Setting Up a Gaming Server is Easier Than You Think

Online gaming can be a fascinating experience loved by millions of gamers all over the globe. However, it can sometimes take work to figure out, how to host your games, as there is no universal solution for every case. Available multiplayer options and public servers can often work worse and contain too many other players on them. If you want a personalized solution that you feel free to configure and set your own rules, renting your own dedicated hosting server might be the best option. Which advantages can it provide you with how to set up your gaming server – that’s what we’re going to look at today. 

Why use Dedicated Hosting for Gaming?

There is a bunch of ways of how to establish an online game session which includes public multiplayer servers and peer-to-peer (P2P) hosting. However, these do not work perfectly and problems of connection can be revealed not rarely. The quality of a public server is never guaranteed and the can be often overcrowded.

The P2P connection means that one of the players takes the role of the host. The quality of the connection will also heavily rely on the hardware of the player as well as on their quality of connection.

Specialized gaming servers give you, on the contrary, maximum space for organizing your gaming process the way you want, with minimum lags and uninterrupted connection

What Hardware to Use for a Gaming Server?

Another benefit of using a specialized server for gaming is that you are not bound so much to how upgraded your own PC is. The responsibility for the hosting issues is fully taken over by the server, so it only remains for you to enjoy the process. 

You must, however, choose the hardware with an eye on the task of hosting games, so there are certain minimum requirements to be met to achieve optimal performance. These are:

• An operating system compatible with the games you want to play – either 64-bit Windows or Linux.
• It’s recommended to opt for the server with SSD storage. SSD drives cope better with fast reading and writing which can indeed be beneficial for a smooth gaming experience.
• Sufficient RAM, at least 8GB, but better 16.
• A processor with 4 cores and at least 2.5GHz clock speed.

Setting up Your Gaming Server

Generally, setting up your gaming server will depend on the game or games you want to play, so the installation process will vary depending on the specific scenario.

Setting up a Steam Server

Setting up a server with Steam will allow you to play a wide range of games. Though the majority of games you might want to play is supported on Steam, you can check just in case whether it is indeed supported in the Dedicated server list in the Steam developer wiki. On this resource, you’ll also be able to find guides on how to set up your dedicated server for each specific game. Besides that you’ll also be able to find information on how to adjust your network and router setting to work well with a gaming server and whether your game is supported by a desktop Steam client or by SteamCMD.

SteamCMD

If you don’t want to install the full Steam client on your server, you can just perform the necessary configuration using the command line interface. For this, you’ll require only the App ID number of your game. This solution is rather compact, so if working with the command line is OK for you, then it can be optimal. Alternatively, you can also use the GUI tool for SteamCMD, which is still more compact than the whole Steam client.

Now, let’s look at a couple of examples of configuring your server for specific games.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (App ID# 740)

An easy way to set up your server for CS:GO is by using the Pyr0s CS:GO* Server Launcher tool. Just save the batch file to the folder where your CS:GO is installed and run it. Keep in mind that it suits well for the default modes of playing the game. If you are looking for more customized options, check out Valve Developer wiki for more information.

Team Fortress 2 (App ID# 232250)

With certain manual modifications, Team Fortress 2 can be easily installed with SteamCMD or SteamCMD-GUI. Check out Team Fortress 2 wiki for more detailed information.

ARK: Survival Evolved (App ID# 376030)

For ARK: Survival Evolved you use the free tool Ark* Server Manager, which was unofficially developed by the players. For further details on the server configuration, check out ARK* wiki.

Conclusion

A gaming dedicated server is an indispensable solution if you want to reach a comfortable gaming experience, with good performance and connection speed. To get an optimally configured server, you must first rent a sufficiently powerful dedicated server from a good hosting provider. Then check the configuration details for the game you want to play and perform the necessary setup.