Choosing a Vintage Story Dedicated Server Host — Vintage Story Wiki

Vintage Story Dedicated Server Hosting: The 2026 Buyer's Checklist

"What's the best Vintage Story hosting?" is the second-most-asked question on r/VintageStory after troubleshooting threads. The answer isn't a single provider — it depends on your group's setup, modding intent, and tolerance for self-management. This page is a vendor-neutral checklist of the seven specs that actually matter for Vintage Story specifically. Bring it when you compare quotes.

1. .NET 7 runtime support (the absolute baseline)

Vintage Story dedicated server runs on .NET 7. Older Linux hosts that ship with .NET 6 or older will fail at first launch. Modern hosts handle this transparently; some budget hosts using stale Debian images do not.

Check before signing:

• Does the host explicitly state "Vintage Story 1.22 compatible" (which implies current .NET runtime)?
• Will they auto-update the runtime when Coffee Stain (no wait, Anuke Games — actually Tyron Madlener / Tyron Madlener Games) ships a new VS version with .NET upgrade requirements?
• Can you run dotnet --version on the server (via SSH or panel console) to verify?

If a host doesn't actively manage the runtime version, walk away. You'll be the one diagnosing "the server won't start" three months from now.

2. Single-thread CPU performance

Vintage Story is heavily single-threaded for the main game tick. World gen runs in worker threads, but every player action, chunk update, and entity tick is mostly one core. Server hosts with high-core-count but low-clock CPUs (e.g., 32 cores @ 2.5GHz) will run a small VS world more slowly than a host with 6 cores @ 4.5GHz.

If a host lists only core count without naming the CPU, ask. The model tells you the boost clock; the core count is mostly marketing.

3. RAM headroom (chunk caches eat memory)

Vintage Story's per-chunk memory footprint is small individually, but the loaded-chunk count adds up. A 16-player server with 32-chunk render radius can load 2,000-5,000 chunks total, each with terrain blocks, vegetation, animals, items, and dropped tools.

Rough sizing:

• 4GB RAM: 1-4 player vanilla, modest world (suitable for small private groups)
• 8GB RAM: 5-10 player vanilla, or 1-4 with mods (good for established small groups)
• 16GB RAM: 10-20 player vanilla, or 5-10 with heavy mods
• 32GB+ RAM: Large public servers, RP servers with persistent claims and lots of structures

If a host caps RAM per-plan and charges to upgrade, that's fine. If they cap RAM with no upgrade path, walk away.

4. Save backup retention

Vintage Story saves are stored in VintagestoryData/Saves/, typically as .vcdbs sqlite-format files. They corrupt rarely but spectacularly — a 200-hour world can become unreadable from one bad shutdown. Backup discipline is critical.

Demand from any host:

• 14-day retention minimum. 7-day is too short; corruption is sometimes not detected until you try to load an old chunk.
• Hourly auto-backups during sessions (or at minimum 4 per day).
• Self-service restore. You should be able to roll back to a specific timestamp via the panel in 1 click, not via a support ticket that takes 24 hours.
• Off-host backup option. You should be able to download the .vcdbs file via FTP and keep your own copy.

5. Mod management (Vintomatic / mod hot-load)

Vintage Story modding is community-driven via the Vintage Story Mod DB. The server doesn't have a Steam Workshop equivalent. Mod management on a hosted server should not require SSH access for every change.

Things to confirm:

• Mod folder access via panel. Can you drag-and-drop a .zip mod via the host's file manager?
• Vintomatic compatibility. Vintomatic is the most popular client-side mod manager. Servers don't typically need to know about Vintomatic, but the host should not block its sync protocol.
• Mod hot-load. Can you add a mod, restart, and have it active? Or do you have to file a ticket?
• Mod version pinning. Critical during the 1.21 → 1.22 transition window when mods lag the base game.

6. Region selection

Vintage Story is forgiving on latency compared to FPS games but unforgiving past 200ms. Choose a host with a datacenter within 100ms RTT of your player majority.

7. Plan flex + refund policy

Vintage Story groups often start small (1-4 players, vanilla) and grow into established servers with mods, more RAM needs, more players. A hosting plan should support in-place upgrades.

Things to demand:

• In-place plan upgrade without world rebuild or IP change.
• 2-day refund minimum if performance doesn't match the spec sheet.
• No long-term contract requirement (1-month minimum should be standard).
• Static IP or stable DDNS hostname.

Red flags during vendor evaluation

• "Player slot" pricing on Vintage Story. Vintage Story scales server load by chunk activity and entity count, not raw player count. Per-slot pricing is a Minecraft-era convention that doesn't fit. Any host charging per slot is either lazy with pricing or trying to upsell.
• "Premium" features that should be standard. FTP, RCON (Vintage Story doesn't really use RCON but admin panel access should be free), static IP, mod installation — none of these should require a higher tier.
• No mention of .NET 7 or 1.22 compatibility. If the marketing copy still references 1.18, the host hasn't kept up.
• Aggressive contract lock-in. 12-month commitment "discounts" for a niche game like Vintage Story should set off alarms.

The self-hosted alternative

Vintage Story self-hosting is genuinely easy compared to most survival games. A spare laptop running Linux with .NET 7 can serve 4-6 players over a residential connection. The trade-offs:

• You handle port forwarding (port 42420 TCP+UDP).
• Your home internet upload speed limits player capacity (15-25 Mbps minimum for 5+ players).
• You're the one diagnosing "the server crashed at 3 AM."
• If you move houses or change ISP, your server IP changes.

For a 1-4 player group of patient friends, self-hosting saves money. For 10+ players with scheduled play sessions and low fault tolerance, managed hosting wins on availability alone.

Related guides

• Vintage Story dedicated server installation
• 1.22 server stability issues
• Server configuration guide
• Installing mods
• Save management

Supercraft Vintage Story hosting checks every box: 4.5GHz+ single-thread Ryzen 9 hardware, .NET 7 auto-managed, drag-and-drop mod management via panel, 14-day backup retention with hourly snapshots, 5 regions (US East, US West, US North-East, EU West, Australia), in-place plan upgrades, and 2-day refund policy. From $5.99/mo, no contract.