Game Server Hosting

Why is renting a game server better than hosting one on your own PC?

A rented game server stays online when you close the game, does not depend on your home internet's upload speed and does not expose your IP address to players. With a server on your own computer, the world becomes unreachable when the PC is off, you need port forwarding on your router, and your home upload speed limits how many people can play.

There are four practical differences:

• Availability: community members can play at different times; the server is online 24/7.
• Connection quality: a data center connection is far wider than a home upload line, so lag and stutter drop on busy servers.
• Security: your home IP address is never shared, so the DDoS attacks common in competitive communities cannot knock your home connection offline.
• Backups: the world file is backed up automatically every day.

What do you get with a ready-made game server package?

A ready-made game package is a server set up for a specific game, managed from a panel, that players can join directly; you do not deal with the operating system, firewall or server software updates. Every package includes:

• Web-based game panel: start, stop and restart the server; live console; file manager and configuration editing.
• Automatic daily backups: world and settings files are backed up every day.
• DDoS protection: attacks aimed at game traffic are filtered at the network level.

Game-specific features depend on what the game needs and are listed on the package cards: modpack installation and plugin management on Minecraft packages, map changes with SourceMod and MetaMod support on CS2 packages, Oxide/uMod plugins, scheduled wipes and RCON access on Rust packages, and so on. Values such as memory and player capacity are kept current in the package table.

A ready-made package is the fastest route for players and small to medium communities who want to play the game, not run a server.

Which games can you host a server for?

You can host a server for almost any game that has official or community-supported dedicated server software; games with a ready-made package run from the panel, the rest run on a VDS. The most popular games, each with its own detailed guide:

• Survival and building: Minecraft server hosting, Rust server hosting, Valheim server hosting, Palworld server hosting, ARK server hosting, 7 Days to Die, Project Zomboid, Terraria, Enshrouded, DayZ, Conan Exiles, V Rising, Sons of the Forest, Satisfactory, Factorio, Unturned, SCUM, Soulmask, Icarus, The Isle, Core Keeper, Abiotic Factor, Space Engineers, Don’t Starve Together, Hytale.
• FPS and competitive: CS2 server hosting, CS 1.6, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Insurgency: Sandstorm, Squad, Arma 3, Arma Reforger.
• Roleplay: FiveM server hosting, RedM, MTA:SA, SA-MP and open.mp, Garry’s Mod.
• Simulation, strategy and MMO: Euro Truck Simulator 2, Assetto Corsa, Bannerlord, Metin2 (read the copyright notes on its page).
• Voice chat: TeamSpeak server hosting.

Which server software and ports do popular games use?

Every game server runs its own server software on a specific default port; most connection problems come from the wrong port or protocol. Defaults for popular games:

On ready-made packages ports are configured automatically and the connection address appears in the panel. When you install on a VDS yourself, you need to open these ports in the firewall. Most Steam-based games download their server files with SteamCMD.

Besides the port number, the protocol matters too: game traffic mostly flows over UDP, while administration and file transfer mostly use TCP. Opening a rule for TCP only and forgetting UDP is the most common reason a server shows up in the list but nobody can connect. If you run a second server on the same machine, change the default port; two servers cannot share one port. RCON and query ports are also separate from the game port in most games and should only be opened when needed.

Should you choose a ready-made game package or a VDS?

A ready-made game package is the right choice if you want easy management for a single game; a VDS is right if you will run several games on one machine or want full operating-system-level control.

A game without a ready-made package, heavy custom mods, wanting your website and game server on the same machine, or a large roleplay server all point to a VDS. The full decision guide is on the game server package or VDS page; for VDS products see the VDS server page.

A common path is to start with a ready-made package while the community is small, then move the world from a backup to a VDS as player numbers and mod needs grow. World files are portable, so no progress is lost in the move.

How many resources do you need for how many players?

A game server's resource needs are set less by player count than by the type of game, map size and number of mods; at the same player count, a modded server can need several times the memory of a vanilla one. General principles:

• Memory: in open-world and building games (Minecraft, Rust, ARK), loaded map chunks and entities are kept in memory; needs grow quickly as modpacks and plugins are added.
• CPU: most game servers run the main game loop on a single thread, so single-core speed matters more than core count.
• Player capacity (slots): limited by server settings in some games and by the package in others; a "slot" does not mean the same thing in every game.
• Disk: worlds that stay online for a long time grow, and backups take up space too.

Every game page has an approximate resource table by player count. Package memory and capacity values are kept current in the package table on this page.

