Electricity Cost of Running a Game Server at Home 24/7

Running a game server at home 24/7 costs roughly 8 to 20 USD a month in electricity on a typical gaming PC, about 4 to 10 USD on an older office PC, and around 2 USD or less on a mini PC, at a rate of about 0.17 USD per kWh. The formula is simple: average watts times 730 hours a month, divided by 1000, times your price per kWh. The number that matters is what the machine draws while idling with the server running, not its power supply rating.

The formula

monthly cost = average watts x 730 / 1000 x price per kWh

Average watts: what the PC actually draws from the wall over a day. A 750 W power supply does not mean the PC uses 750 W; at idle a gaming PC might draw a tenth of that.
730: hours in an average month (24 x 365 / 12).
Price per kWh: on your electricity bill. US residential rates vary a lot by state, from around 0.11 USD to over 0.40 USD per kWh. We use 0.17 USD as a round middle figure below. Check your own bill and redo the sum.

Worked examples

All at 0.17 USD per kWh, running every hour of the month.

Machine	Typical draw with a small server running	kWh per month	Cost per month
Gaming PC with a big GPU, idle desktop	80 to 150 W	58 to 110	about 10 to 19 USD
Older office desktop (4th to 8th gen Intel)	35 to 70 W	26 to 51	about 4.40 to 8.70 USD
Mini PC (N100 or laptop class chip)	10 to 20 W	7 to 15	about 1.20 to 2.50 USD
Raspberry Pi 5	4 to 8 W	3 to 6	under 1 USD
Laptop, screen off	15 to 40 W	11 to 29	about 1.90 to 5 USD

The draw ranges are typical for each class of machine. Yours can be higher or lower, which is why measuring beats guessing.

Measure your real draw

A plug-in power meter (often sold as a "kill a watt" style meter) costs little and answers the question in a day.

Plug the PC into the meter.
Start the server, leave it running with a normal player count for a few hours, or a full day.
Read the kWh total and divide by hours to get average watts.

Many UPS units and smart plugs also report power use. Software readings like HWiNFO's CPU and GPU package power only cover those parts, not the whole PC, so they underestimate.

What pushes the cost up

The monitor. A monitor left on adds 20 to 40 W. Let the screen turn off; the server does not need it.
The GPU. High end graphics cards can idle at 15 to 30 W and much more if something keeps them awake (RGB software, a game left open in the menu, multiple monitors at high refresh rates).
A heavy server. ARK, modded Minecraft and late game Palworld keep the CPU busier than a quiet Valheim world. More players, more CPU, more watts.
Power plans. Windows' High performance plan keeps the CPU from dropping to low power states. Balanced is fine for a server.
RGB, fans and pumps add a few watts each, all month long.
Air conditioning. In summer, every watt your PC uses becomes heat that the AC removes, which can add a meaningful share on top.

Hidden costs beyond electricity

Hardware wear. Fans, drives and power supplies wear faster when running all day. A failing drive with your world on it is the big risk; keep backups.
Noise and heat in the room the PC lives in.
Your time: Windows updates, restarts, router rules, crashes at 2 am.

Ways to cut the bill

Turn the server off when nobody plays. Most groups play evenings and weekends. Even switching off overnight saves about a third.
Use a low power machine for the server. An old office PC or mini PC can host Minecraft, Valheim or Terraria for a small group at a fraction of a gaming PC's draw. See old PC as a game server and Raspberry Pi game server limits.
Keep the GPU idle. Close games and launchers, turn the monitor off.
Use Balanced power, not High performance, but disable sleep so the server stays up. Our guide on stopping Windows from sleeping and restarting while hosting covers the exact settings.

Home electricity vs a hosted server

A hosted server is not free either, so compare like for like. A small GamezServers plan is 9.99 USD a month for 4 GB of RAM (about 2.50 USD per GB), with 50% off the first month for new customers. That covers the machine, its power, an address with open ports and DDoS protection. Against a gaming PC drawing 100 W around the clock, the electricity alone lands in the same range. Against a 15 W mini PC, home hosting is cheaper on power, but you still provide the hardware, upload and upkeep.

There is also the split option: with GamezServers each friend can pay their share of the monthly bill, which no electricity company offers. For the bigger cost picture, see is renting a game server worth it and how much does a game server cost per month.

Gameplay from Minecraft: Java Edition

Quick estimate for your setup

Take your measured watts and multiply by 0.73 to get kWh per month, then by your rate:

100 W x 0.73 = 73 kWh. At 0.17 USD: about 12.40 USD.
50 W x 0.73 = 36.5 kWh. At 0.17 USD: about 6.20 USD.
15 W x 0.73 = 11 kWh. At 0.17 USD: about 1.90 USD.

FAQ

How much does it cost to leave a gaming PC on 24/7?

At 80 to 150 W average and 0.17 USD per kWh, roughly 10 to 19 USD a month. Measure your PC's actual draw for a real number.

Does a Minecraft server use a lot of electricity?

A small vanilla Minecraft server adds little on top of the PC's idle draw. Most of the cost is simply keeping the whole PC on.

Is it cheaper to host at home or rent a server?

On a low power machine, home electricity is cheaper. On a gaming PC left on all day, the power bill can match a small hosted plan, without the address, uptime or DDoS protection.

Does running a PC 24/7 damage it?

Not quickly, but fans, drives and power supplies wear with hours of use. Keep it cool and dust free, and back up your world.