Experiences with Game Server Hosting

My Journey into Game Server Hosting

I’ve been playing video games since I was about eight years old, back when my parents first let me hop onto the family PC in the living room to play Roblox. That was my first real introduction to the world of online gaming—and for my young mind, it was absolutely mind-blowing. I was playing with thousands of people across the internet, all from my seat in suburban Australia. Fast forward to today, and I’m still an avid gamer. I dive into all sorts of titles, from Minecraft and Rainbow Six to EVE Online and beyond.

Minecraft is a household name by now—I’d bet good money that at least a few of you reading this have played it, and nearly everyone’s heard of it. That’s where my journey into game server hosting, administration, and user management really began. At first, I used Hamachi, a software-based VPN that let me and my friends play together. It was free, a little clunky, but it worked. The major drawback? If I wasn’t online, no one could play. It also wasn’t exactly Fort Knox in terms of security—only my most trusted friends were allowed in.

My first real exposure to server hosting came through cloud-based platforms and web terminals. Sites like Apex Hosting, which was voted second best by "Cyber News" out of the top seven most popular hosts (Misiūnas, 2022), made it easy to run Minecraft servers without using my own machine. It was also the first time I encountered non-Windows file systems, command-line terminals, config files, and server logs. I didn’t realize it then, but I was getting a crash course in real-world server administration. Trial and error became my best teacher—there were crashes, broken configs, and the occasional corruption of an entire world, due to the deletion of strawberries (not my proudest moment).

Everything changed when I ventured into public server hosting through a survival game called Unturned.

Unlike many survival games, Unturned servers are all unofficial—hosted by players either peer-to-peer or on dedicated servers. Between 2019 and 2021, the Oceanic scene was dominated by a few big names like “Ozzi Gaming” and “Dark Twilight,” but there was a clear gap in the market: no server had a consistently active, healthy player base. So I saw an opportunity—and Crazy Gaming was born.

At its peak, Crazy Gaming became the most upvoted and most played Unturned server in the Oceanic region. That was surreal for me. Up until then, I’d only ever hosted servers for five people at most. Suddenly, I was managing 50+ players online at once. I researched hosting providers and found one that met my needs. I also had to learn XML, the language used in Unturned’s configuration files, and experimented with donation and player reward systems to help offset costs.

Key Takeaways

Log Management & Security

Server logs became one of my most valuable tools—not just for fixing technical issues like crashes or plugin errors, but for building good security habits. I got comfortable parsing logs to identify unusual activity, whether it was suspicious login attempts or server-side errors that hinted at larger vulnerabilities. These logs were also key to resolving disputes between players and staff, reinforcing the importance of documentation, non-repudiation, and digital accountability. Looking back, it was a real introduction to the kind of log analysis and incident response that’s core to cybersecurity today.

User Experience, Trust & Feedback Loops

I realized pretty quickly that a secure server is only part of the picture—users also need to trust that their experience is being looked after. I stayed engaged through Discord and in-game channels, and I built systems for feedback that allowed users to report bugs, exploits, or abusive behavior. Maintaining transparency and acting on player reports helped create a safer, more inclusive environment. That kind of trust management and proactive communication is something I now recognize as critical in broader cybersecurity contexts, especially when it comes to user safety and threat reporting.

Leadership & Remote Team Management

Cybersecurity is often a team sport—and running a server taught me that the hard way. I formed and led a volunteer moderation and admin team, coordinating everything from plugin maintenance to handling moderation escalations. Delegating access while managing permission levels taught me about role-based access control (RBAC) and the importance of enforcing least privilege. I also had to develop workflows for securely sharing credentials and managing backups, which laid the groundwork for my understanding of secure operations in distributed teams.

Cybersecurity Practices

From day one, I had to make security decisions—even if I didn’t fully realize the scope of them at the time. I implemented basic firewall rules, restricted access to sensitive server files, and enforced whitelist-only access to admin tools. Although DDoS attacks were mitigated through the third party, I still had to deal with malicious actors in the form of in-game hackers and trolls. I had to think on my feet to mitigate damage, block IPs, and harden our defenses. I also regularly patched plugins, updated dependencies, and managed file integrity to avoid vulnerabilities. Hosting a public server gave me hands-on experience with:

• Access control and account management

• Incident detection and response

• Configuration and patch management

• Secure communication practices (e.g., admin channels, private keys)

It was a crash course in cybersecurity fundamentals—and one that continues to inform how I think about digital risk and system hardening today.

Eventually, school and life pulled me away from public server hosting. These days, I’m still the go-to guy when my friends want to set up a game, but it’s been a while since I’ve managed anything public.

Still, the skills I picked up during those years continue to show up—in my university coursework, personal projects, and especially in my approach to cybersecurity. Hosting those servers was one of the most educational experiences of my teenage years. If you’re into gaming, tech, or just curious how things work behind the scenes, I highly recommend giving it a go. Whether you're using your own PC, a cloud host, or a web-based platform, it’s worth it. You might just surprise yourself.

References

Misiūnas, A. (2022, March 8). Best Minecraft Server Hosting for 2025. Cybernews. https://cybernews.com/best-web-hosting/minecraft-server-hosting/