I need help&suggestion with renting a server and related issues.

[Spring Songbird]

Hello members of this community. This is my first time planning to rent a server, and below are the questions I would like to ask. (If anyone is willing to supplement with possible scenarios I haven't thought of, I would greatly appreciate it. )

1. As there will be around 15 participants, I am uncertain about the server's required capacity. Currently, I am considering the service and level [MEDIUM 2 vCores / 4 GB Memory], which can be found at https://server.pro/

2. Can I host multiple worlds simultaneously?
(If upgrading the server or its type is necessary, I am willing to increase my budget.)

3. Should I wait until after the 1.4.5 version update to rent a server? I am concerned that the server service may not provide updates to the latest version.

That's all the questions for now.
Appreciate your time and attention.

[th]

I have been experimenting a lot with dedicated linux-based Terraria server recently. So I believe I can share some info.

I've never used game hosting services so I can not say much about such services. But I've used VDS/VPS standard cloud hostings a lot. So I will tell things in standard CPU/RAM/DISK terms.

1) The most important thing is that Terraria linux server is capable to consume a lot of CPU. Not all the time though. Sometimes. Under some conditions. During boss fights with many players online for example. My logs show that even 4-core 3 GHz CPU may not be enough in such moments. Though most of the time (like 98% of the time) even 1-core CPU is totally enough for 1-3 players online.

2) The second important thing is RAM. For a small Terraria world you must have at least 2 GBs of RAM not including OS's needs. Only for Terraria. For a large Terraria world I believe 4 GBs of RAM is a must have.

3) And the easiest part here is disk. The most disk-heavy operation is a world saving process. And luckily it works pretty good and quick even on old HDD drives. So you don't even need a SATA SSD, let alone an NVMe SSD.

Now I am telling about official Terraria linux server which you may find here:
https://terraria.wiki.gg/wiki/Server#Downloads

I can't tell a thing about any unofficial Terraria server software. I've heard such software exists all right.

Now about your questions:
1. I see it as a good start. Not too good, not too bad. If your online would be lower (like 3-5 players) you may try even 1-core CPU.
2. On VPS/VDS you can do whatever you want. It's a fully fledged OS. The fact that it's a virtual OS does not matter at all. But on a special game hosting service it may be forbidden coz you buy a game service as a whole thing instead of buying a dedicated virtual machine with which you can do whatever you want.
3. I have no idea.

[th]

I can tell a little story from my exp.

Official Terraria linux server software creates A LOT of threads during long gameplay sessions. It can easily create 100-200 threads even for a single player online. Usually it is achievable while maintaining an AFK farm 24/7. It is much easier to achieve that if you are maintaining more than one AFK farm. Especially good AFK farms during hardmode. With Conveyor Belts. They are VERY intensive.

Such amount of threads forces OS to switch a thread context A LOT. So even despite the fact that most of the threads generate a really low CPU load the LA (load average) is really high.

My monitoring script has gathered some good info. It was like 2-3 month of maintaining 24/7 slow pre-hardmode AFK farm. 1 player online. The highest LA for that period was about 6+. So to guarantee a totally lagless server you need a 7-core at least 3 GHz CPU. Even for a single player online.

It doesn't mean though that you need it all the time. No. Like I said most of the time even 1-core CPU is enough.

[Spring Songbird]

Originally posted by th:

I have been experimenting a lot with dedicated linux-based Terraria server recently. So I believe I can share some info...

Thank you for your response.
Your explanation has given me a preliminary understanding of server requirements.

it seems unavoidable to experience significant delays during events with 10 players participating...

[th]

Originally posted by Amethyst Aurora:

Originally posted by th:

I have been experimenting a lot with dedicated linux-based Terraria server recently. So I believe I can share some info...

Thank you for your response.
Your explanation has given me a preliminary understanding of server requirements.

it seems unavoidable to experience significant delays during events with 10 players participating...

I wouldn't say significant. I would say you may feel short lags. Probably not very annoying.

[Spring Songbird]

Originally posted by th:

Originally posted by Amethyst Aurora:

I wouldn't say significant. I would say you may feel short lags. Probably not very annoying.

If so, then it's very good news for me.