Revision - dedicated server hosting - Windrose Wiki

Windrose supports dedicated servers from the very start of Early Access. The studio's pre-launch FAQ said a dedicated-server build would be included with the Steam release as a free tool, and the official website links to a dedicated-server guide. For groups who want a persistent world that stays online while the host is away, this is the intended setup.

What Dedicated Servers Solve

A dedicated server keeps the world online even when the usual host is offline
It is the best option for groups who play at different times or live in different time zones
It avoids the usual host-PC bottleneck where one machine has to run both the client and the world simulation

If you only ever play with one or two friends at the same time and the host is always present, a private host-run world is simpler. If your group treats the world like a shared persistent place, dedicated hosting is worth the extra setup.

Official Cap and What To Trust

Question	Best Current Answer
Does Windrose officially support dedicated servers?	Yes. They shipped at launch
Where does the official server build come from?	Steam Tools, as a free Windrose dedicated-server tool
What player count is officially supported?	Up to 8 players
What size is recommended?	Around 4 players for smoother play

This page intentionally sticks to the official 8-player number. Some commercial hosts advertise more slots, and some community guides speculate beyond that, but the studio-facing materials are much more conservative. Until Kraken Express publishes a higher supported number, 8 is the right figure to treat as authoritative.

Self-Hosting Versus Renting

Approach	When It Makes Sense	Tradeoff
Self-hosting	You have a spare machine or are comfortable running a home server	Cheaper, but requires setup, router/firewall work, and enough hardware headroom
Third-party rented host	You want the fastest path to a persistent world	Costs money, but usually gives you backups, a control panel, and easier restart/update handling

Launch-week coverage and player feedback both showed that rented hosting is often the smoother experience for larger groups, especially once bases and ship traffic get heavier. Self-hosting still works, but it asks more of the machine than just running the game client.

Practical Setup Flow

Install the dedicated-server tool from Steam Tools rather than trying to repurpose the normal game client.
Use the official guide on the Windrose website as the first reference point for startup and network configuration.
If you self-host, expect to handle firewall and router configuration as part of the job.
If you rent a server, set up automatic backups immediately. Early Access patches and player mistakes are both easier to recover from if you have snapshots.

The main operational mistake launch-week groups made was treating dedicated hosting as a casual toggle instead of a real server workflow. It is not hard, but it is also not magic. Backups, restart discipline, and realistic hardware expectations matter.

Performance Expectations

The official FAQ and store-facing messaging both recommend around 4 players for the smoothest experience, even though 8 players are officially supported. That recommendation is a useful proxy for hardware expectations as well: the more players, bases, containers, NPC workers, and ships you pile into the world, the more the server-side simulation starts to matter.

In practical launch-week discussion, players consistently reported that running the client and a server on the same machine asked for much more memory headroom than the base game alone. If you want to self-host comfortably, plan around more than the bare game minimum rather than assuming the client-only spec is enough.

Launch-Week Hosting Issues

The clearest real-world server lesson from launch day was provider strain. Nitrado, which was directly referenced in the launch hotfix notes, had enough trouble under day-one demand that the studio used Hotfix 0.10.0.1.6 to clean up server-link and related server-discovery friction.

That does not mean dedicated servers were broken as a feature. It means demand was strong enough to stress the most visible commercial path. The value of the official self-hosted tool is that it gives players and communities a fallback when a commercial partner gets overloaded.

Third-Party Hosts

Launch-week coverage and community guides repeatedly mentioned providers such as Nitrado, G-Portal, Nodecraft, Survival Servers, LOW.MS, 4Netplayers, GTX Gaming, Citadel Servers, and GG Host. Those providers can be useful, but the presence of a host listing should never be read as confirmation of a different gameplay cap or a studio guarantee about performance.

In practical terms, a rented host buys convenience. You are paying for easier updates, easier uptime, and easier recovery if something goes wrong. What you are not buying is immunity from early-access reality. If the underlying build has launch-week quirks, a paid host does not erase them. It just shifts more of the operational burden away from your own machine.

Revision 2