10 best Minecraft survival servers (2023)

Minecraft's Survival Mode remains arguably the most played game mode in the beloved sandbox title. It's no real surprise then that countless players flock to survival multiplayer servers to enjoy the survival experience with friends and acquaintances. Moreover, each server adds its own unique twist on the overarching survival genre through plugins, mods, or other options.

The number of Minecraft servers running survival worlds is staggering, and it may be tricky to pick one that suits you. The good news is that with so many options on the table, there are bound to be at least a few choices you'll enjoy.

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Minecraft survival servers worth trying out in 2023

1) Vanilly

As far as Minecraft servers go, Vanilly is a very new server and doesn't have a very robust player count yet. Still, some players may prefer a more tight-knit experience with a smaller community instead of diving into one of the many mega-servers that dot the online landscape.

Vanilly's survival world isn't pure vanilla as the name may imply, as it does include features like player warping, land claims, shops, and the ability to craft easels and create painted art.

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2) Craftadia

A survival Minecraft server with plenty of upsides, Craftadia has a sizable player base with over 1,000 members online regularly. The server offers plenty of plugins and vanilla-lite enhancements, including land claiming, home teleportation, and a player-focused economy. You can also set specific permission rules for other fans who spend time around your builds and claimed locations.

As an added plus, Minecraft fans who join Craftadia can find multiple survival worlds, some of which can be visited to collect resources before heading back to base.

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3) ThePondMC

Created by the Minecraft content creator Ducky, ThePondMC is a server network with multiple game modes (including Skyblock) and a traditional survival multiplayer (SMP) world. The server keeps a few hundred active players each day, so you should be able to find a few friends as you travel around the game world.

In addition to the traditional survival offerings that most survival servers possess, ThePondMC also provides inclusions like player perks, which can be quite helpful for long-term progression.

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4) Netherite.gg

Although it's primarily known for its Skyblock gameplay, Netherite.gg possesses several different game modes for Minecraft fans, including a traditional SMP experience and a Towny world where players can come together and build a community. This provides some flexibility based on what kind of survival gameplay you are searching for.

Moreover, the admins and moderators on the server stay active to weed out any griefers, PvPers, TP killers, or scammers that may pop up in their survival worlds.

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5) Pika Network

Pika Network remains one of the largest Minecraft servers in the community, with thousands of players enjoying it daily. Although these players are dispersed among many different worlds with varying game modes, Pika Network offers two separate survival experiences depending on your preference.

There's a dedicated survival server complete with custom missions, a revamped Wandering Trader-style mob, and even cosmetics. Additionally, you can enjoy a different spin on survival by joining the Classic Skyblock world.

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6) InsanityCraft

InsanityCraft has a ton of different Minecraft game modes to enjoy, but its survival world strikes an excellent balance between vanilla gameplay and quality-of-life features. In addition to having the typical land claim and build protection features, InsanityCraft also allows you to access the in-game store with a single command.

You can get several free items from this store to help you get started, which is definitely a plus, especially when so many modern Minecraft servers opt for microtransactions.

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7) Jartex Network

With a community of over 100,000 players, Jartex Network has done very well for itself over the past few years. This Minecraft server prides itself on versatility, and while it may not match the game modes that a mega-server like Hypixel provides, it does an admirable job.

Jartex offers survival gameplay with five different worlds and a thriving player-driven trade economy. The survival worlds also possess clan-based features, so you can team up with other players and build/battle together.

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8) CosmosMC

For Minecraft players who enjoy survival on particularly interesting maps, CosmosMC offers one compelling option. Specifically, this server maintains a map that is a smaller-scale version of Earth, allowing you to build and craft your way through in-game locations that can often look quite similar to their real-world counterparts.

Furthermore, CosmosMC's Earth world possesses solid quality-of-life features but still keeps things fairly vanilla as far as survival gameplay goes, which may be enticing to some fans.

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9) CraftYourTown

Arguably one of the most well-developed Towny servers in the Minecraft community, CraftYourTown blends traditional survival gameplay with robust social features. To be more specific, this server utilizes the Towny plugin to help players band together and create villages, towns, or entire mega-cities together.

This server is an excellent one to play with a group of close friends, and the overall progression of player settlements is always a nice reward.

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10) Vulengate

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Vulengate stands as one of the newer survival servers in the community, and it has a small player base that some players may prefer to crowded locales. The server implements skills into survival gameplay courtesy of the MCMMO plugin and also features world bosses to battle, jobs, a black market, and custom enchantments.

Since it is new, it may still have some issues to sort out, but Vulengate can be a nice slow-paced alternative to many of the larger servers out there.