# Dedicated game server hosting

> What a dedicated game server is, how it differs from hosting from your game or renting a whole machine, and what each Wilderack server gets to itself.

By the Wilderack Crew. Last reviewed 2026-11-14.

A dedicated game server is the game’s own server program, running by itself on a computer that stays on, so the world carries on when every player logs off. That’s what we host, for every game. Here is what the word means, what each of our servers gets to itself, and when renting a whole machine makes more sense.

## Three things people mean by “dedicated server”

### Hosting from your game

One player’s game is the server. Many games let one player open their world to friends: Open to LAN in Minecraft, Host & Play in Terraria, the Start server box when you load a world in Valheim. It’s free and quick. But that player’s computer runs the game and the world at once, and when they quit, everyone is thrown out. Some players call this a listen server.

### A dedicated server

The game’s own server program, with nobody playing on it. Most games also come with a separate server program, often free from the publisher or on Steam. It runs the world and nothing else, with no player sitting at it, so it can stay up day and night. Friends join it from the game whenever they like. This is what game server hosts rent you, us included.

### A dedicated machine

A whole computer in a data center, all yours. Some people mean renting an entire physical computer, sometimes called bare metal. You get all of its power, and all of its work: you install the operating system, the game’s server, the updates, the backups and the protection from attacks yourself.

## What each Wilderack server gets to itself

A Wilderack server is a dedicated server in the second sense, with its own share of a machine set aside for it.

- **Its own small virtual machine.** Each server runs in its own microVM: a small virtual machine with its own operating system kernel, on our machines in a data center. Another server can’t see into it or reach it.
- **Memory that is yours while it runs.** The RAM on your plan, 2 to 32 GB depending on the plan, is set aside for your server while it runs. No other server can use it until yours naps.
- **CPU cores and fast storage.** Each plan sets how many virtual CPU cores your server gets, from 2 to 8, and its NVMe storage, from 20 to 160 GB. A ceiling on every server stops any one of them from taking over a machine.
- **The game’s own server program.** Every server runs the publisher’s dedicated server program, downloaded on our machines from where the publisher puts it, like Steam or Mojang. Updates come from there too, when you choose or on a schedule you set.
- **An address and protection in front.** Friends join at an address like castle.tosk.gg, which reaches our gateway, never your home. Attacks are filtered there before they reach your server.

## The dedicated server for each game

Every game on our list has its own dedicated server program, and that program is what a server runs. 10 of our 21 games can be ordered today.

| Game | Publisher | Server from | Server types | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Minecraft](https://wilderack.com/minecraft-server-hosting/) | Mojang Studios / Microsoft | Mojang | Java: Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric, NeoForge, Forge, Modpack. Bedrock: Bedrock Dedicated Server | On sale |
| [Rust](https://wilderack.com/rust-server-hosting/) | Facepunch Studios | Steam | Vanilla, Oxide (uMod), Carbon | On sale |
| [Enshrouded](https://wilderack.com/enshrouded-server-hosting/) | Keen Games | Steam | Standard | On sale |
| [Project Zomboid](https://wilderack.com/project-zomboid-server-hosting/) | The Indie Stone | Steam | Build 42, Build 41 | On sale |
| [Terraria](https://wilderack.com/terraria-server-hosting/) | Re-Logic | Re-Logic | Vanilla, tModLoader | On sale |
| [Garry's Mod](https://wilderack.com/garrys-mod-server-hosting/) | Facepunch Studios | Steam | Sandbox, DarkRP, Trouble in Terrorist Town, Prop Hunt | On sale |
| [Satisfactory](https://wilderack.com/satisfactory-server-hosting/) | Coffee Stain Studios | Steam | Vanilla, Modded | On sale |
| [Factorio](https://wilderack.com/factorio-server-hosting/) | Wube Software | Factorio | Factorio, Space Age | On sale |
| [Windrose](https://wilderack.com/windrose-server-hosting/) | Kraken Express | Steam | Standard | On sale |
| [Romestead](https://wilderack.com/romestead-server-hosting/) | Beartwigs / Three Friends | Steam | Standard | On sale |
| [Hytale](https://wilderack.com/hytale-server-hosting/) | Hypixel Studios | Hytale | Standard | Coming soon |
| [Palworld](https://wilderack.com/palworld-server-hosting/) | Pocketpair | Steam | Vanilla, Modded | Coming soon |
| [Valheim](https://wilderack.com/valheim-server-hosting/) | Iron Gate / Coffee Stain Publishing | Steam | Vanilla, BepInEx (mods) | Coming soon |
| [ARK: Survival Ascended](https://wilderack.com/ark-survival-ascended-server-hosting/) | Studio Wildcard | Steam | Standard | Coming soon |
| [7 Days to Die](https://wilderack.com/7-days-to-die-server-hosting/) | The Fun Pimps | Steam | Standard | Coming soon |
| [FiveM](https://wilderack.com/fivem-server-hosting/) | Cfx.re (Rockstar Games) | Cfx.re | Blank server, QBCore, ESX Legacy, Qbox | Coming soon |
| [Farming Simulator 25](https://wilderack.com/farming-simulator-25-server-hosting/) | GIANTS Software | GIANTS Software | Standard | Coming soon |
| [WARDOGS](https://wilderack.com/wardogs-server-hosting/) | Team17 | BULKHEAD | Standard | Coming soon |
| [Squad](https://wilderack.com/squad-server-hosting/) | Offworld Industries | Steam | Standard | Coming soon |
| [Arma 3](https://wilderack.com/arma-3-server-hosting/) | Bohemia Interactive | Steam | Arma 3, Arma 3 with Creator DLC | Coming soon |
| [Conan Exiles](https://wilderack.com/conan-exiles-server-hosting/) | Funcom | Steam | Conan Exiles Enhanced | Coming soon |

