In the past, when it came to putting together a private server for some of my favorite games, I depended on server rental programs like Shockbyte or G-Portal. To be fair, they offer affordable options for players who are eager and interested in playing games with their friends without the worry of being griefed or obliterated by people who treat games like RUST as a second job.
But, after losing an entire Palworld save that a friend and I poured hours upon hours into because I didn’t renew my Shockbyte server, I figured it was time to take things into my own hands. With an old HP EliteDesk 800 G2 and a bit of patience, I’ve now created the ultimate private server setup.
Mini PC versus online private servers
More up front, but saving money in the long run
My friends and I can be incredibly indecisive about what games we want to play. Some days, we’re diving into the latest friendslop game on Steam, like Super Battle Golf or PEAK. Other times, we want to invest far too much time and energy into a massive online adventure like RUST or ARK. For the longest time, we all decided that having an online hosting service would be the best option, but with plans starting at roughly $15 a month for these types of games? The costs can add up quickly.
I bought my Dad an HP EliteDesk 800 G2 about a year back, with the intent of using it for an R/C plane simulation program on Steam. Unfortunately, it didn’t run as well as we had hoped, and it has just been sitting downstairs at their home for just as long. After asking if I could use it for an experiment, this little PC turned into one of the shining stars of my office.
Brand
HP
Storage
256GB NVMe
CPU
Intel Quad-core i5-6500T
Memory
16G DDR4 memory
We’re all in complete control of the server
Rather than depending on Shockbyte, we can change what we want, when we want
Credit: Shaun Cichacki/MUO
While the specs for the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 may not seem like much on paper, it’s been surprisingly smooth sailing so far. As of the time of this writing, I’m currently hosting a RUST server with 10 players, on a 4,000m map, and we’ve yet to run into any major issues. For a PC that cost me roughly $150, or 10 months of ShockByte rentals for their most basic plan, I’m utterly impressed. Plus, if I wanted to merge my budding media library over to a new platform to use with Jellyfin, this could be an excellent route to take in the future, too.
One thing that I was worried about was the fact that the PC was running Windows 10 when I grabbed it from my dad. While some folks still prefer the older OS, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to run into any issues with compatibility on the server. So, using Rufus and a fresh install of Windows 11, I was able to force this older, incompatible device to run Windows 11 with no issue.
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I can use a tablet as a screen for it
I’m not doing anything major outside of starting a server on it
Credit: Shaun Cichacki/MUO
I already know this is going to sound like the most “first-world problems” thing I’ve ever said, but trying to hop between two different PCs on the same monitor stinks. Seeing as I would be switching both my main keyboard and mouse over to this particular setup, as well as the screen, it quickly became cumbersome and slightly overbearing. That’s when I discovered Spacedesk, an application that runs at startup and allows me to use my Samsung A9+ as an external monitor connected via Wi-Fi.
As soon as I power up the mini-PC, I can switch to the application on my tablet, and I have instant access to my desktop. While the program does work well, there is a bit of input latency when running over Wi-Fi, so it’s mainly meant to get my server up and running, and an easy way for me to monitor the health of everything while playing. Maybe it’s time to upgrade my dual-monitor setup to a three-monitor setup in the future. Who knows? Maybe it’s time to just install a massive TV to replace my standard setup at this point.
Getting a server up and running takes time
But YouTube and articles can help anyone figure it out
Credit: Shaun Cichacki/MUO
One thing that I can tell people who are hoping to try this for themselves? It takes a while to get things working properly. You’re going to need to mess with your network a little bit, with things like port forwarding and firewalls, but at the end of the day? It’s really not that bad. There are plenty of fantastic YouTube tutorials that can walk even the most inexperienced users through the process of creating a server for their favorite game. It’s me — I’m the admitted inexperienced user in this situation.
But, by taking a bit of time over the weekend, I was able to get both a Palworld and RUST server up and running. As of now, we’ve encountered no major issues, and both servers have been running smoothly with a decent number of players on each of them. Doing daily resets of the server helps with decay in RUST, and I don’t have to spend any extra money to keep it running. The fear of losing our progress is officially gone.
It’s been an incredibly fun project
Maybe once RAM prices are down to normal, I’ll upgrade that mini-PC more
Even though this particular PC is running an aging CPU and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, it’s more than capable of hosting a private server that runs well enough for my needs. 10 players on a 4,000m map is chaos in its finest form, and I absolutely adore the fact that we can alter the config files however we want, or add some mods to the server for extra fun.
It’s a bit of a headache at first, but once you get it up and running? It’s like a dream come true. If you’ve ever considered renting a private server, take my advice. Get your friends to chip in together for a mini-PC and get to work on creating the private realms of your dreams.
