a plastic container has a mouth region and a main body adjoining the mouth region in a longitudinal direction of the plastic container . the main body has a peripheral wall extending around in a circumferential direction of the plastic container . a container base adjoining the main body has a central region and a plurality of reinforcing ribs which , starting from the central region , extend in the direction of the circumferential wall . a stepped portion extending at least partially in the circumferential region of the plastic container is provided in a circumferential region of the container base which extends in the circumferential direction about the longitudinal direction , wherein a vertical position of this stepped portion varies in the longitudinal direction .