Game servers are picky in ways that web hosting isn't. The fancy 16-core VPS with 64GB of RAM that crushes a database workload can run a Minecraft server worse than a 4-core machine with the right CPU. Game servers care about a different set of specs entirely: single-thread performance, network latency to players, DDoS protection, and tickrate stability. This guide breaks down what each major game actually needs and how to pick a VPS that delivers it.
What's in this guide
What actually matters for game servers
Same priorities as our game server pillar guide, restated:
- Single-thread CPU clock speed. Game server tick loops are single-threaded. A 4 GHz EPYC core beats a 2.5 GHz Xeon core by 60% for the same workload, regardless of how many cores you have.
- Latency to players. 50ms feels great, 100ms is fine, 150ms+ ruins competitive play. Region matters more than hardware.
- Stable network with low jitter. Multi-homed transit, premium peering. Cheap hosts with single-upstream networks are fine for web hosting and bad for games.
- DDoS protection. Game servers get attacked routinely. Always.
- RAM. Important but rarely the bottleneck. Most servers fit in 4-8GB; modded games want 16GB+.
- Disk speed. Matters during world load and backups; idle during play. NVMe is nice, not transformative.
Now per-game specifics. RAM and CPU recommendations are for typical setups; competitive servers need more, casual private servers can sometimes use less.
CS2, TF2, and Source-engine games
Counter-Strike 2 (and the older CS:GO) and other Source-engine games (TF2, Garry's Mod, Left 4 Dead) share similar profiles.
Recommended specs (16-32 player server): 2 vCPU dedicated, 2-4GB RAM, 30GB NVMe. OliveVPS Pro at $7.99/mo handles this.
What to optimize for: CPU clock speed dominates. CS2 servers want consistent 64 or 128 tickrate. A throttled CPU during a 32-player firefight produces visible jitter. Dedicated cores are non-negotiable.
Network: Keep ping under 60ms for competitive play. Source-engine traffic is UDP and small (under 100KB/s per player), so bandwidth isn't the constraint — latency is.
Valorant private servers
Valorant's official servers are well-regarded, but private community servers (for tournaments, scrims, casual leagues) are common. Profile is similar to CS2 — single-threaded, latency-critical, modest RAM.
Recommended specs (10-player tournament server): 2 vCPU dedicated at high clock speed, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe. OliveVPS Pro works well.
The tickrate consideration: Valorant runs at 128 tick. Server CPU must keep up with that under load. A burstable VPS that drops to 64 tick mid-round produces complaints from competitive players.
Minecraft (vanilla, plugins, modded)
Minecraft is the most-asked-about game server, and its requirements vary wildly between vanilla and heavily-modded. Full setup guide →
Vanilla Minecraft (Paper)
2-6 players: 2GB RAM, 1-2 vCPU, $4-8/mo plan.
10-20 players: 4GB RAM, 2 vCPU, $12-16/mo plan.
30-50 players: 6-8GB RAM, 2-4 vCPU, $20-30/mo plan.
Plugin servers (Spigot/Paper + 10-20 plugins)
Add ~50% to RAM requirements. WorldGuard, EssentialsX, GriefPrevention — each costs RAM and CPU. A "vanilla 4GB plan" needs 6GB to comfortably run with full plugin suites.
Modded (Forge, Fabric, modpacks)
RAM requirements explode. A modest modpack (50-100 mods) wants 8-12GB. Heavy packs (FTB, Better MC, GregTech) want 12-16GB minimum, sometimes 24-32GB. CPU performance matters even more — modded games are often 2-3x more CPU-intensive than vanilla per player.
For modded servers, an 8-16GB VPS Premium tier is the entry point, and serious modpack servers may need dedicated hardware.
Java tuning matters. A correctly-tuned 4GB Minecraft server (Aikar's flags) outperforms a 6GB server with default JVM settings. Don't skip the tuning.
Rust
Rust is a Unity-engine memory hog. Its requirements scale aggressively with player count and map size.
Solo/duo PvE server (10-20 players, 3000 map): 8GB RAM, 4 vCPU dedicated, $30-40/mo plan. Dedicated hardware starts being economical at this size.
Mid-size PvP (50-100 players, 4500 map): 16GB RAM, 6 vCPU, dedicated server territory.
Large server (200 players, 5000+ map): 32GB+ RAM, 8+ vCPU. Definitely dedicated.
