Game server hosting
Garry's Mod server hosting
Garry's Mod server hosting on EPYC and NVMe: 4 GB RAM for €10.99 a month, VAT included. Mount a Workshop collection, run DarkRP, TTT or Sandbox, edit your own Lua over SFTP, and be online about 60 seconds after checkout.
Stripe-secured payments · unused wallet credit refundable · no minimum term, cancel any time · EU company, VAT LT100016340412
Hosting Garry's Mod
What actually matters on a Garry's Mod server
Garry's Mod runs its game tick and VPhysics on a single thread, so clock speed decides whether one player's 200-prop welded contraption stutters for everyone; extra cores do nothing about it. The less advertised limit is the binary itself, since the standard 32-bit srcds build cannot address much past 4 GB and tends to fall over before it gets there, which means the real work is keeping your mounted Workshop collection lean rather than buying headroom you cannot use. Collection size also sets first-join time, because every new player pulls the whole thing from Steam before they can spawn.
What 4 GB realistically runs
4 GB is a sensible size for Garry's Mod rather than a compromise, because the standard 32-bit server binary cannot make much use of more; the x86-64 dedicated branch lifts that ceiling, but very little of the addon ecosystem actually needs it. In practice a Sandbox server with a small collection idles around 700 MB to 1 GB and holds 24 to 32 players without the tick suffering. A curated DarkRP build (a jobs pack, a shop, an inventory system, a few hundred props) typically settles between 1.5 and 2.5 GB and runs fine for roughly 30 players, and TTT is lighter still at a similar count. What pushes you over is collection sprawl rather than headcount: 150-plus addons, three map packs and a heap of playermodels will do it long before the player list does. Workshop content also lands on disk and lengthens every new player's first join, so trimming the collection buys you memory, disk and join time in one go. If you are building something heavily scripted with a large regular playerbase, email us and we will resize the RAM the same day.
After checkout
Getting your Garry's Mod server running
- 1
Set gamemode, map and collection in the Startup tab
Garry's Mod is configured through start-up variables, not a config file you edit first. Set the gamemode to the folder name (sandbox, darkrp, terrortown) and set the map to the .bsp name, so rp_downtown_v4c_v2, not the Workshop listing title. A map name that does not exist on disk gives you a console that boots, errors and restarts in a loop, and it is the single most common reason a fresh Garry's Mod server never comes up.
- 2
Add a Steam Web API key, then make the collection public
host_workshop_collection needs a Steam Web API key on the server or it quietly downloads nothing and boots vanilla with no error worth reading. Generate one at steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey, paste it into the startup variable, and confirm the collection's visibility is set to Public, because Friends-only collections fail in exactly the same silent way. If you want the server listed in the public browser, add a Game Server Login Token for app 4000 while you are there.
- 3
Mount CS:S content before your players see pink checkerboards
Most RP and TTT maps were built against Counter-Strike: Source assets. Without them you get ERROR models and purple-black textures across half the map, which reads as a broken server even though nothing is broken. Upload the cstrike folder over SFTP and reference it from garrysmod/cfg/mount.cfg so the server resolves the assets. Your players still need CS:S mounted on their own client, so put that line in the MOTD before twenty people report it as a bug.
- 4
Move persistent data to MySQL and switch off client Lua
DarkRP, ULX and most shop or inventory addons default to SQLite in garrysmod/sv.db, which is fine until you want it backed up properly or shared between servers. Create the free MySQL database from the panel and point the addon at it through MySQLOO, matching the module build to your binary, because gmsv_mysqloo_linux.dll and the _linux64 build are not interchangeable and a mismatch throws a 'couldn't load module library' error. While you are in cfg, set sv_allowcslua 0; leaving it at 1 lets any client execute Lua on themselves and it is the first thing cheat menus check.
Mods & how far you can go
Run any Garry's Mod setup you want
- Online in about 60 seconds
- 1-click mod & plugin installer
- Full file access (SFTP + web editor)
- Automated backups
- Free MySQL database
- DDoS protection included
- Console, metrics & crash auto-restart
- RAM upgrades on request, same day
Test your latency to our network
Measures the round trip from your connection to our EU-Central edge, right now.
This is an HTTPS round trip to our web edge, which typically reads a little higher than in-game ping. Treat it as an upper bound, not a promise.
How much RAM do you need?
