A complete guide that will give you the knowledge needed to choose the right hosting.
Back in my days starting a Minecraft server was a little bit easier. The Bukkit project was beginning. MCProHosting was one of the best Minecraft Hosting service's (believe it or not) and then GGservers started their super cheap "$3.00/gb" Minecraft server plans.
Nowadays you have to choose between 100 plugins for your kitpvp server, 50 "companies" promoting $1/gb Hosting, 5 type's of server .jars, two types of panels and at the end of the day we tend to choose the cheapest option always (I commit this mistake sometimes too).
This guide is designed for people that want to change their current provider or want to start their next Minecraft network and don't know where to start.
The tricky thing about choosing the right Minecraft hosting provider is that most of the hosts have the same hardware, the same pricing, and the same panel. To be honest that the only thing that difference one from the other is how many clients they have and how they balance their nodes.
I think that you should rate your hosting with the following three key points.
Security | Pricing | Hardware
1. Security.
This is the first thing that concerns me these days. All hosts have full access to your files; this isn't something that we hide but Remember that you are hosting your server at a shared space and your host have a "master key" that allows them to look at your files. (Of course, they won't open any files, without any good reason mainly because its illegal unless they disclose in what circumstances they have the right to open your files) however, as new host's start to pop-out out of nowhere, they don't think about privacy and have little to none ethical responsibilities.
Think twice.
1$ GB RAM (60% DISCOUNT = 0.40$/GB) | Dok8cdHost | i7-7600k
Would you trust a business with that title, name, and pricing?
Those are usually run by a 16-year old that live in some Europe country where they have very vague law regarding privacy and the internet.
Don't complain when your files get leaked then.
2. Pricing
Here the truth. Margins in Minecraft Hosting are low in the long run. Most hosts can't scale over time because it's pretty difficult to scale a company that is "niche based" and charge $1.00/$2.00 per client/server.
Let me ask you. Why are you soo cheap when it comes to hosting?
A bottle of water cost $2.00 where I live.
Back in my day when I managed my server with a player base 700 players I was spending about $400+ per month just in servers because I didn't want to be cheap with what keeps my server online and running.
Fact: You wouldn't donate to a server that's is laggy.
If you to have a player base of 50 players, don't expect you can handle that traffic in a shared host with crappy hardware that charge you 1$/GB. Heck! Most hosts that charge up to 6$/GB can't handle that.
What would I do in a budget?
Note: If your budget is $100 don't expect more than 40 players inside your server.
What I am trying to say is that most cases you don't need a dedicated server. Just config your plugins. Clean up your world and config correctly your Spigot.yml.
3. Hardware.
Like I wrote in RackCrate's thread
What I meant by this is that in most cases the only thing that matters when it comes to choosing a shared hosting is knowing how much is their average load on each machine.
There has been written plenty of guides on which CPU you should choose, SSD vs. HDD, DDR3 vs. DDR4 but here are two facts
A) Want just to build/create your server = Any provider where you feel safe is good.
B) If you already started your server and had some lag =
C) You already have 40/50 players+ (not expecting to have 50 players) and your struggling with lag issues rent a dedicated server.
Do not be fooled renting a 128gb ram server in an L' series that cost $80 per month. You won't handle 100 players in that.
From experience, I ran an 200 players factions servers (with custom plugins and special effects) in an E3-1230 v2 / 32GB ram / 128 SSD drive (never used more than 16GB's tbh but I always thought it was a safe bet to have more ram).
I will create a complete guide for choosing the right dedicated server soon.
Thanks for reading.
Back in my days starting a Minecraft server was a little bit easier. The Bukkit project was beginning. MCProHosting was one of the best Minecraft Hosting service's (believe it or not) and then GGservers started their super cheap "$3.00/gb" Minecraft server plans.
Nowadays you have to choose between 100 plugins for your kitpvp server, 50 "companies" promoting $1/gb Hosting, 5 type's of server .jars, two types of panels and at the end of the day we tend to choose the cheapest option always (I commit this mistake sometimes too).
This guide is designed for people that want to change their current provider or want to start their next Minecraft network and don't know where to start.
The tricky thing about choosing the right Minecraft hosting provider is that most of the hosts have the same hardware, the same pricing, and the same panel. To be honest that the only thing that difference one from the other is how many clients they have and how they balance their nodes.
I think that you should rate your hosting with the following three key points.
Security | Pricing | Hardware
1. Security.
This is the first thing that concerns me these days. All hosts have full access to your files; this isn't something that we hide but Remember that you are hosting your server at a shared space and your host have a "master key" that allows them to look at your files. (Of course, they won't open any files, without any good reason mainly because its illegal unless they disclose in what circumstances they have the right to open your files) however, as new host's start to pop-out out of nowhere, they don't think about privacy and have little to none ethical responsibilities.
