral different enough to be worth a server? Yes, they scratch different itches. All of Create is a sandbox of Create and its addons where your group invents its own goals, while Create: Astral is a structured expedition with chapters, custom recipes, and a destination. If your group drifted apart in a sandbox but works well with a shared goal, Astral is the better fit, and if it was the freedom you loved, stick with All of Create.
Does Minecraft 1.18.2 mean the pack is abandoned? No. The developers deliberately keep the pack on 1.18.2, where its custom content is built and stable, and it still receives regular updates there. Staying on one version is common for heavily customized packs.
Ready to get Create: Astral running on a Sydney server? Head to mchosts.com.au/plans, pick a plan with at least 6GB, and remember, every new server comes with a 7 day money back guarantee.
