Servers and Multiplayer, in general, are a core part of games nowadays, the basis of playing with your friends and cooperating (or competing) to achieve a goal can be really rewarding and fun, these servers -and in some cases, their custom additions- can extend the gameplay by hundreds of hours, or the game lifespan beyond the end of the official support, did you know Counter-Strike 1.6 still has playable servers to this day?
Counter-Strike 2 also features servers, and like other games such as Minecraft or Rust, you can download the Counter-Strike 2 server files and host your own server on your machine, but this comes with a series of limitations and it's not recommended for communities.
In today's blog, we've recompiled a few reasons why you should rent your own Counter-Strike 2 Server instead.
You won't need to use your own PC resources
Allocating resources to a locally hosted server can result in an overall decrease in performance for all the other tasks on your PC, with a rented server you won't need to worry about this and just focus on playing your game at the highest settings possible :)
You can upgrade the server specs at any moment if and when required.
If you host the server on your own machine you may eventually run out of resources, and the only way to upgrade would be by purchasing new parts for your computer. Not only will this cost more than just upgrading the specs you need, but you will also need to spend time and have some technical knowledge to install these parts correctly, furthermore, you will need to turn off the server while you perform these upgrades.
But what about a rented server? Simple, just head to the billing area and upgrade the server specs at any given moment in an instant, did you run out of storage? just purchase what you need and keep playing!
You have multiple tools in the game panel to help you manage the server
Managing a server requires some technical knowledge and in a locally hosted server you'll need to take care of most of the stuff manually, Do you want to make backups for your server? you'll need to learn how to set up cron and specify the folders you want to back up, perhaps you only want to create a database for your server? You'll need to learn how to install and use XAMPP and set up phpmyadmin.
With a rented server from Iceline Hosting, you can use many of the available features from the Game Panel to ease the management process. Create backups through the Schedule tab, manage your databases through the Databases tab, change your Server Configuration from the Startup tab, access your files from the Files Manager, or use your SFTP Credentials located in the Settings tab. Do you need to reinstall or update the server? just use the options available in the Settings tab
You can transfer your server location at any time
With a locally hosted server, you're limited to your geographical location and your ISP provider, this can be a problem for international players who may just decide to avoid your server
With a rented server from Iceline Hosting, not only will you get a low latency server but you will also be able to transfer your server to any of the available locations at any given moment through the Transfer option from the Game Panel, pick the location that better suits your needs!
You won't need to expose your local IP or port forward
Other players will need to use your public IP to join the server, and not only that but you'll also need to allow the app through the firewall and open ports, which is a security risk and could be used by hackers.
With a rented server you'd only need to give your players the assigned server IP to your server and they will be ready to join, that's it!
You will be able to guarantee the server stays online 24/7
If you host the server on your own computer then each time you turn off the PC so will the server, this is not the case for a rented server from a reliable Game Hosting Provider such as Iceline Hosting, allowing you to keep your server available for your community 24/7 with an uptime of over 99%
You could also just leave your PC online, but you need to be aware of some factors such as the elevated electricity bill and the risk of component damage if you intend to keep your PC online every day to host your server, whilst you'd only need to pay the assigned price on a rented server and that's it!
You can cancel at any time
If you don't want to continue using your server that's okay! You can simply request a cancellation at any specific time and it won't get automatically renewed on your due date. Just follow this guide to learn how to cancel your server.
You can contact support to get assistance
Are you facing any issues? Feel free to contact our team through a ticket, we'll be more than happy to help!
Keep in mind we aren't developers nor do we offer support to 3rd party scripts, so our assistance can be limited and you may need to contact the map or mod developers.
Conclusion
To be fair, there are also a few disadvantages we could mention for rented servers, such as the monthly upkeep and the somewhat limited control over your resources, but these are not concerns for the average user and you'll soon find that you can use a rented server for your community without any issues!