Think twice.
1$ GB RAM (60% DISCOUNT = 0.40$/GB) | Dok8cdHost | i7-7600k
Would you trust a business with that title, name, and pricing?
Those are usually run by a 16-year old that live in some Europe country where they have very vague law regarding privacy and the internet.
Don't complain when your files get leaked then.
2. Pricing
Here the truth. Margins in Minecraft Hosting are low in the long run. Most hosts can't scale over time because it's pretty difficult to scale a company that is "niche based" and charge $1.00/$2.00 per client/server.
Let me ask you. Why are you soo cheap when it comes to hosting?
A bottle of water cost $2.00 where I live.
Back in my day when I managed my server with a player base 700 players I was spending about $400+ per month just in servers because I didn't want to be cheap with what keeps my server online and running.
Fact: You wouldn't donate to a server that's is laggy.
If you to have a player base of 50 players, don't expect you can handle that traffic in a shared host with crappy hardware that charge you 1$/GB. Heck! Most hosts that charge up to 6$/GB can't handle that.
What would I do in a budget?
Step 1: While I am building my server. I would buy a shared space with *any* trusted provider.
Step 2: Once I finish. I'll Clean everything up (Config files, world's, etc.)
Step 3: See what is my marketing budget and try to predict how many players I will get in peak hours.
Step 2: Once I finish. I'll Clean everything up (Config files, world's, etc.)
Step 3: See what is my marketing budget and try to predict how many players I will get in peak hours.
Note: If your budget is $100 don't expect more than 40 players inside your server.
Case A: Less than 50 players. On one of this game modes:
- KitPvP
- FFA
- Prison server without a survival world
- Small mini-game that doesn't require world generation
I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 3/4gb ram.
- KitPvP
- FFA
- Prison server without a survival world
- Small mini-game that doesn't require world generation
I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 3/4gb ram.
Case B: Less than 50 players.
- Factions server
- Big prison server with survival mode after completion
I would try to pre-render all the world before players start joining the server and see what the current ram demand for my plugins is. I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 5/6gb ram.
- Factions server
- Big prison server with survival mode after completion
I would try to pre-render all the world before players start joining the server and see what the current ram demand for my plugins is. I would stay with a Shared hosting on a 5/6gb ram.
What I am trying to say is that most cases you don't need a dedicated server. Just config your plugins. Clean up your world and config correctly your Spigot.yml.
3. Hardware.
Like I wrote in RackCrate's thread
"One of the biggest mistakes Minecraft Owner's make is base their purchase decision entirely on the RAM amount. We encourage you to choose a host that its primary focus it's in their hardware performance/selection and customer service rather than RAM space."
"What we mean by this is that the difference between an outstanding host and a bad host is solely base on their CPU load and how they manage to distribute their servers."
"What we mean by this is that the difference between an outstanding host and a bad host is solely base on their CPU load and how they manage to distribute their servers."
What I meant by this is that in most cases the only thing that matters when it comes to choosing a shared hosting is knowing how much is their average load on each machine.
There has been written plenty of guides on which CPU you should choose, SSD vs. HDD, DDR3 vs. DDR4 but here are two facts
- Hosts can lie about their CPU/Storage specs and capacity (The only way you can check that is via SSH, and you will never see that if you are in a Shared space).
- Public stats don't mean anything. Most hosts try to maintain an average RAM/CPU usage between 50/60% to ensure they don't oversell their nodes but keep in your mind that the cheaper is a host, the more they need to sell their shared space. Meaning that their average RAM/CPU usage level can go up at any time because maybe 10 of your new neighbors suddenly start using plugins that generate more RAM/CPU usage and may affect your server performance.
A) Want just to build/create your server = Any provider where you feel safe is good.
B) If you already started your server and had some lag =
- View the RAM/CPU usage of your current server in your panel.
- Try optimizing all your config files.
- Try upgrading your ram a 0.5 GB or 1 GB more
- If it persists change to a new provider.
- Try optimizing all your config files.
- Try upgrading your ram a 0.5 GB or 1 GB more
- If it persists change to a new provider.
C) You already have 40/50 players+ (not expecting to have 50 players) and your struggling with lag issues rent a dedicated server.
Do not be fooled renting a 128gb ram server in an L' series that cost $80 per month. You won't handle 100 players in that.
From experience, I ran an 200 players factions servers (with custom plugins and special effects) in an E3-1230 v2 / 32GB ram / 128 SSD drive (never used more than 16GB's tbh but I always thought it was a safe bet to have more ram).
I will create a complete guide for choosing the right dedicated server soon.
Thanks for reading.
- Type
- Offering
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