Server files are downloaded on our machines from the publisher’s own source. We aren’t affiliated with any of these publishers.

## What you get over hosting at home

- **Your home address stays private.** Everyone who joins a server on your computer sees your home IP address. With us they only ever see the server’s address.
- **No router settings.** At home you forward a port on your router so friends can reach you, and some internet providers don’t allow it at all. Here there’s nothing to open.
- **An address that doesn’t change.** Most home IP addresses change now and then, and friends need the new one each time. Your server’s address stays the same.
- **Your computer stays yours.** A server at home takes memory and processor time from the computer you play on, and it has to stay on for anyone to play.
- **Backups and updates handled.** A safe copy of your world is made every 10 minutes while the server runs and each time it naps, with a copy off site every day. Game updates run when you choose, or on a schedule you set.

Hosting at home does win on two things. It’s free if you have a spare computer, and you control everything on it, down to the operating system.

How renting a game server works: https://wilderack.com/rent-a-game-server/

## When renting a whole machine makes more sense

- **You run a big community.** Many servers at once, with someone on your team who is happy running Linux, can cost less on one machine than as separate plans.
- **One server needs more than our biggest plan.** Our biggest plan is World tree 32 GB, with 8 virtual CPU cores. A huge modded world or a very big group can outgrow it.
- **You need more than a game server.** We host game servers only. A website, a Discord bot or a voice server needs a home somewhere else.
- **You want the whole computer.** Root access, your own operating system and your own tools need a machine of your own. Our servers give you the panel, the console, the files and SFTP, but no shell.
- **You need a place we aren’t.** Two regions open so far: US East and Europe. A machine near your players can give them lower ping.

Remember what comes with a whole machine: the security updates, the backups, the game updates and protection from attacks are yours to sort out, and you pay for it around the clock, even when nobody plays.

For one group and one world, a plan is usually cheaper. Our plans go from $6.49 a month on Seed 2 GB. The smallest plan for each game: https://wilderack.com/cheap-game-server-hosting/

## Addresses and ports

Every server shares its region’s internet addresses with other servers and gets a port of its own, which friends type after the address. Minecraft Java players need no port at all.

## Questions and answers

### Is a Wilderack server a dedicated server?

Yes. Every server runs the game’s own dedicated server program in its own small virtual machine, with the memory on its plan set aside for it while it runs. It isn’t a whole physical machine, which is a different thing to rent.

### What is the difference between a dedicated server and hosting from the game?

When you host from the game, your own computer runs the world while you play, and it closes when you leave. A dedicated server runs the world on its own, so friends can play any time.

### Do I share RAM with other servers?

Not while your server runs: the RAM on its plan is set aside for it. Most Wilderack servers nap when nobody’s playing and wake the moment someone joins. While they sleep, the memory they free runs other people’s servers, so you only pay for your share of it.

### Can I get root or SSH access?

No. You run your server from the panel, its console and its files, and you can use SFTP with any SFTP app, but there is no shell. For root access you need a whole machine of your own.

### Can I get a dedicated IP?

Not at the moment. Your server shares its region’s addresses and gets a port of its own, which friends copy from the address card. Minecraft Java players need no port at all.

### How much does a dedicated game server cost?

From $6.49 a month for Seed 2 GB, depending on the game. Games that need more memory need a bigger plan.

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