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When you switch off an hourly cloud server, its public IPv4 address stays attached at no extra cost, whether the server is running or shut down. A server that remains switched off for three straight days loses its IP to the shared pool, but only after we send advance warnings. This guide walks through the full timeline, what to expect on restart, and the Reserve IP option that holds the address for as long as you need it.
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No charge for the IP, on or off
On hourly billing, your public IPv4 address does not add to your bill whether the server is active or powered down. During a shutdown, you are billed only for the storage disk attached to it.
Three days of downtime and the IP goes back
If a server stays powered off for three consecutive days, we return its IP address to the shared pool. Before that happens, you get an email and a WhatsApp alert two days in, followed by one last notice ahead of the release. The exact release moment appears on the server's own page, shown in IST. Neither the server nor its data is affected by this process.
Switching the server back on
Turning the server on again works as usual. If the original address has not yet been reassigned, you get it back; otherwise the server is given a fresh one. A newly assigned address shows up on the server page — update your DNS entries and firewall allow-lists accordingly, and raise a support ticket if you need reverse DNS (PTR) set up for it.
Holding onto the address with Reserve IP
From the Network section of the server page, switch on Reserve IP. As long as this stays enabled, the address is never handed back to the pool. It is billed per hour only for the time the server sits powered off, and costs nothing while the server runs. Current plans and prices are shown on this page. You can disable Reserve IP whenever you like — doing so restarts the three-day countdown from that point.
Prepaid monthly and longer-term plans already bundle the IP into the subscription, so this countdown does not apply to them.
The same control is available through the API: send a POST request to /api/v1/services/<id>/reserve-ip with "reserved": true. The equivalent MCP tool is called reserve_server_ip. To check the current status, GET /api/v1/services/<id> returns an ip_policy field covering whether it is reserved, the scheduled release time, and any pending notice.
Questions on this guide
Do I pay for the IP of a stopped server?
Not unless Reserve IP is switched on — in that case, it is billed per hour for the time the server stays powered off.
Will I get the same IP back?
Yes, provided that address has not been handed to someone else by the time you restart. Otherwise you are given a new one, and we notify you by email and WhatsApp.