Host a game server in France
Most game servers (Minecraft, Rust, ARK, FiveM, Valheim) run on a single thread: processor clock speed drives tickrate far more than core count. Nova VPS use AMD Ryzen 9 9950X processors, built for high frequency, with DDoS protection included and a 10 Gbps network burst. All in a partner datacenter in Lyon, at the centre of Western Europe.
Our recommendation
VPS Performance
Final price, VAT not applicable
The range starts at €7.90/mo; the VPS Standard, at €14.90/mo, already covers a server under 10 players.
- 6 dedicated vCPU
- 12 GB DDR5 RAM
- 150 GB NVMe Gen4
- 1 Gbps guaranteed (10 Gbps burst)
Delivered in under 2 minutes
- No commitment, cancel any time
- Daily backup included
- 99.95% SLA with compensation
- French-speaking support, 24/7 on-call
The four factors that decide in-game feel
A game server is not chosen like a web server: the constraints are different.
Clock speed drives tickrate
The simulation engine in Minecraft, Rust or ARK runs on a single thread. A high-frequency processor holds tickrate as the world fills with entities and players, where a many-core but low-clocked server falls behind. The Ryzen 9 9950X is precisely a desktop-class processor optimised for this.
DDoS protection is not optional
Game servers are the most frequently attacked targets, often by players themselves. DDoS protection is included on every Nova VPS, at no extra cost and with no tier to unlock.
Lyon, at the centre of Western Europe
Latency depends on physical distance. A server in Lyon puts your French, Swiss, Belgian and northern Italian players a few milliseconds away, without routing through Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
Map loading and NVMe
Chunk loading and world saving are disk-intensive. NVMe Gen4 RAID reduces loading hitches and the pauses caused by automatic saves, which are especially noticeable on large maps.
Our recommendation
Which configuration for your server
The 12 GB of RAM cover a modded Minecraft server or a mid-sized Rust world while leaving headroom for the JVM and for saves. For a small server among friends, the VPS Standard at €14.90/mo is enough; for several simultaneous instances or a heavily populated map, aim for the VPS Pro.
Compare all 6 configurationsSetting up your game server, step by step
From ordering the VPS to the first connected player.
Size the engine memory
On a Java server such as Minecraft, allocate roughly two thirds of available RAM to the JVM and leave the rest to the system: a JVM claiming all memory triggers swapping and causes exactly the stutter you are trying to avoid.
Open only the ports you need
Minecraft listens on 25565, Rust on 28015, ARK on 7777 and 27015, FiveM on 30120. Open those ports in UFW and nothing else, keeping SSH on a non-standard port with key-based authentication.
Isolate the server from root
Run the game under a dedicated, unprivileged system user. Game engines and their mods are exposed: a vulnerability must not hand over the whole machine.
Keep the session alive
A systemd service, or failing that tmux or screen, keeps the server running after you disconnect from SSH and restarts it automatically on crash. That is what separates a hobby server from one that holds up.
Back up the world, not just the VPS
The included daily backup restores the whole machine. To roll back a map corrupted by a mod without losing everything else, add a short-interval archiving script for the world directory.
Watch tickrate, not CPU load
A server can show modest CPU usage while still falling behind: it is the main thread saturating. Track in-game TPS rather than system load, as it is the only metric your players actually feel.
What this offer is not
The Nova VPS is an unmanaged server: no game management panel (Pterodactyl, TCAdmin) is preinstalled, and no game is deployed for you. You get a virtual machine with root access, on which you install whatever you want. If you are looking for a turnkey game server with a web panel and one-click installs, this is not the right offer: specialised game hosts will serve that need better.
Frequently asked questions
A game server that holds up under load
DDoS protection included, delivered in under 2 minutes, monthly billing with no commitment. Hosted in Lyon, supported in French.
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