Game Server Buying Guide: Minecraft, CS2, FiveM and More

What game servers actually need

Game servers have two requirements that web servers do not: low and consistent CPU latency, and enough RAM to hold the entire game state in memory at all times. A web server can queue a slow database query without the user noticing. A game server processing player inputs at 20 to 128 times per second cannot.

NVMe storage matters less during gameplay but a lot during startup, world loading and autosaves. A server that takes three minutes to save a Rust world on HDD saves it in under 20 seconds on NVMe. Faster saves mean shorter freezes for players.

Minecraft server requirements

• 1 to 10 players: 2 cores, 4 GB RAM, NVMe storage.
• 10 to 30 players: 4 cores, 8 GB RAM, NVMe storage.
• 30 to 100 players with plugins: 6 or more cores, 16 GB RAM, NVMe storage.
• Rule of thumb: allow 1 GB RAM per 10 players plus 2 GB for the operating system.

Minecraft relies heavily on single-core performance for world ticking. A fast 4-core server beats a slower 8-core server for most Minecraft loads. Paper and Purpur improve multi-threading, but the main tick thread is still the bottleneck. Choose a plan with a modern, fast processor over one with many slower cores.

CS2 (Counter-Strike 2) server requirements

• 10v10 (20 players): 2 cores, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe storage.
• 128-tick server: 4 cores recommended for a stable tick rate.
• Location rule: server must be within 30 to 40 ms of your player base.

CS2 is CPU-light but latency-critical. Server location matters more than raw specs. A server in Frankfurt gives Turkish and European players far lower ping than a more powerful server in the US. 30 to 35 ms from Istanbul to Frankfurt is comfortable for competitive play.

FiveM (GTA RP) server requirements

• Up to 32 players: 4 cores, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe storage.
• 32 to 64 players with scripts: 6 cores, 16 GB RAM, 150 GB NVMe storage.
• 64 to 128 players: 8 cores, 32 GB RAM, NVMe storage required.
• Add a MySQL instance or extra RAM for database-heavy script loads.

FiveM Lua and C# scripts are more resource-intensive than vanilla game servers. A heavily scripted RP server can saturate CPU quickly. Start with a plan you can upgrade without migrating data.

Rust server requirements

• Up to 100 players: 4 cores, 16 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe storage.
• Map size matters: a 4500-size map needs significantly more RAM than a 2000-size map.
• Rust autosaves every 30 minutes. NVMe storage cuts save time from minutes to seconds.

DDoS protection is not optional for game servers

Game servers are among the most targeted services for DDoS attacks. A competitor, an angry player or a botnet can flood your server's connection before the attack even reaches your application. Always-on network-level DDoS protection filters traffic at the provider's edge before it touches your server.

Detection-based scrubbing can take 30 to 120 seconds to activate. That is more than enough time to knock a game server offline. Make sure protection is always active, not triggered only after detection.

Location: Frankfurt for European and Turkish players

Frankfurt consistently delivers the best average latency across Germany, Turkey, the UK, France and Eastern Europe. A Frankfurt server gives Turkish players around 30 to 35 ms, German players 5 to 10 ms and UK players around 15 to 20 ms. That is within comfortable range for every game listed here.

Quick-start recommendation

If you are unsure where to start: a 4-core, 8 GB RAM NVMe virtual server in Frankfurt covers Minecraft up to 30 players, a 20-player CS2 server or a small FiveM server with moderate scripts. Upgrade when you hit limits. Do not pre-buy capacity you do not need yet.

For game servers, location and storage speed matter more than raw core counts. A nearby server with fast NVMe beats a distant one with more cores, every time.