Dedicated vs Shared Game Server: What's the Difference?

"Dedicated server" gets thrown around a lot in gaming. It's sometimes used to mean "a server that runs without a host player" — but in hosting terms, it has a different meaning. Here's what actually distinguishes dedicated from shared game server hosting, and why it matters.

What Is a Dedicated Game Server?

In hosting terminology, a dedicated server means the physical or virtual machine's resources are allocated exclusively to you. No other customer's game server shares your CPU, RAM, or disk I/O.

In gaming terminology, "dedicated server" often just means the server runs as a standalone process (no player needs to be hosting). This is different — you can run a "dedicated server" for Valheim or ARK that still shares physical hardware with other customers.

For this article, we're talking about the hosting definition.

What Is Shared Game Server Hosting?

Shared game server hosting means multiple customers' servers run on the same physical machine, sharing its resources. This is the most common model for budget game server providers.

The machine might have 128 GB RAM and 32 cores. A provider sells 20 "8 GB RAM" game server slots on it. If those slots are shared (not reserved), and all 20 customers are active simultaneously, the machine is overloaded.

Dedicated Resources vs Shared: The Real Difference

	Dedicated Resources	Shared Resources
RAM	Guaranteed allocation	Shared pool, may be contested
CPU	Priority guaranteed	Depends on neighbors
Performance consistency	Predictable	Variable
Price	Higher	Lower
Best for	Competitive/serious play	Casual, low-traffic use

When Shared Is Fine

Shared resources are acceptable when:

• You're hosting a small, casual server (4–8 players)
• The game itself isn't latency-sensitive
• You don't have peak-hour traffic colliding with neighbors
• The game is lightweight (Terraria, early Factorio)

When You Need Dedicated Resources

Dedicated resource allocation matters when:

• Playing competitive games — CS2, competitive Valheim, etc. Even brief performance dips from resource contention are noticeable
• Running a full server — 20+ players, always-on
• Heavy mod loads — Mods increase RAM and CPU pressure, leaving no headroom for contention
• Resource-hungry games — ARK: Survival Ascended, Project Zomboid with mods, late-game Satisfactory

VPS Game Server Hosting: The Middle Ground

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) for game hosting sits between shared and fully dedicated. With a VPS:

• RAM is typically guaranteed (not shared)
• CPU may be burstable (shared cores, but with priority scheduling)
• You have root access
• More flexible but requires more setup

VPS hosting is good for technical users who want full control and are running multiple game servers or custom setups.

Managed Game Hosting Panels

Most game server hosting — including Renzom — uses a managed panel approach:

• Resources are allocated per game server
• No SSH required; config, files, and restarts managed via panel
• Easier setup, especially for non-technical users
• Less flexible than raw VPS

For dedicated RAM allocation with panel convenience, look for hosts that explicitly state "dedicated RAM" rather than "up to X GB RAM."

What Renzom Offers

Renzom allocates resources dedicatedly per game server. When you buy a plan with 8 GB RAM for ARK, those 8 GB are yours — not shared with neighboring servers.

This is run on Hetzner infrastructure in Falkenstein, Germany, with EU-routed network and carrier-level DDoS mitigation included.

View game server plans →

Summary

For game hosting, "dedicated server" means different things in different contexts. What matters from a hosting perspective is whether your RAM and CPU are guaranteed allocations or shared pools. For any serious or competitive gaming, dedicated resource allocation is worth paying slightly more for — the performance consistency difference is noticeable.

Start your dedicated game server on Renzom →