Move a server to someone else's account
A GuavaHost server belongs to the account that ordered it, so handing it to someone else means either a support assisted transfer or, more often, giving them their own login as a sub-user.
6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team
Why a server has an owner at all
When you order, GuavaHost creates a service on your account. That service is what the invoices are raised against, what the saved card renews, and what the panel lets you manage. The server, its files and its billing all hang off the one account.
That is why there is no Transfer to another account button anywhere in the panel. Moving a server means moving a billing relationship, including who is liable for the renewals, and that is not something we let one side do unilaterally. A login also only ever opens the one account it belongs to, so you cannot sidestep it by sharing a password.
Before you go further, work out which of these you actually want:
| What you want | The right route |
|---|---|
| Someone else runs the server day to day | Sub-users. No billing change, takes a minute. |
| Someone else pays for it from now on | A support assisted transfer. |
| You are leaving and they are starting fresh | They order their own server, you hand over a backup. |
The usual answer: give them their own access
Nine times out of ten, "can you move the server to my friend" really means "my friend needs to run this server". You do not need to move anything for that. Sub-users give another person their own GuavaHost login to your server, with exactly the permissions you choose, and they never see your invoices, your plan, your other servers or your account settings.
- Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on the server.
- In the server menu, open More, then People.
- Click Invite someone and enter the email they sign in to GuavaHost with.
- Under What can they do?, pick a permission set. Full access except billing hands over everything the panel can do to the server while keeping your billing private.
- Click Send invite.
The server then shows up under My servers in their own control panel, tagged Sub-user access. Giving a friend access with sub-users covers the permission sets in detail and which one suits a moderator, a builder or a co-admin.
This is safer than a transfer in both directions. You keep control of the billing and can take access back with Remove at any time, and they get a real login instead of your password. The Activity page under More shows who did what, so nothing is a mystery later.
A support assisted transfer
If the point really is that someone else should own and pay for the service, that is a support job. Contact support from guavahost.com/support or in our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and ask for a service transfer. Our team is online 24/7.
Expect to be asked for confirmation from both sides, because a transfer moves future invoices onto somebody else's card. Have this ready:
- From the current owner, sent from the email address on the account: which service it is (the server name, or the invoice number from Billing & invoices), and a clear statement that you want it transferred.
- From the person receiving it: their GuavaHost account email, and confirmation that they accept the service and its renewals. If they have no account yet, creating one is free at customer.guavahost.com/account/register.
- Both: agreement on who pays the invoice that falls due next, so nobody is surprised.
A couple of things to be realistic about. The team will tell you what is possible on your specific account, and depending on how the service was paid for there may be steps that only work one way round, so ask before you make promises to the other person. And nothing moves off an informal word in a group chat: the request has to come from the account's own email address, which is what stops someone talking us into handing your server to them.
What a transfer does and does not change
If a transfer goes ahead, the useful thing is that the server itself is untouched. The files, world, plugins and configs stay exactly where they are, the IP and port do not change, and players do not need to update anything. The saved backups stay with the server.
What does change is the account side: the service, its invoices and its renewals sit with the new owner from then on, and they manage it from their own control panel. Anything specific to the old account stays with the old account, including the payment method, past invoices for other services, and any sub-users you had invited, so the new owner should check People and reinvite whoever still needs access.
Two things worth checking afterwards. If you ever set an SFTP password, the new owner should set their own under Connection details on the Settings tab. And if the server has a custom domain pointed at it, the DNS record lives with whoever owns the domain, not with the server, so sort that out separately: Using a custom domain with an SRV record explains those records.
The fresh start route
Sometimes the cleanest option is no transfer at all. The other person orders their own server, you give them a copy of the world, and you cancel yours.
- Open Backups in your server menu, click Create backup, wait for it to show Ready, then click Download.
- Send them the file, or just the world folder and configs if that is all they need. Use the Files tab or SFTP to pull individual folders: Uploading files with SFTP covers the client side.
- They order their server and upload the world. For Minecraft, Uploading an existing Minecraft world is the exact process, and other games have their own guide in the same place.
- Once they confirm it works, cancel yours with How to cancel a server, choosing the end of your paid period so you lose nothing you have already paid for.
Do it in that order. Confirm the new server is running with the world on it before anybody cancels anything, because a cancelled server's files are deleted when it shuts down.
Common questions
Can I just give my friend my GuavaHost password?
Please do not. Your login opens your whole account, including your invoices, your payment method and every other service on it, and a shared password means you cannot tell who did what. Sub-users exist precisely so you can hand over server access without handing over your account.
Will moving the server change its IP or address?
A support assisted transfer moves the billing, not the machine, so the address stays the same and your players do not need to change anything. If instead the other person orders a new server, that is a new address, and anyone with the old one in their server list will need the new one.
Does the new owner get my backups and world?
With a transfer, yes: the server and everything on it comes across untouched, saved backups included. With the fresh start route they only get what you send them, so download a backup and check it is complete before you cancel.
Can a sub-user take over billing later?
No. Sub-user access deliberately stops at billing, so they can never see or change your plan, your invoices or your card. If the plan is for them to pay for it, that needs the transfer conversation with support instead.
Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.
- billing
- account
- transfer
- sub-users
- ownership
Still need help? Our team is online 24/7 to answer questions.