Game Server Distro Questions

[Stravitch]

In the past, my friends and I have paid many different providers to host game servers. Some of them were good, others were bad, but for the most part we didn't have the control we would have liked with the systems. I'm seeing how feasible it is for us to use an older machine specifically setup to host games once in a while. 

 

We would be interested in hosting modded minecraft modpacks (many mods), 7 Days to Die, Ark, ect... most likely not running all at once but more likely one instance at a time as we jump from game to game. From what I have read, sometime the requirements for running these are lower since it just command line instances hosting the game server and not having to do all the rendering and all that.

 

With all that said, would CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, ect... be the way to go with something like this in order to have as little overhead on the system as possible? Which would you guys recommend for someone that is going to be diving into Linux mostly for the first time? 

 

I have an older HP EliteDesk 800 G1 DM that I was thinking of using: Intel i7-4785T @ 2.20 GHz, 16 GB memory, 1 TB ssd. It's passively cooled and small enough that I can hide it away near the switch and would want to just remote connect to it to do any work on it. Would this be enough horsepower to get things running smoothly for 4-6 people for games I mentioned before?

 

I guess I have a lot of questions, so I'll leave it there for now. I'd really appreciate your all's opinions where I should go from here, Thank you!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Stravitch said:

Ark

The Linux builds of ARK are often broken and late to update. Running a ARK Server on a Linux host could mean the server going down for a month at a time. It would be more worthwhile to run a Windows Server in this instance. For a optimal server instance, you need a quad core cpu and 8GB of ram, your specs will more than be enough for a single instance with the capability to run 2 instances at once.

 

For 7Days and Minecraft, you would be fine for those 4-6 people.

 

My recommendation is still going to be a Windows Server, however if you really want to go with Linux, Ubuntu Minimal with Firewalld is a good bet considering that's usually the target distro for Steam and Linux Game Servers.

[WereCatf]

8 minutes ago, Stravitch said:

Which would you guys recommend for someone that is going to be diving into Linux mostly for the first time?

With the plan of running your own game-server, none. You should learn all the basics first, including how to secure your system, before even thinking about running game-servers. The installation and configuration of many of them is an entirely CLI-based affair and not an easy task for a complete novice.

 

Aside from that, the specific distro doesn't really matter. I use Ubuntu, but any other distro will do just as well.