How to Host a Vintage Story Server: Rent, Home PC or VPS

The right way to how to host a Vintage Story server depends on one question: must your world stay online when its owner leaves? For a one-evening session, Open to internet may be enough. For a world your group can visit any time, choose a dedicated server on a home PC, a VPS, or a managed game host. The trade-off is who keeps the machine online, handles networking, applies updates, and protects the save.

Vintage Story is a PC game for Windows, macOS and Linux; the official store and requirements pages list no console client, and the game is not sold on Steam. Each player needs their own Vintage Story account. Keep client and server versions compatible. If the group wants a world that does not depend on one player’s computer, compare Game Hosting’s Vintage Story server plans: the panel includes game settings, world controls, ModDB tools, player and whitelist management, version selection, and three backup slots. That trades some hands-on control for a server that is managed separately from the owner’s PC.

Choose a route by how long the world must stay available#

Route	When players can join	Who handles the machine and network	Best fit
Open to internet	While the owner keeps the world open	The owner’s game session and router or connection	A temporary session with friends
Dedicated server at home	While the home PC and server process stay on	You handle the PC, router, updates and recovery	A group with spare hardware and a hands-on admin
VPS	While the rented virtual machine and server process stay on	You manage the operating system, game server, ports and backups	Someone comfortable with server administration
Managed game server	While the provider’s server is running	The provider supplies the server environment; you manage your world and settings	A group that wants a persistent world without maintaining a home machine

None of these routes guarantees a particular performance level or removes the need for a safe copy of the world. The best choice is the one your group can maintain after the first setup day. If you want to compare hosting providers after choosing to rent, see how to choose a Vintage Story server host. If your priority is spending nothing up front, review the trade-offs in free Vintage Story server hosting.

Use Open to internet for a temporary shared session#

Open to internet is the simplest route when the person who owns the world is also going to play and can keep that session open. The game shares the open world from that player’s running game. Once they close it or leave, the world is no longer available to the group. It is not a separate always-running server, so it is a poor fit if friends expect to explore while the owner is away.

The official self-hosting guide describes UPnP, manual port forwarding and VPN-based alternatives. Vintage Story’s default server port is 42420 over both TCP and UDP. UPnP relies on the router supporting and allowing the mapping; manual forwarding requires access to the router and a reachable public connection. Carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) can prevent inbound connections even when you control the home router, so forwarding a port does not by itself solve every network setup.

Treat this route as a way to try a short session, not a promise that every router will allow outside connections. The official pages give differing UPnP success estimates, and we did not test a 1.22.7 connection through a real router and outside-LAN player for this guide. We therefore do not quote a success rate. For the broader choice between a temporary shared world and a persistent server, see our Vintage Story multiplayer options guide; use the official current instructions for any router-specific setup.

Run a dedicated server at home if you can maintain it#

A dedicated server separates the world process from the owner’s game session. Friends can connect while the server process runs, even if the owner is not playing. A spare desktop or small home server can be a sensible low-cost choice when it already exists, stays powered on, and has a stable connection that accepts incoming traffic.

The trade-off is ongoing ownership. You must keep the computer awake, maintain its operating system and server files, configure the firewall and router, watch storage, and decide when to apply game or mod updates. Your home connection and power also become part of the service. If the ISP changes your address or uses CGNAT, remote access may need a different network arrangement. These are recurring responsibilities even when the computer itself has already been paid for.

Vintage Story dedicated servers have a whitelist enabled by default since version 1.20. The owner may need to add their own account before joining; a password is not a substitute for the game’s account authentication. Keep authentication enabled, grant only the access each player needs, and check current in-game help for commands rather than relying on a command copied from an older version. The server command reference explains the current administration concepts.

For the installation and configuration sequence, use the dedicated server setup guide where it matches your server version. This page compares responsibilities; it does not claim that we tested an outside connection from a home router.

Pick a VPS only if you want to manage the server stack#

A VPS gives you a rented virtual machine in a data center. It can stay online independently of your home computer, but “VPS” does not mean “managed Vintage Story server.” You still choose and maintain the operating system, install the server runtime and game files, open the required network ports, configure access, update the software, and protect the world data.

Vintage Story 1.22 and newer require .NET 10 for a self-managed dedicated server. The official stable API listed version 1.22.7 on October 12, 2026; server packages are available for Windows and Linux. Check the official stable release feed and the game’s server documentation before installing, because the latest version and requirements can change. Choose a VPS image and plan that support the current runtime and leave enough memory and disk for your world and mods; do not treat a small test world as a capacity benchmark.

Updates also take care. The official instructions describe replacing the old game installation files when updating while keeping the separate data directory. That makes a known-good backup important before a version change. Keep a copy outside the machine and verify that you can retrieve and use it before relying on it for recovery. A VPS is a good fit for someone who values operating-system access and is willing to own these steps. If you want the provider to supply a game-specific panel instead, compare managed hosts rather than assuming a VPS includes one.

