Choosing your first game and plan size
How to pick a game and a plan without overthinking it: start from the game your group already plays, count the players, be honest about mods, and let those three things choose your RAM and location.
6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team
It is a shorter decision than it looks, because none of it is permanent. RAM goes up or down later, the location can change, and some servers switch games entirely. Aim for a sensible starting point, not a perfect prediction.
Start with the game your group already plays
The most common regret is renting a server for a game people are only curious about. Ask the group what they played last month. A four player Valheim world everyone joins beats an ambitious modded server nobody logs into.
Each game we host has its own page under games, with the specific plans, the player caps and the setup guides for that game. If you are choosing between two editions of the same game, that is worth settling first, because it changes everything downstream:
- Minecraft Java or Bedrock. Java runs plugins and mods, Bedrock runs addons, and the two cannot join a plain shared server. See choosing between Java and Bedrock. One Java server can host both at once with Geyser if your group is mixed: Geyser explained.
- ARK: Survival Evolved or Ascended. Ascended is the newer, much heavier one. See Ascended versus Evolved hosting.
- Terraria or tModLoader. tModLoader is the modded route and sizes differently. See Terraria versus tModLoader.
- Still deciding at all? What is a dedicated game server explains what you are actually renting, and hosting at home versus a host is worth reading if you were thinking of using your own PC.
If you genuinely want to try several games over a few months, look at a Multi-Game Server, which is one server you re-point at a different game rather than several subscriptions. See switching games on a Multi-Game Server.
Count the players honestly
Not everyone you invite, and not the maximum you hope for. The number of people likely to be online at the same time on a normal evening.
For most friend groups that is three to six, and the smallest or second smallest plan for the game covers it. For a public server you intend to advertise, size for the crowd you can realistically fill in the first month, then grow. Paying for 60 slots while five people play is the most common way to waste money on hosting.
More players does increase memory use, but less dramatically than people expect, because the biggest cost is usually the world rather than the people in it. Do more players need more RAM puts real numbers on that, and how many players can my server handle explains which limit you actually hit first: the game's own cap, the CPU, memory or bandwidth.
Be honest about mods
This is the single biggest factor in plan size, and the one people under-report to themselves.
| What you plan to run | Effect on size |
|---|---|
| Vanilla, no additions | The baseline figure for the game |
| A handful of server-side plugins | Baseline, maybe a step up |
| A moderate mod list | Noticeably more than baseline |
| A large modpack | Often several times the vanilla figure |
A big Minecraft modpack on the smallest plan is the classic unhappy combination: the server boots, then stutters and eventually runs out of memory under load. If a modpack lists its own recommended server memory, believe it, and read mods vs plugins vs modpacks vs datapacks first so you know which kind you are dealing with.
Plugins are much lighter than mods, but they are not free either. How many plugins is too many is a useful sanity check before you install thirty of them.
Let that choose your RAM
Once you know the game, the realistic player count and the mod situation, the RAM question answers itself. Rather than guessing, use the numbers in the per-game guides, which explain the reasoning behind each figure:
- How much RAM do you need? has the table for every game in one place.
- Minecraft Java: how much RAM for Minecraft. Bedrock: how much RAM for a Bedrock server.
- Rust: how much RAM for Rust, where the map size matters as much as the player count.
- ARK: how much RAM for ARK. Palworld: Palworld RAM. Valheim: Valheim RAM.
- Project Zomboid: Zomboid RAM. Enshrouded: Enshrouded RAM. Terraria: Terraria RAM.
A note on what RAM is not: it is the size of the desk, not how fast you work at it. A bigger plan does not fix high ping and it does not fix a badly behaved plugin. If a server is lagging rather than crashing, the cause is often CPU work per tick instead: see CPU versus RAM and why is my server lagging.
Pick the location for your players, not for you
Ping is set by distance, so the rule is simple: pick the region closest to most of the people who will actually play. GuavaHost hosts in Dallas (United States), Limburg (Germany), Gravelines (France), Warsaw (Poland) and Sydney (Australia), and Dallas is also the closest option for South America.
If your group is spread out, choose the region central to the largest number of them rather than the one closest to you. The location picker at checkout shows an estimated ping for each region from your own connection, which is a good guide but is measured from where you are sitting. For a real comparison, have a couple of players measure their own: testing your ping before picking a location, and choosing a server location for the regional breakdown.
Billing cycle and the money side
Longer billing cycles cost less per month, shorter ones keep you flexible, and you can change the cycle later under Manage plan. If you are not sure the game will stick, start short. Current plans and cycles are on the pricing page, and renewals, invoices and prorating are covered in how billing and renewals work.
Two things worth knowing before you order: a promo code goes in at checkout rather than afterwards (using a promo code), and a new server is covered by a money-back guarantee if it turns out not to be what you expected (the money-back guarantee).
Start one size small, and watch
Here is the approach that works out cheapest for most people:
- Order the size the per-game guide suggests for your realistic player count.
- Run it for a week with real players on it.
- Watch the Usage card on the server's Overview, which shows CPU, RAM and storage, with a chart under View history.
- If memory sits near the ceiling under load, or you see out of memory errors in the console, step up under Manage plan. Billing is prorated.
The signs of a server that is genuinely short on memory are specific rather than vague, and signs your server is running out of RAM lists them. Upgrading later is a few clicks: changing your RAM and upgrading your plan.
Common questions
Should I just buy the biggest plan to be safe?
Usually not. Extra memory sits unused unless the world or the mods need it, and it does not improve ping or fix lag caused by CPU work. Start at the size your game's guide suggests, watch the Usage card for a week, then step up if the numbers say so.
Can I change the game later?
Often yes. Many servers can be switched to another game or reinstalled fresh, and a Multi-Game Server is designed for exactly that. Back up first, because switching games replaces the server's files.
What if I pick the wrong location?
You change it from the server's Overview with Change location. It is self service and your files move with the server, so the only real cost is the short downtime while it transfers.
Does more RAM reduce ping?
No. Ping is the travel time between a player and the server, so it is decided by distance and the network route, not by the plan size. Moving the server closer to your players is the only thing that meaningfully lowers it.
Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.
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Still need help? Our team is online 24/7 to answer questions.