How to Use a Dedicated Server for Gaming

Online multiplayer games offer the chance to connect and compete with your friends, meet new people, and work collaboratively to build something great. If you’re ready to take your online gaming experience to the next level, a dedicated server is a great option for hosting.

Instead of operating game servers from your own hardware, you’ll be able to host with unlimited customization, player count, and frame rate. You won’t have to worry about lag, drops in frame rate, or downtime. To get started, you’ll need to find a reliable cloud hosting services provider.   

Dedicated servers are fantastic hosting solutions for gaming, managing a website, or performing high-intensity video and image processing. Whether you’re playing Minecraft, Rust, or Counter-Strike, you might want to consider hosting your game server with a dedicated server. In this article, we’ll cover some of the basics of a dedicated server, including its primary benefits and potential drawbacks.  

What is a Dedicated Server?

Dedicated servers are top-of-the-line computers offered by hosting service providers that are dedicated to the uses of a single user or business. If you’re hosting with a dedicated server, you are essentially renting the full capacities of the machine for personal use. The machine is typically stored in a data center, ensuring optimal security and minimal downtimes.

You won’t have to worry about directly updating hardware, but you’ll have control over almost everything else that the server offers. The dedicated server’s customization and high processing capacity make it the best choice for high-intensity loads, containerization, and eCommerce website hosting. For gamers, it’s the ultimate upgrade to their favorite experiences online.

Dedicated servers are available for home users at a variety of price points, with the variability in price coming from the changes in technical computing power and memory capacity. You can start with dedicated server infrastructure for around sixty dollars a month and then begin moving upwards as your uses change.

For enterprise uses and gaming companies, a dedicated server can cost well over a thousand dollars a month. However, it’s always best to start small and work your way upwards when searching for a server. If you’re looking for a hosting solution that’s cheaper than a dedicated server, you may want to consider a VPS or virtual private server. 

What Benefits Does a Dedicated Server Offer?

Hosting your game with a dedicated server increases customization options for your world or instance and reduces the likelihood of downtimes, FPS drops, and security threats. Before purchasing a dedicated server, make sure to check what hardware the hosting services provider offers for gaming. You’ll likely want a server with a best-in-class AMD Ryzen processor and upwards of 32 GB of RAM to get started.

Customize Your Gaming Experience

Hosting your gaming server on dedicated hardware allows gamers nearly limitless control over a game’s customization options while ensuring there are no limits to player count, bandwidth issues, or server downtimes.

Dedicated servers essentially allow hosts to reach the maximum potentials of their favorite games, changing up everything from the competition rules to the physics of a particular environment. The host can easily change the parameters of the game server remotely without worrying about maintaining or managing the hardware necessary for creating the ideal gaming experience.

Security and Stability

Games hosted with the assistance of a dedicated server never have downtime issues, lag, or random drops in FPS. You also won’t have to worry about DDOS attacks or other security threats that can affect your gaming experience.

For individuals upgrading to a dedicated server from personal hardware, it’s good to know that you’ll never have to worry about the stability and security of your server. You’ll be able to quickly log in and out of the server and won’t have any issues trying to host and play simultaneously.

Easy Access and Controls

The dedicated server’s controls, settings, and storage are easy to access from anywhere with a stable internet connection. After purchasing a server, you’ll usually receive an email with directions for setting up an account that gives you access to everything from security parameters to operating system control. The best hosting services providers make the process of setting up your dedicated server easy, so you’ll be able to continue playing as soon as possible.

Potential Drawbacks to Using a Dedicated Server

Before purchasing a dedicated server for gaming, there are a few additional things you might want to consider first. The primary drawback to the dedicated hardware and infrastructure is its cost. In addition, many providers ask that you begin working with a dedicated server by signing up for multiple months at once.

If you’re looking for a cheaper option for hosting that doesn’t utilize your personal hardware, you may want to consider looking into a virtual private server, or VPS, instead.

What Games Benefit From Dedicated Servers?

Minecraft, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Rust, and Ark are popular games that can all benefit from hosting with a dedicated server. In addition, Arma, Garry’s Mod, and both Team Fortress games also work well with dedicated servers. Other gaming interfaces and chat servers, such as Mumble and Teamspeak, can also run through a dedicated server.

Conclusion- How to Use a Dedicated Server for Gaming

Hosting a game with a dedicated server offers an unrivaled, elite gaming experience for you and your friends. It allows you to remove the limits of a conventional game and customize everything on the server, from weapons to scoring rules to gravity and physics. You’ll find it easy to log in and connect with others, stay competitive, or work collaboratively.

The dedicated server’s high-end hardware ensures there are no limits to player count, no drops in FPS, and zero downtime. To experience the best that your favorite game has to offer, contact a cloud hosting services provider to learn more about setting up your game on a dedicated server.