How do you choose mods, plugins and server frameworks?

Mod and plugin support depends on the game's server-side framework; choosing the right framework from the start saves you from migrating the world later. Common frameworks by game:

• Minecraft: Paper (Spigot-compatible) for plugins, Fabric or Forge/NeoForge for mods. Plugins and mods are not interchangeable.
• CS2: MetaMod:Source with SourceMod, or the CounterStrikeSharp plugin framework.
• Rust: Oxide (uMod) or Carbon.
• FiveM: the QBCore or ESX framework on a server managed with txAdmin.
• Valheim: the BepInEx mod loader; clients need the same mods installed.

Take a backup before every update; game updates frequently break plugin and mod compatibility.

How does DDoS protection work for game servers?

DDoS protection for game servers strips the flood of fake traffic aimed at the server at the network level and forwards only real player traffic. In competitive communities it is not rare for a rival server or an angry player to launch an attack; on an unprotected server, that means every player gets disconnected.

Most game traffic is carried over UDP, and UDP attacks are harder to filter than web traffic attacks. All traffic on LIONFIN infrastructure passes through the RouteFence firewall layer, and volumetric attacks are filtered before they reach your server. The network's 600 Gbit/s of total upstream capacity helps keep the connection from choking during an attack, and the infrastructure is monitored 24/7 by NOC and SOC teams.

What you can do on the server side: protect RCON and the admin panel with strong passwords, avoid plugins from unknown sources and do not share player IPs in logs.

How do ping, tick rate and server location affect gameplay?

Ping is the round-trip time between the player's computer and the server and depends largely on physical distance; our servers are in Türkiye, so they give noticeably lower ping to players in Türkiye and the surrounding region than servers far away. Two more concepts shape the experience besides ping:

• Tick rate: how many times per second the server updates the game state. A higher tick rate means more precise hits and movement, but increases CPU load.
• Packet loss and jitter: even with low ping, lost packets feel like stutter; this usually comes from the player's own network (Wi-Fi, a busy home network).

Another cause of "lag" on the server side is the CPU rather than the network: a drop in TPS in Minecraft or in server FPS in Rust affects every player regardless of the network. To tell network problems from server problems, compare what all players experience with what individual players experience.

How do backups and world transfers work?

Game packages take automatic daily backups of world and settings files; before a major update, mod change or wipe, we recommend taking a manual backup from the panel as well. The automatic backup does not cover progress made after the last backup; a manual backup taken just before a critical change saves hours of progress.

General steps for moving a world from another provider or from your own computer:

1. Stop the old server; a world copied from a running server may be corrupt.
2. Compress and download the world folder (in Minecraft: world, world_nether, world_the_end) and the configuration files.
3. Install the same game version and the same framework (Paper, Forge, Oxide, etc.) on the new server.
4. Upload the files with the panel's file manager or FTP and extract the archive.
5. Move the plugin and mod folders, start the server and check the console for errors.

For games with regular wipes, such as Rust, plan your wipe schedule in advance and tell your players.

How do you grow your game server and manage your community?

Growing a game server rests on a stable server, clear rules and an active admin team; advertising only works once those three are in place. From day one:

• Permission management: give admins only the permissions they need; LuckPerms in Minecraft, SourceMod admin groups in CS2 and txAdmin permissions in FiveM are made for this.
• Access control: use a whitelist on private servers; on public servers set up anti-cheat and a player reporting process.
• Rules and communication: publish server rules on Discord or your website.
• Stability: a scheduled restart at night reduces the impact of plugins that leak memory.

As your player count grows you can move to a larger package, and when you are running several servers you can move to a VDS or a dedicated server.

Which licences and rules should you watch when running a game server?

When you run a game server, complying with the game's end-user licence agreement (EULA) and server rules is your responsibility; in some games running a server is free but earning money from it is restricted. The main points:

• Minecraft: you must accept the Mojang EULA to start the server for the first time. Selling paid content that gives a gameplay advantage is restricted by Mojang's usage guidelines; read them before opening a store.
• FiveM and RedM: subject to Cfx.re's server and platform rules; the server licence key is obtained from the Cfx.re portal.
• Metin2 and similar MMOs: the game has no official dedicated server distribution; the copyright status of private server files is your responsibility.
• Steam games: most server software is downloaded free with SteamCMD, but some games require a separate account or key for the server.

Hosting content that breaches the terms of service, using the service for attacks and distributing other people's copyrighted content without permission are prohibited.