What is a VPS(Virtual Private Server)? 

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is an isolated virtual computer that you can rent from a hosting company. This technology is widely used in different industries, including gaming. With a VPS, you can host stable, custom, and lag-free online servers without buying powerful hardware and spending money on its maintenance.

In our article, we’ll go through the specifics of virtual private servers and compare them with other ways to host servers online. Further, we’ll review the key advantages of this technology and answer the most popular questions.

What Is a VPS?

A virtual private server is a machine that hosts all the software and data necessary to run an application, a virtual platform, or a website. This technology divides a single physical server into several isolated environments, providing dedicated CPU resources, RAM, storage, and full administrative control over your operating system. The server’s capabilities are divided between you and its other users.

You can think of a VPS as your own private apartment in a large building. You get your own space with the furniture inside, but, at the same time, you share the building’s foundation and utilities with other tenants. 

This technology offers many benefits for users who aren’t ready to set up their own physical server. The key advantages include:

• Guaranteed Resources: If you pay for 4 GB of RAM, you receive the full 4 GB allocated to your VPS. Even if other users of the physical hardware experience traffic spikes, it won’t slow down your site, server, or online platform.
• Customization: You can have complete control over your virtual private server’s software, configurations, and security settings.
• Scalability: Unlike physical hardware, which requires regular upgrades and maintenance, you can scale your VPS resources (CPU, RAM, disk space, bandwidth) with just a few clicks in your provider's dashboard.
• Privacy: Your operating system, files, and databases are isolated, ensuring that other users on the same physical machine cannot access them.

How Does a VPS Work?

VPS mainly relies on specialized software called a hypervisor. It sits atop the physical server and divides its overall computing capacity into smaller parts. Each of them functions as an independent unit known as a Virtual Machine (VM). A hypervisor ensures that these parts are strictly separated, making them fully private and secure. The diagram below illustrates how a virtual private server works:

The activity of other users of the physical server doesn’t affect your VPS’ dedicated resources, such as CPU, RAM, and storage. As a result, this technology may guarantee 15-35% faster load speed than shared hosting.

What Is a VPS Used For?

According to recent research, the virtual private server hosting market reached $5.7 billion in 2025 and is expected to hit $15.6 billion by 2034. The reason for such swift growth is the popularity of this technology within many industries, where specialists use it for the following purposes:

• Web hosting: VPS is an excellent option for hosting e-commerce shops, blogs, and sites.
• Application hosting: Virtual private servers are often used to run web apps, mobile application backends, and other software.
• Development and testing: This technology provides isolated environments, making it ideal for software development and testing.
• Database hosting: VPS allows hosting databases for apps and services.
• Email hosting: You can use your VPS as a dedicated email server.
• Virtual desktops: Virtual private servers can provide remote access to different desktop environments.

How Is a VPS Used for Gaming?

Given the capabilities of VPS technology, it’s no wonder you can also discover its usage in the gaming industry. It’s commonly used to host private, customized multiplayer servers for games like CS2, Minecraft, and Rust. Unlike shared hosting, VPS hosting allows you to install custom plugins, experiment with game configurations, and run modified versions tailored to your community. Other common gaming-related uses include:

• Cloud Gaming: You can install remote desktop software on a powerful VPS to stream resource-heavy games on less powerful devices.
• Low-Latency Performance: Deploying a VPS in a data center near your player base ensures low ping, high responsiveness, and lag-free gameplay.
• Game Automation and Bots: Players can use a VPS to host 24/7 bots and automated management systems for Discord or online servers.

By opting for VPS hosting, users receive dedicated computing resources, full system control over their servers, and robust DDoS protection. 

What Games Can Be Hosted on a VPS?

Virtual private servers are ideal for hosting multiplayer games that need persistent dedicated servers available 24/7. The requirements for a VPS directly depend on the title you want to play. The table below summarizes recommended VPS configurations for popular games:

VPS vs. Other Hosting Types

Usually, users hesitate between shared hosting, dedicated hosting, and VPS hosting. So, to help you make the right decision, we’ve prepared a comparison table, reviewing the differences between these technologies:

VPS hosting is a middle ground between shared and dedicated hosting. It’s still not as expensive as a dedicated server, but offers significantly better performance than affordable shared hosting.

Why Choose VPS Hosting?

A virtual private server is an excellent option for online gaming server owners seeking predictable performance, root-level control, and enhanced security. Gamers opt for this technology not only because of its basic advantages, but also due to benefits that are particularly important in the gaming niche:

• Customization: Full root access ensures that you can edit the game’s configurations, install your own plugins, and build heavily modded environments. This is an essential feature for running popular online servers for survival games like Minecraft and Rust.
• Server location: You can select a data center geographically close to your player base to ensure the best experience. For example, we at Godlike offer VPS plans for users from the USA, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, and other countries around the globe.
• Better security: Public game servers regularly become targeted by DDoS attacks. Reliable VPS hosting offers private network resources, a robust firewall, and top-notch DDoS protection to keep your server online and defend it against suspicious activity.

How Much Does VPS Hosting Cost?

VPS server pricing typically ranges from €5 per month to €1,124 per month. As a rule, pricing mainly depends on the following important factors:

• Resources: The amount of RAM, vCPU cores, and SSD storage directly influences the final costs.
• Server processor: It's great when a hosting provider offers different server processors, so you can choose the one according to your needs and budget.
• Service level: Some VPS providers also offer 24/7 support of dedicated DevOps engineers, which requires extra resources but ensures even better performance.

How to Choose the Right VPS

If you’re choosing a VPS for your gaming needs, it’s strongly recommended to choose a configuration that exceeds the title’s official minimum requirements. Thus, you’ll ensure that your server will handle player spikes, world generation, and unexpected latency. Also, use our checklist to ensure you haven’t forgotten anything:

• CPU (2+ vCPU for light games and 4+ vCPU for heavy titles)
• RAM (it’s better to opt for at least 4 GB RAM)
• Storage (always prefer SSD (NVMe))
• Location (pick a VPS data center closest to your location)
• DDoS protection (ensure that the provider includes robust, hardware-level DDoS mitigation)
• Control panel (choose a provider that offers a user-friendly interface to manage your VPS)
• Budget (it’s a great idea to opt for VPS hosting that offers attractive discounts and trial periods to test its capabilities)

Do you still wonder which VPS provider to choose? We at Godlike offer a variety of custom plans and virtual private servers for the majority of popular multiplayer games in our library. Select the desired title, choose your personal plan, and start hosting reliable online servers to have fun with your friends or grow your own online community.