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 10 runtime support (the absolute baseline)

Vintage Story dedicated server runs on .NET 10 as of version 1.22. Hosts still shipping .NET 8 or older will fail at first launch, and any mod with precompiled binaries built against .NET 8 has to be rebuilt before it loads. 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 10 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 10 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: AMD EPYC server hardware (large L3 cache, NVMe), .NET 10 auto-managed, drag-and-drop mod management via panel, 14-day backup retention with hourly snapshots, 4 regions (Oregon, Toronto, Paris, Sydney), in-place plan upgrades, and 2-day refund policy. No contract.