Rent a managed game server to reduce machine upkeep#

Renting makes sense when the group wants a persistent shared world but nobody wants to keep a home PC online or administer a general-purpose virtual machine. The provider supplies the server environment; you still choose settings, control who can join, coordinate mods, and decide when the world is ready for updates. The exact panel controls and backup terms vary, so check them before moving an established save.

Game Hosting is one option for groups who want those Vintage Story controls in a game-specific panel. The owner can set up a world, add their name to the whitelist and admin role, manage players, choose versions, and browse ModDB mods with dependency information. The service lists Ryzen 9 9900X hardware with four CPU threads and dedicated memory tiers. Its plans include three backup slots and one daily off-site copy of the newest backup; those details describe the product, not a tested recovery of your world. The offer also has a 24-hour trial without a card. Check the current Vintage Story plans and terms before ordering.

Managed hosting is not automatically the cheapest route if you already own capable hardware, nor does a backup feature prove that a particular restore will succeed. Compare the recurring cost with the time and connectivity you would spend maintaining a home server or VPS. For free routes and their limits, see the free-hosting comparison.

Check whitelist, version and network before inviting friends#

First agree on a compatible game version. The client and server must be able to communicate using compatible releases; a new server update can also affect the mods your group uses. On self-hosted machines, the official documentation says .NET 10 is required for 1.22 and later. Managed panels can simplify version selection, but the group should still update clients and mods deliberately rather than assuming every combination works.

Second, decide how the server will be reachable. The default 42420 port uses TCP and UDP. Open to internet and home dedicated routes may need UPnP or manual forwarding; a VPN can be another option for a private group. A VPS or managed server places the network endpoint in a data center, but firewall and panel settings still matter. If your ISP uses CGNAT, ask whether the connection accepts inbound traffic before spending time on router rules.

Third, confirm whitelist access and each player’s own account name. On a dedicated server, the whitelist is on by default in current versions. A join password can add a gate, but should not be used to disable or bypass account authentication. For a managed panel, inspect how the owner and friends are added before the first session; a convenient owner setup reduces the risk of locking the administrator out.

Plan mods and backups before changing the world#

Vintage Story mods are distributed through the game’s official ModDB, not Steam Workshop. Check the mod’s game-version tags, dependencies and whether it runs on the server, the client, or both. Server-side and universal mods can be offered to joining players for download; client-only mods need to be installed by each player. That means a server’s mod manager does not make every mod automatic for every client. Credit the mod’s author whenever you recommend a specific mod.

The world save uses SQLite-backed .vcdbs files. Before changing the server version, replacing a mod, uploading a world or restoring a copy, stop and preserve the current world. Make a separate backup, identify which copy a restore would replace, and verify that the backup can be retrieved before proceeding. An advertised backup slot is not proof that a restore has been tested, and no recovery test was performed for this article.

This is where the route changes who does the work, not whether the work exists. With a home PC or VPS, you arrange and verify the backup path yourself. With a managed host, check how many copies are retained, whether one is stored separately, how you download a copy, and what the restore action replaces. Keep the game version and mod list with the backup so you know what environment it came from.

Choose the route your group can keep running#

Choose Open to internet for a temporary session when the host will stay in the world. Use a dedicated home PC when you already have suitable hardware, a reachable connection and an admin who can handle updates and recovery. Choose a VPS when you want data-center hosting and root access and are comfortable managing the operating system and server. Rent a managed game server when your group wants a persistent Vintage Story world without operating a home machine or general-purpose server stack.

Before you decide, ask the group who will handle whitelist access, mod compatibility, version changes and a recoverable world copy. Then compare the ongoing cost with the maintenance each option leaves to you. If a panel for settings, worlds, ModDB, players, versions and backup controls would save your admin time, review Game Hosting’s current Vintage Story plans alongside the other routes. Choose only after the listed controls and backup process fit the world you plan to keep.

Quick answers

Can I host my own Vintage Story server?

Yes. You can open a world to the internet or run a dedicated server on a PC or VPS. The host machine and server process must stay running for other players to connect, and you are responsible for networking, updates and world backups.

How do I make a Vintage Story server for friends?

Choose whether a temporary Open to internet session is enough or whether you need a persistent dedicated server. For a dedicated setup, make sure the clients and server use compatible versions, configure access and networking, and back up the world before updates. Use the linked setup guide for the actual steps.

Is it better to rent a Vintage Story server or host it at home?

Renting moves the server machine and much of its network administration to a provider, usually for a recurring fee. Home hosting can avoid that fee if you already have suitable hardware, a reachable connection and time to maintain it.