Best Windrose server hosting: how to choose

Three ways to run a Windrose server

Before you compare hosts, it’s worth knowing you might not need one. Here is how the three ways to play Windrose with friends compare.

What to look for in a Windrose host

These are the things that matter for Windrose in particular. Each one says why, links the guide with the details, and says honestly what Wilderack does about it. The checks that matter for every game, from ping to refunds, are in our guide to choosing a game server host.

1. RAM for your crew size

   The developers’ own hardware list asks for a lot of memory: 8 GB for 1 or 2 players, more for 3 or 4, and 16 GB for up to 10. They recommend crews of up to 4. Windrose server performance and RAM guide

   YesOn Wilderack: Plans are sold by RAM, following the developers’ figures. We recommend Grove 12 GB, and Grove 8 GB is enough for 1 or 2 players.

2. Direct connection, not an invite code

   Invite-code traffic goes through Windrose’s own connection service, so a host can’t filter attacks on it, and a sleeping server never sees the join. When a server uses direct IP, invite codes don’t work. Windrose invite codes and direct connect explained

   YesOn Wilderack: Every server runs in direct connection mode, behind our attack protection. Your crew joins with the address and port, and joining wakes a sleeping server.

3. A password, because addresses get shared

   Windrose has no public server list, but anyone with the address can try it. The password lives in two settings that must agree. How to connect to your Windrose server

   YesOn Wilderack: Set it in Settings and restart. The two lines in the file only matter if you edit it by hand.

4. Your single-player world on the server

   The easiest way to get world settings right is to make the world in the game, then move it to the server. Back up and move your Windrose world

   YesOn Wilderack: Upload your world in Games, Bring your world, or with Files or SFTP.

5. Backups you can restore yourself

   Windrose zips each world every 10 minutes of play and can load the newest good zip if a save breaks, but those zips live on the same server. Back up and move your Windrose world

   YesOn Wilderack: A safe copy every time the server sleeps and every 10 minutes while it runs, kept apart from the server. Restore or download any of them.

What a cheap Windrose server costs

A cheap server is one with enough memory for your group, not the lowest price on a page. These are the plans we sell for Windrose, with the group size each one suits.

Monthly plans renew at the price shown, and you can cancel any time. A 3-day pass is a one-time payment that doesn’t renew. Prices in US dollars + applicable taxes.

Windrose is hungry for its size: Grove 8 GB is the smallest plan we sell for it and suits 1 or 2 players. For the crew of up to 4 the developers recommend, pick Grove 12 GB.

Part of why the price is low: your server naps when nobody is playing, so you don’t pay for hours of an empty world. Your world and settings stay exactly as you left them.

Where Wilderack falls short

No host is right for every group. These are the reasons we might not be the one for yours.

• No mods. Windrose has no official mod support yet, so we don’t offer any.
• Invite codes don’t work on our servers, because they run in direct connection mode. Your crew types the address and port.
• The Windrose server has no documented way to send chat messages, so scheduled restarts can’t warn players in the game.
• Two regions open so far: US East and Europe. Groups in Asia, Oceania or South America will have higher ping than with a host nearby.
• We are new, so we can’t show you years of uptime yet. A 3-day pass is the cheap way to try us first.

How we checked

The facts about Windrose come from our own Windrose guides, which our team checks against Kraken Express’s documentation and patch notes, listed under Sources below. The facts about Wilderack come from our plans and the panel. Prices are read from our price list when this page is built, so they match the plans page. If something here is out of date, email support@wilderack.com and we will fix it.