Recently at GhostCap, we hit over 2500 unique players in one day. That's 2500 gamers who are hungry to play their favorite online games with others. Honestly, when I saw the numbers, I was shocked.
From humble beginnings with a home server to seeing our first 100-player day, I never expected growth like this. I mean, I would be happy with 20 dedicated players per day on our servers. Luckily for me, when we started, I was quick to recognize that we needed dedicated servers if we wanted to establish a large, solid player base.
This has helped us grow our player base to accommodate demand. But what this got me thinking: "what's the next step for us?". EXPANSION! So began my hunt for the best-dedicated game servers, and what I found was a bunch of blog posts from people who have OBVIOUSLY never hosted a game server in their life. (Heck, some don't even play games).
In this post, I have put together a list of what I feel are the best places to host your next dedicated gaming server. It's also presented in a way that I'm not going to overwhelm you with irrelevant technical specs, only the things you need to know. If you don't care about the nitty-gritty details, here are my top picks of the best hosts (and a short reason why)
If you want to see the negatives of each host, please read on.
Why Should You Listen To Me?
Currently, I'm running over 40 game servers spanning over 3 different continents. Unlike the other articles you read from non-gamers, I have been running the GhostCap gaming community for the past few years.
With over 7,811 members and thousands of gamers every day, we know what it takes when it comes to running reliable, popular servers and finding the perfect solution for our users. I have also helped countless other people set up their own game server hardware for their own gaming communities.
Best Dedicated Game Servers
These are all self-managed options too. If you're looking for someone to take care of the hard work, check out our post on the best game server hosting.
Tempest Hosting
Tempest Hosting provides premium game server hosting with high-end hardware and excellent support.
Pros:
- Premium hardware
- Excellent support
- Gaming-focused features
Cons:
- Premium pricing
- Limited budget options
Who is Tempest Hosting best for?:
If you need the best of the best when it comes to game servers, you can't go past Tempest hosting. You can even host popular games on their Path network directly from their website.
Byteania
Professional resellers of Path.net (the gold standard in gaming DDoS protection) with 10GbE unmetered bandwidth across most of their range. Ran by gamers for gamers.
Pros:
- Professional resellers of Path.net DDoS protection
- 10GbE unmetered bandwidth across most of their range
- Staff that cares about making their company better
- 99.9% guaranteed uptime
- Also offers VPS shared hosting
- Ran by gamers
- Excellent pre & post-sales support
Cons:
- Dedicated server selection is limited
- Has dropped locations in the past
- Limited operating system selection
Who is Byteania best for?:
Byteania support is excellent for those who are just starting out with their first high-end game server. Their pre & post-sales support is unmatched by anyone in the industry. They are also our main hosts for our USA servers.
Streamline Servers
Streamline Servers specializes in game server hosting with optimized hardware and networking for gaming.
Pros:
- Gaming-optimized
- Good performance
- Specialized support
Cons:
- Higher pricing
- Limited general VPS options
Who is Streamline Servers best for?:
Streamline Servers are best if you're in the APAC region, as they offer a great network at a decent price. Their network will also stop most DDoS attacks, so your players can enjoy online gaming without the lag.
GameserverKings
GameserverKings provides powerful gaming DDoS protection (CosmicGuard) with great prices and thousands of happy customers.
Pros:
- 24/7 support offered
- Extremely powerful DDoS mitigation
- Good pricing
- Great uptime
- Excellent support team
Cons:
- Recent reviews are mixed
- Limited server locations
Who is Game Server Kings best for?:
Game Server Kings seem to always have the best hardware in stock before anyone else. So if you like to stay up to date with the latest dedicated game server hardware, GSK is for you.
ReliableSite
ReliableSite offers enterprise-grade dedicated servers and VPS hosting with exceptional uptime and performance.
Pros:
- 99.999% uptime SLA
- Enterprise hardware
- 24/7 US-based support
- DDoS protection included
Cons:
- Higher price point
- Limited game-specific features
- No shared hosting options
Who is ReliableSite best for?:
ReliableSite is best for USA customers. People with a smaller network who are new to dedicated game server hosting, but need great hardware and network performance that won't break the bank.
OVH Cloud
OVH is one of the leading providers of servers in the world with 27 data centers throughout North America, Europe, OCE, and Asia. Great for dedicated servers but requires technical knowledge.
Pros:
- 27 Data Centers worldwide
- Dedicated servers start at $96 per month
- Full control with free KVM access
- Excellent DDoS protection (GAME firewall)
- Unmatched price to performance ratio
- Can run multiple game servers on one machine
Cons:
- Poor customer support with long wait times
- Control panel is slow and dated
- Not beginner-friendly
- Reports of 24+ hour ticket response times
- Requires technical expertise to manage
Who is OVH best for?:
OVH is the best for people who need dedicated servers in multiple locations around the world. Power users who are not afraid to sort out their own problems if issues arise.
Hetzner
Hetzner offers budget-friendly dedicated servers with great hardware options and server auctions. Best for European users who can handle their own DDoS protection setup.
Pros:
- Great server console
- Insanely low prices on server auctions
- Lots of dedicated servers in stock at any time
- No shortage of dedicated server configuration options
- Extremely budget-friendly for Europe
Cons:
- No DDoS protection for gaming
- Have had connectivity issues in the past
- Limited to European locations
- Requires technical knowledge for gaming setup
Who is Hetzner best for?:
Hetzner is best for Europe users who need servers on a budget that don't mind the extra server setup for DDoS protection. If you're in Europe, this is one of the cheapest ways you can elevate the gaming experience for your players.
Vultr
Vultr offers high-performance cloud compute instances perfect for gaming servers with locations worldwide.
Pros:
- Wide global coverage
- Competitive pricing
- Good performance
- Reliable uptime
Cons:
- Limited support options
- Basic control panel
Who is Vultr best for?:
Vultr is the best for people in Asian countries who need performance hardware and decent resources. Their peering and ping has the best performance in this region compared to others.
Dedicated Server FAQs
If you're just starting a gaming server, here are some of the most common questions we are asked.
Are dedicated servers worth it?
If you're planning to host numerous multiple games and need the best gaming experience, then dedicated servers are worth it.
However, if you're just looking to play multiplayer games with friends, it's more cost-effective to use shared hosting.
Are dedicated servers good for gaming?
Dedicated servers are the best for online gaming. Unlike shared hosts, you get access to the entire game server so you're not being slowed down by other users.
How much ram do I need for a dedicated server?
Depending on the game you decide on, we suggest between 16 and 128 gigabytes of RAM. Anything below this and you're better off going with a shared game host, anything more, and it's not going to be cost-effective.
Why is a dedicated server cheaper than cloud hosting?
The reason why a dedicated server is cheaper than cloud hosting is that cloud hosting is aimed at enterprise customers. Cloud hosting has features such as being able to scale as much as your business can handle without needing to worry about individual infrastructure.
Conclusion: What Dedicated Gaming Server Is Right?
Choosing a dedicated gaming server depends on your region and needs. If you simply want your own dedicated server to give your players the best gaming experience possible, then Tempest Hosting is the go-to.
With Tempest, you never need to worry about a kid knocking your server offline from a booter, so your community can play multiplayer games in peace.
For people looking for the lowest latency gaming experience anywhere in the world, then a Vultr dedicated gaming server is most likely the way to go, as they offer the best availability. Be aware that you will be paying for it though and DDoS Protection is not the best for games.
If you're after a budget option, then both Hetzner and ReliableSite are good, but their locations are really limited.