Your Garry's Mod plan ships with 4 GB. Player counts below are the practical limit before tick-rate suffers — mods and plugins matter more than raw player count.
| RAM | Players | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 2 GB | 1–4 | Vanilla worlds, small co-op, Terraria |
| 4 GB | 5–15 | Vanilla+ with plugins, light modpacks, most survival servers |
| 6 GB | 10–25 | Mid-size modpacks, Satisfactory and 7 Days to Die worlds |
| 8 GB | 20–40 | Heavy modpacks, ARK with mods, busy community servers |
Picked the wrong size? Email us and we will resize your server the same day — you keep the world, the files and the address.
How ordering works
- 1
Create a free account
Email and password at client.puranode.com. No card needed to look around.
- 2
Add credit
Top up your wallet by card through Stripe. Your balance pays for servers as they renew.
- 3
Pick your server
Choose the game and plan — it installs automatically and is online in about 60 seconds.
Your servers live in the client panel at client.puranode.com — a separate app from this site, run by the same company.
Stripe handles the card
Payments run through Stripe. Puranode never sees or stores your card number.
VAT included
The price you see is the price you pay. No tax added at the last step.
No minimum term
Billed every 30 days. Cancel from the panel any time — no cancellation fee.
Credit is refundable
Unused wallet credit can be refunded to your original card on request.
MB VARIANTAI · company code 306133252 · VAT LT100016340412 · Lithuania, European Union. Refunds & cancellation
FAQ
Garry's Mod server hosting — FAQ
Players can join but half the content is missing. Why isn't my Workshop collection downloading for them?
Server-side mounting and client-side downloading are two separate systems in Garry's Mod, and people conflate them constantly. host_workshop_collection makes the server mount addons so the gamemode functions; it does not reliably guarantee every client pulls everything it needs. Anything a player has to see, meaning models, sounds and custom maps, should be advertised with resource.AddWorkshop from a file in lua/autorun/server/. Content that is not on the Workshop at all, like loose materials or custom sounds dropped into addons/, needs a FastDL host and sv_downloadurl. The engine's built-in download straight from the game server is throttled hard enough that people quit during the loading screen, so do not build your server around it.
Do the props and builds on my Sandbox server survive a restart?
Not by default. Garry's Mod has no world save in the sense Minecraft or Valheim do, so a restart reloads the map clean and everything unwelds into nothing. Use the built-in persistence system (sbox_persist yourname) to keep a named set of props across restarts, which writes into garrysmod/data/persist/. The files that genuinely matter for backups are elsewhere: garrysmod/data/ where most addons keep their state, garrysmod/settings/users.txt and the ULib group files for your admin ranks, garrysmod/cfg/, and either sv.db or your MySQL database for DarkRP money and inventories. Automated backups are included, but it is worth knowing which of those folders you would actually be restoring from at 2am.
How often does Garry's Mod update, and will an update break my server?
There is no schedule. Facepunch ship when they ship, sometimes twice in a week and then nothing for a month. The practical problem is that clients update through Steam automatically while your server does not, so an unpatched server starts refusing connections with a version mismatch the same evening the update lands. Restart the server so it pulls the current build; if it stays behind, reinstall from the panel or email us. Addons are the second-order risk, since engine-level changes such as the Chromium switch and the 64-bit dedicated branch have previously broken HTML panels and binary modules like MySQLOO. Take a backup before you update rather than assuming every addon author will patch quickly.
How much does a Garry's Mod server cost?
Garry's Mod server hosting at Puranode starts at €10.99 per month for a 4 GB server, VAT included. It's a flat price — what you sign up at is what you renew at, with no setup fees and cancel anytime.
How quickly is my Garry's Mod server online?
Your Garry's Mod server is created and fully installed automatically, usually in about 60 seconds after checkout. You then open the panel, press start and copy your connect address.
Can I install mods and plugins on my Garry's Mod server?
Yes. Garry's Mod supports Workshop addons, Lua scripts, DarkRP, TTT and Gamemodes — install from a one-click menu or upload your own files over SFTP. There is no artificial limit.
Where are the servers located?
Puranode runs on EPYC + NVMe hardware in the EU (Finland), which gives low latency for European players. Puranode is operated by MB VARIANTAI, an EU company in Lithuania, and prices include VAT.
Can I move my existing Garry's Mod server to Puranode?
Yes. Upload your existing world and config over SFTP, or contact us and we'll help migrate it — free for the first setup.
Deploy your Garry's Mod server now
Create a free account, add credit and your server is online in about 60 seconds.