Wipe day: Rust servers see massive load spikes on wipe day. Plan for the spike, not the average. A server that handles 50 players smoothly normally may crawl when 100 players try to log in within 10 minutes of wipe.
ARK
ARK Survival Evolved (and the newer ARK Survival Ascended) is the heaviest mainstream game server. Even small ARK servers want serious hardware.
Single map, 10-20 players: 16GB RAM, 4 vCPU dedicated. $50+/mo plans, often dedicated.
Cluster (multiple maps, cross-server transfer): Multiply by number of maps. Each map needs its own ARK process; each process wants 8-16GB. Cluster setups consume serious resources.
ARK is one of the rare games where dedicated hardware is genuinely the right answer for anything beyond a tiny private group.
FiveM (GTA RP)
FiveM has wild variation depending on scripts. A vanilla FiveM server is light; a serious roleplay server with custom scripts and 100+ resources is heavy.
Casual FiveM (16-32 players, light scripts): 4-8GB RAM, 2-4 vCPU, $15-25/mo plan.
RP server (32-64 players, heavy scripts): 8-16GB RAM, 4-6 vCPU, $30-60/mo plan.
Big RP communities (128+ players, complex scripts): 16-32GB RAM, dedicated CPU, often dedicated hardware. The script execution overhead alone consumes a multi-core server.
Quality MariaDB or MySQL backend (on the same VPS or a separate one) significantly affects performance — many RP scripts hammer the database constantly.
Region selection by game
Pick the region nearest to your player concentration. Some recommendations:
- India-based players: Mumbai. Singapore is acceptable for southern India; Mumbai dominates for the bulk of Indian gamers.
- Southeast Asian players: Singapore.
- European players: Frankfurt or London. Frankfurt for central Europe; London for UK/Ireland.
- US East Coast: New York. Dallas for central US.
- US West Coast: Los Angeles or Seattle.
- Brazil / Latin America: São Paulo.
- Middle East: Dubai.
- East Asia: Tokyo.
For globally-spread player bases, run multiple servers (NA + EU + Asia) instead of one server with mediocre latency for everyone. All OliveVPS regions →
DDoS protection (mandatory for game servers)
This is non-optional. Game servers are DDoS magnets — banned players, rival communities, random bots. A 5 Gbps amplification attack saturates any normal VPS link and your server vanishes for hours.
Every OliveVPS plan includes 10 Gbps DDoS mitigation with game-aware filters at no extra cost. Many competing hosts offer DDoS as a $5-15/mo add-on or only on higher tiers. DDoS protection explained →
Specifically for game servers, look for "GRE tunneling" or "game protocol filters" — generic web DDoS filtering can drop legitimate UDP game traffic. Quality hosts have specific profiles for Source engine, Minecraft, FiveM, etc.
Game servers, fast and protected
Dedicated CPU cores at high clock speeds, free 10 Gbps DDoS protection, 20 regions to put your server close to your players. Starting at $3.99/mo.
See VPS Plans →FAQ
Is a $5/mo VPS enough for a Minecraft server?
For 2-4 players on vanilla Minecraft, yes — comfortably. For 10+ players or moderate plugin use, you'll want $8-15/mo. For modded packs, $25+/mo minimum. The cheapest "real" plan with dedicated cores at OliveVPS is $3.99/mo.
Why do my game server's TPS drop with low CPU usage?
Single-thread saturation. Game server main loops run on one core; htop showing 25% on a 4-core box could mean one core is at 100% (saturated) while the other three idle. Solutions: faster CPU clock speed, fewer plugins/mods, smaller view distance, lighter scripts.
How much bandwidth does a game server use?
Per-player bandwidth varies by game. Minecraft: 50-100 KB/s per player. CS2/Source: 30-100 KB/s. Rust: 100-200 KB/s. FiveM: 100-300 KB/s depending on scripts. Even a busy 50-player server rarely exceeds 5-10 Mbps sustained. Bandwidth is rarely the bottleneck — latency and CPU are.
Should I host my game server on dedicated hardware?
For most communities up to 100 players on most games, a quality VPS with dedicated cores matches dedicated server performance. VPS vs dedicated comparison →. Move to dedicated when you outgrow available VPS sizes — typically 32GB+ workloads, big ARK clusters, large FiveM RP communities.
What about cloud gaming services like GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming?
Different product. Those stream games to your client; they're not server-hosting platforms. For hosting a game server (where players connect to your server to play together), you need a VPS or dedicated server with the right specs and region.