Hourly Billing and Banked Hour

Use the server's prepaid-time display to understand when another hosting charge is due. Billing uses full-hour blocks, not payment for each minute played.

Before you begin

Sign in and open a server you own from Console. Note its hourly rate and your Credit Balance. The rate depends on the selected game, region, tier, and size.

Read the timers

  1. Open the server's Overview.
  2. Read Banked Hour for the prepaid time available to that server.
  3. Compare it with Current Session and Total Uptime. Those measure time since the latest power-on and accumulated uptime; they are not wallet balances.

Banked Hour counts down while billing is active and is held while stopped. On an active server, reaching zero requires a new full-hour charge. Every server has a separate timer, so charges need not occur together or on the clock hour.

Understand the first and next charges

A funded server creation charges a full hour upfront. Starting a stopped server also charges a full hour if no prepaid time remains. If the required charge cannot be covered, the server remains Stopped.

Example: start a server with no prepaid time and pay for one hour. Stop after about 20 minutes of active billing, and about 40 minutes remain for that server. Restarting with the same rate resumes those minutes; it does not refund the original charge.

See pausing billing for the complete stop procedure.

Allow for configuration changes

A higher-cost configuration may require an immediate additional charge and affect the prepaid timer. A lower-cost change does not immediately refund the difference. Review the displayed rate and charge before confirming Server Settings changes.

If billing is unexpected

Hosting charges do not depend on player count or an open browser. Starting or Error does not necessarily mean billing is paused. Use Stop, wait for Stopped, and review Cost & Usage.

If a charge still looks incorrect, contact support@hourlygameserver.com with the server name, charge amount, and time. If the server stopped for lack of credits, follow recovery steps.