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I just hosted a home Minecraft server on a spare laptop, and I'd like the server to be up 24/7. (I join and play from a different computer).

I had my friend join the server, then I went for lunch, but when I returned, the laptop was hot as a teapot. I quickly shut down server and the laptop entirely to prevent damage.

I chose the 'Best' power plan and deleted all other apps, but there was no change.

How can I stop this laptop from heating up so much?

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  • See what component is mostly responsible and replace it. Make sure all vents are uncovered. Place your laptop in the basement.
    – Joachim
    Commented May 5, 2020 at 8:24
  • Can you use Open Hardware Monitor to show those temperatures?
    – Joachim
    Commented May 5, 2020 at 8:25
  • 3
    I’m voting to close this question because is about general hardware usage and not a gaming related question.
    – Lemon
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 4:46

2 Answers 2

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In addition Gigazelle's excellent suggestion of a laptop cooler:

  • Keep the lid up - Heat travels upward, and the laptop screen being closed acts like a blanket, trapping it inside. Laptops are usually designed for low power activity, or to hibernate/spin down/pause tasks when the lid is closed - overriding this behaviour to keep the laptop active with the lid closed can cause temperatures to spike.
  • Turn the screen off - Most laptops have a way of turning the display on or off via a function key combination
  • Place the laptop away from heat sources - including out of direct sunlight.
  • Make sure it's well ventilated - the laptop would ideally have enough space around it to vent hot air out.
  • Point a fan in it's direction - this is mostly a stop-gap measure until you get a laptop cooling pad, but the extra airflow can definitely help.

Ideally, as Gigazelle also mentions, you should consider getting a proper desktop to run the server, as laptops are not designed for long-term intensive activity like hosting Minecraft.

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  • Thanks so much for the edit and the answer, that worked for me
    – RoBoCo Craft
    Commented May 7, 2020 at 22:42
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What you want is a Laptop cooler or laptop cooling pad. It helps take the heat away from the laptop and dissipate it through fans.

Generally speaking, a laptop is not an ideal type of computer for a dedicated server. Rather than spending money on a laptop cooling pad, I would recommend spending a bit more for a desktop computer that can easily run a Minecraft dedicated server. Desktop components are almost always less expensive than similarly-performing laptop parts.

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