In June 2014, Mojang began enforcing the EULA of the computer versions of the game to prevent servers from selling microtransactions, which many players thought unfairly affected gameplay, such as pay-to-win items, only allowing servers to sell cosmetic items. At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016, it was announced that Realms would enable Minecraft to support cross-platform play between Windows 10, iOS, and Android platforms starting in June 2016, with other platforms releasing over the next two years. Unlike a standard server, only invited players can join Realms servers, and these servers do not use IP addresses.
In 2013, Mojang announced Minecraft Realms, a server hosting service intended to enable players to run server multiplayer games easily and safely without having to set up their own. The server and map were created on August 4, 2010, within the first hour of Minecraft multiplayer being released. The oldest server map is called "Freedonia", in the Minecraft server MinecraftOnline. Multiplayer was first added to Minecraft on May 31, 2009, during the Classic phase of the game. Custom plugins can be used in servers to allow actions that are not normally possible in the vanilla form of the game. Player versus player (PvP) combat can be enabled to allow fighting between players. Multiplayer servers have a wide range of activities, with some servers having unique premises, rules, and customs. The server owner (or users that have access to the live server files) can also set up and install plugins to change the mechanics of the server, add commands among other features, and can also set up restrictions concerning which usernames or IP addresses are allowed or disallowed to enter the server. Minecraft multiplayer servers are controlled by server operators, who have access to server commands such as setting the time of day, teleporting players and setting the world spawn. The largest and most popular server is Hypixel. Players can start their own server either by setting one up on a computer using software provided by Mojang, or by using a hosting provider so they can have their server run on dedicated machines with guaranteed uptime. In this context, the term "server" often colloquially refers to a network of connected servers, rather than a single machine. A Minecraft server is a player-owned or business-owned multiplayer game server for the 2009 Mojang Studios video game Minecraft.