VPS Recommendations
Game Server VPS Recommendations: Launch Minecraft / CS:GO / Rust Instantly
Over the past few years I've run small MC, CS:GO, and Rust servers on VPSs, and I've picked three tiers: a $5 friends' server, a $10 small community server, and a $20+ modded large server, with latency data and anti-griefing tips included.
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I've been running game servers on VPSs for the past few years, with MC and CS:GO peaking at 30 players at once, and they stay stable without a hosting panel. Below are routes you can copy directly.
- Los Angeles → South China/East China: 140-170ms, occasionally jittery during evening peak, but fine for a friends' server.
- Tokyo → nationwide: 70-110ms, the most balanced, just buy a 100Mbps port.
- Singapore → South China: 90-150ms, better experience for southern players, a bit slower for northern players.
- $5 tier: RackNerd LA 1C1G 20G SSD, 100Mbps port. Runs a vanilla MC survival server fine, CS:GO OK with under 10 players, but watch peak bandwidth.
- $10 tier: Vultr High Frequency Tokyo 2C2G, 1Gbps port. MC with 20-30 lightweight mods still holds up, CS:GO 20-player rooms are stable; for Rust, only open a small map.
- $20+ tier: GreenCloud Tokyo CN2 2C4G 80G NVMe, 1Gbps. Modded MC + 20-30 players with no pressure, CN2 return latency to China is stable, suitable for a community server of some scale.
- Install the OS: SSH into a bare-metal Debian/Ubuntu,
adduser mc && sudo usermod -aG sudo mc, avoid using root the whole time. - Install Java / SteamCMD: for MC use
apt install openjdk-17-jre-headless, for CS:GO/Rust use the official SteamCMD script, put the path in/opt/game-serversfor easy backups. - Life-saving settings:
ufw allow 22/tcp,ufw allow 25565/tcpor the corresponding port, then enablefail2ban. For CS:GO remember to add-tickrate 128 -maxplayers 20to the launch parameters, for Rust add+fps.limit 120.
- Whitelist + verification: enable whitelist + AuthMe for MC, use a simple password or Steam group restriction for CS:GO, which blocks 80% of random attacks.
- Limit the watchdog: don't max out MC's
-Xmx, give 800-900M on a 1G machine and leave the rest for the system; for Rust/CS:GO remember to disable unused plugins. - Backups:
tar -czfto a remote location every day, OneDrive/Backblaze both work. You can recover quickly if the server gets attacked. - Monitoring:
htop+iftopto watch CPU/network, 80% of modded server lag is memory and single-core ceiling.
- If you want a 50+ player modded server, start directly at 4C8G/1Gbps.
- If the community has core players, buy a low-jitter route like CN2/Tokyo, don't gamble on cheap small LA providers.
- For event/match servers, stress test in advance: use
tcto simulate latency and packet loss, and see if tickrate drops.
In short, the Tokyo CN2 route is my most commonly used compromise right now, latency is acceptable, and the price isn't absurdly expensive. Start with the $5-$10 tier to test the waters, upgrade the specs once stable, don't throw big money at it right away.