Free servers on Witchly are not permanent by default. They operate on a weekly renewal cycle that costs coins to maintain. This guide explains the full server lifecycle from creation to expiration, and how to keep your servers alive.

The Renewal Cycle

Every free server has a renewal date that is set 7 days from its creation. Before that date arrives, you must renew your server to extend it for another 7 days. Without renewal (manual or automatic), the server will be suspended and eventually deleted.

Renewal Cost

A brand-new free server renews for 500 Witchly Coins per week. Two things can change that number as your account grows:

Renewal scales with your resource pool. Resource upgrades you buy in the store (extra RAM, CPU, and disk) are permanent, and your weekly renewal grows alongside them — keeping a larger server alive costs proportionally more. A starter server stays at 500; the cost only rises if you choose to upgrade.
The cost is split across your active servers. Your account has one total weekly renewal, divided evenly across the servers you currently have running. For example, if your total renewal works out to 800 coins and you have two active servers, each one renews for 400. Run a single server and it carries the full total.

If one of your servers lapses and is removed, the survivors split a smaller pie — at their next renewal the remaining server(s) absorb the full total again. Manual and Soul Bond (automatic) renewals both use this same per-server amount.

Renewal Window

You can only manually renew a server during the final 24 hours before its renewal date. If your server still has more than 24 hours remaining, the renew button will be disabled and a message will tell you how much time is left.

This design prevents accidental early renewals and ensures the 7-day cycle remains consistent.

How to Renew Manually

Go to your servers page.
Find the server you want to renew.
When the server is within 24 hours of expiration, a Renew button becomes available.
Click Renew. The system deducts your per-server renewal amount from your balance and extends the renewal date by 7 days. The exact cost is shown on the server card before you confirm.

The new renewal date is calculated from either the current expiry date or the current time, whichever is later. This means renewing early does not lose you any time.

What Happens When a Server Expires

If you do not renew your server (and Soul Bond is not active or you lack coins), the following sequence occurs:

Stage 1: Suspension

When the renewal date passes, the system automatically detects the expired server and:

Stops the server process if it is running.
Suspends the server, making it inaccessible.
Updates the server status to “suspended” on your dashboard.
You receive a Discord DM and an in-app notification about the suspension.

Your data is still intact at this stage. You can still renew a suspended server to restore it.

Stage 2: Grace Period

After suspension, you have a 24-hour grace period to renew the server. During this time:

The server remains suspended (you cannot access it or start it).
Your files, worlds, and configurations are preserved.
You can renew at any time during the grace period for your server’s renewal amount.
Renewing a suspended server automatically unsuspends it and makes it accessible again.

Stage 3: Permanent Deletion

If the grace period expires without renewal, the system permanently deletes the server:

The server and all its data are permanently removed.
All files, worlds, databases, and configurations are permanently destroyed.
The server status changes to “deleted” on your dashboard.
You receive a Discord DM and an in-app notification about the deletion.
This action is irreversible. There is no way to recover a deleted server’s data.

Timeline Summary

Event	Timing
Server created	Day 0
Renewal window opens	Day 6 (24h before expiry)
Server expires	Day 7
Suspension	Shortly after expiry
Grace period ends	Day 8 (24h after expiry)
Permanent deletion	Shortly after grace period ending

Renewal Reminders

The system sends you proactive reminders to help you avoid losing your server:

24 hours before expiry: You receive a Discord DM and an in-app notification reminding you that your server is expiring soon, with a direct link to renew.
Low coin balance: If your coin balance drops below 1,000 coins and you have active free servers, you receive a Discord DM and an in-app notification warning you to earn more coins before your next renewal.

These reminders are sent at most once every 5-7 days to avoid spam.

Soul Bond (Auto-Renewal)

If you have purchased the Soul Bond artifact from the store (5,000 coins, one-time), your servers are automatically renewed.

How Auto-Renewal Works

The system periodically checks for expired servers.
If a server has auto-renewal enabled and the owner has enough coins to cover its renewal, the system automatically renews the server.
The per-server renewal amount is deducted from your balance.
The server’s renewal date is extended by 7 days.
If the server was suspended, it is automatically unsuspended.

When Auto-Renewal Fails

Auto-renewal will not work if:

You do not have enough coins to cover the renewal amount.
Your account does not have Soul Bond unlocked.

If auto-renewal cannot proceed due to insufficient coins, the server follows the normal expiration path (suspension, then deletion after the 24-hour grace period).

Server Recreation

If a server is deleted (or if you delete it yourself), you can create a new server in that slot. However, there is a cost.

Recreation Cost

Your first server on a fresh slot is always free. If you have already used a slot and it later frees up (because a server was deleted), deploying a new server into it is considered a “remake” and costs coins.

A remake costs the same as that server’s share of your weekly renewal — the per-server amount described above, calculated for the number of servers you’ll have after recreating. In practice this means letting a server lapse and recreating it nets out to about what you would have paid to renew it: there’s no advantage to cycling servers, and no harsh penalty for a genuine mistake.

Elite Server Lifecycle

Elite (paid) servers work differently from free servers:

No coin renewal: Elite servers are maintained through Stripe subscriptions. As long as your subscription is active, your server stays active.
Payment failure: If a subscription payment fails, the server may be suspended. Elite servers have a longer grace period of 72 hours (compared to 24 hours for free servers).
Cancellation: When you cancel an Elite subscription, the server remains active until the end of the current billing period. After that, it is suspended and eventually deleted following the elite grace period.

Best Practices

Enable Soul Bond as soon as you can afford it (5,000 coins). It is the single best protection against accidental server loss.
Maintain a buffer of at least 1,000 coins so you always have enough for renewal plus a safety margin.
Siphon daily and claim your Daily Ritual to build a consistent coin income.
Back up your worlds regularly using the backup system. Even with renewals, having offline backups is wise insurance.
Watch for Discord DMs and in-app notifications from Witchly — they warn you about upcoming expirations and low balances.