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Game Server Hosting on Linux

Hosting multiplayer game servers (like Minecraft, CS:GO, Rust, or Valheim) is a common use case for Linux virtualization. Linux is preferred due to its low resource overhead and stability.

Requirements and Best Practices​

1. CPU Single-Thread Performance​

Most game server architectures (notably Minecraft) rely heavily on a single main thread for game logic. A server with 4 very fast CPU cores (high GHz) will vastly outperform a server with 16 slow cores.

2. RAM is Crucial​

Game maps, player data, and mods are loaded into RAM. Running out of RAM will cause the OS to use swap space (disk), resulting in massive lag or the Out-Of-Memory (OOM) killer terminating the server process.

3. Containerization (Pterodactyl / Docker)​

Running game servers directly on the host OS is messy. Modern game server administration relies on containerization.

  • Pterodactyl Panel: An open-source game server management panel built on top of Docker. It provides a beautiful web interface to start, stop, configure, and allocate resources to multiple game servers, all isolated in Docker containers.

4. Running via Systemd or Screen/Tmux​

If not using Docker, never run a game server directly in an SSH session (if you disconnect, the server stops).

  • Use screen or tmux to keep the process running in the background.
  • Better yet, write a systemd service file so the game server starts automatically on boot and restarts if it crashes.

5. Networking​

Game servers are prime targets for DDoS attacks. If you are hosting a public server, consider using a host that provides robust, path-optimized DDoS mitigation.