Comparing game server providers
Most comparison lists online are commission business: ordered by payout, not by fit. So instead of a ranking, here are the questions and our own answers, verifiable.
Why no other provider is named here
We could put up a table where we have the green tick in every row. The problem: we don't run anyone else's servers and cannot measure their claims. Prices, terms and feature sets also change constantly. A table that is correct today is a false statement under our name in three months. So here are the criteria and our values. You can collect the other side in five minutes on the provider's own site, and you will then know what to look for.
The 7 questions
- 1. Which processor is actually in there?
- Most offers only mention “powerful hardware” or a core count. For game servers the core count is rarely the limit: Minecraft, Factorio, Project Zomboid and Arma essentially run on a single thread. What matters is single-core speed, and you can only judge that if the processor model is stated.
- MRMediaIntel Xeon Gold 6138 at 3.7 GHz turbo in Frankfurt am Main. Since 31 August 2026 this is our only game server hardware. The former standard line on AMD EPYC 7351P has been discontinued. The difference was measured, and it is why we kept the faster one: 0.373 s against 0.631 s single-threaded, roughly 70% faster individual cores, best of five runs on both machines.
- 2. Is the RAM dedicated or shared?
- “4 GB” can mean two things: 4 GB that are yours, or 4 GB you share as long as not everyone uses them at once. The difference shows up exactly when it hurts: in the evening, when everyone is playing.
- MRMediaDedicated. The memory listed on your tier is assigned to you and is not overbooked.
- 3. What can you configure yourself, and where?
- This is the biggest day-to-day difference. Some providers give you a text editor for the config file; one missing comma and the server silently starts on defaults. Others translate the file into individual fields. The honest question isn't “is there a panel” but: how many of your game's settings can you reach in it without touching a file?
- MRMediaA dedicated settings editor per game, built on the game's actual config file. Examples: Project Zomboid (144), Barotrauma (121), Terraria/TShock (101), Palworld (98), ARK: Survival Evolved (61), SCP: Secret Laboratory (43 plus Remote-Admin and Whitelist), Factorio (32 plus Admin-Liste), Arma 3 (31 plus MOTD and Admin-Liste). For Minecraft additionally a software switch between Vanilla, Paper, Fabric, Forge and Bedrock. The exact number is on every game page.
- 4. What happens at the end of the term?
- The point where a cheap offer becomes an expensive one. Does the contract expire or renew? Do you have to cancel, and by when? Is money taken from your account even when you stopped playing long ago?
- MRMediaThe contract runs for the period you chose and then ends automatically. You don't have to cancel. An invoice arrives before expiry: pay it and the server continues, don't and it expires. Nothing is debited from your account, you pay each invoice yourself.
- 5. Is the price you see the price you pay?
- With offers that don't show tax, the order page deserves a second look. Add setup fees, surcharges for backups or for a second slot.
- MRMediaWhat the page says is the invoice amount. MRMedia is a sole proprietorship under the German small-business rule (§ 19 UStG). No VAT is levied at all, gross equals net. No setup fee, backups included. For business customers the converse applies: without VAT shown there is no input tax deduction either.
- 6. Where is the server really located?
- “Germany” and “EU” are often used interchangeably but are not the same, neither for in-game latency nor for whose law applies at the location.
- MRMediaYour machine sits in Frankfurt am Main. Our own infrastructure (backup, billing, monitoring) sits in Strasbourg and Roubaix, both France. That is why we still write “from the EU” and not “from Germany”: your server is in Germany, the backup of it is not. Anyone who reads “EU” and thinks “Germany” should be able to read the exact answer here.
- 7. Who answers when something breaks?
- The response time on a homepage says little. More interesting: does someone answer who can also fix the server, or a first line sending templates?
- MRMediaOne person, and the same one who built the servers: Maurizio Romano. No call centre, no first line. That has a downside, and it's below.
Where we are worse
This belongs on the same page, otherwise the rest is worthless. Five points where a large provider is the better choice:
- No round-the-clock support. Behind “we” there is exactly one person. During the day this is fast; if something fails at three in the morning it may take until morning. Anyone needing a guaranteed 24/7 response time needs a provider with shifts.
- No console servers. Nothing here for PlayStation or Xbox. If you want an ARK or Minecraft server for a console, this is the wrong place.
- No switching games mid-term. Some providers let you use the same server for Rust today and Valheim next week. We can't: here one server is one game.
- 17 games, not several hundred. The selection is deliberately small: every game in the catalogue gets its own settings editor, and we build those by hand. If your game isn't there, a VPS is the alternative, or another provider.
- No company history and no reviews. MRMedia is young and has no public customer reviews yet. If your confidence comes from many years and thousands of ratings, you won't find that here. We don't invent them either.
If those answers suit you
Every game page lists the tiers, the prices and the number of settings you can reach in the control panel, no sign-up, no cart.