Local Hosting vs Paid Server: Don’t Be a Hero
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At first, I tried hosting it on my own PC. It worked — for about 10 minutes. Then someone’s connection would drop, or the world would lag like crazy when someone bombed half the jungle. I quickly realized: unless your internet is god-tier and your PC’s a tank, local hosting just isn’t worth the stress.
I caved and rented a server. Best decision ever.
What Actually Matters When Picking a Host
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You’ll see a bunch of sites offering Terraria servers for like $2/month. Some are great. Some are sketchy as hell. Here’s what ended up mattering most:
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Server location: This is HUGE. If your host is in the US and your buddy’s in Europe, someone’s gonna lag.
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Mod support: We’re running tModLoader with a bunch of quality-of-life stuff. Not all hosts make that easy.
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Backups: Accidentally summoned the Moon Lord in the wrong world once. Thankfully, our host had daily backups. Lifesaver.
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Support: When our world wouldn’t load, the support team fixed it in like 15 minutes. Totally worth the few extra bucks a month.
What We Use (Not Sponsored)
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We went with [insert name here if you’re plugging something], but honestly, there are a few decent ones out there — BisectHosting, Shockbyte, Apex, etc. Prices are similar. Just check what features they give you and see if they have good reviews. Avoid anything that looks like it was built in 2009 and hasn’t been updated since.
Host | Storage | CPU | RAM | DDoS | Mods | Plugins | Price | Host Link |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A | N/A | 2GB | Yes | N/A | N/A | $8.00 | Visit Host | |
US Locations: Other Countries: |
| Scheduled tasks Instant setup Automatic backups Ddos protection | ||||||
N/A | N/A | 2GB | Yes | N/A | N/A | $6.00 | Visit Host | |
US Locations: Other Countries: |
| TModloader Full Support for tMod 1.3.4 & 1.4.4 Terraria Vanilla Full Plugin Support for tShock | ||||||
10GB NVMe | 2 vCores | 2GB | Yes | N/A | N/A | $8.00 | Visit Host | |
US Locations: Other Countries: | N/A | N/A | ||||||
8GB | N/A | 1GB | Yes | N/A | N/A | $2.70 | Visit Host | |
US Locations: Other Countries: |
| N/A | ||||||
![]() | N/A | N/A | 1GB | Yes | N/A | N/A | $4.00 | Visit Host |
US Locations: Other Countries: |
| +$4 for Dedicated IP tShock |
If you’re playing with friends, just get a hosted server. It’s cheap, easy, and saves you a ton of frustration. Plus, no one has to leave their PC on overnight or yell “WHO’S DOWNLOADING STUFF??” every 10 minutes when the game lags.