Host Havoc started in 2013 as a private hosting service provider in Canada, but it quickly opened up to the public and expanded its network. Today, it’s one of the strongest gaming hosts, with over 75,000 customers.
This is what it offers to gamers:
Specs and Supported Games
Host Havoc supports 25 of the most popular games, including ARMA 3, CS: GO, GMod, DayZ, and Minecraft. It’s not bad, but it pales in comparison to GTXGaming’s 70+ games.
The dedicated game server hosting covers 11 global data centers—seven in the States and four are in the UK, Germany, France, and Australia. It would be nice to see an Asian server too, but this is still decent coverage.
Host Havoc has great hardware. All services run on robust Intel Xeon CPUs, DDR4 RAM, and NVMe SSDs, making the host blazing-fast.
If you’re a beginner, you should go for standard game hosting. These plans are fully managed by the provider and you don’t even have to worry about the resources. Host Havoc will charge you based on the player slots you need for your dedicated gaming server.
The number of slots you can go for depends on the game. Some games start at around ten slots, though most require at least 20-30. The maximum number on the standard plans is 100-150, depending on the game.
This means Host Havoc is more suitable for larger gaming parties and public servers. If you want to play with two or three friends, you can find a cheaper option.
Host Havoc’s Minecraft, Eco, and Hytale servers are an exception. You can purchase between 1GB and 16GB RAM, which works for four to 250 players.
If you’re more technically inclined, Host Havoc’s VPS or dedicated game servers might be the right choice for you. These come with a bucketload of resources, an OS of your choice, and an optional gaming control panel. They are unmanaged, though, so server administration chops are required.
Host Havoc has a solid data center network with even better systems inside.
Features
Host Havoc sets up your server instantly. Well, a server is technically ready as soon as you sign up, but you still need to customize it, making yourself an admin and installing the mods you want to run.
Speaking of, Host Havoc’s video game server hosting integrates Steam Workshop, so you get access to thousands of mods. This is one of the most established mod repositories and it lets you install anything for free in just a few clicks. You can connect other modding platforms like uMod via the API.
The Host Havoc servers come with TCAdmin, which is the most established game control panel. It features FTP access, game and plugin updates, a map installer, player management, TeamSpeak, backup capabilities, scripting support, advanced monitoring, and much more.
The servers are protected from DDoS attacks, which goes a long way in ensuring service reliability. Host Havoc also follows other good security practices like employing 2FA for logins. Daily backups are there so you can roll back the private game server if something happens.
Host Havoc has a public pay system you can use to accept donations from players—nice if you want to monetize a server easily.
Pricing
Host Havoc charges you based on open player slots. The price to rent a game server depends on the number of players you want to support. Pricing varies somewhat between games as well and the rates taper down the more slots you purchase.
Most games start at around $0.50/month per slot and go up to $0.30/month per slot. This means the average starting server costs about $10-$15 per month, which is alright for about 20 players.
If you want a premium TeamSpeak server to go along with the game server hosting services, it’s available for $0.20/month per slot. Extra services like website hosting cost as little as $2.63/month.
Host Havoc is on the pricey side as far as starting costs go. Considering the service quality and the resources, though, the deals are fair.
If you’re unsatisfied with the service, Host Havoc has a 72-hour money-back policy. You can ask a few buddies to join your server and see how it handles actual traffic before committing.
Verdict
Host Havoc is one of the most complete game server hosting options. It provides all the features you might need, has plenty of room to scale, and maintains excellent infrastructure. It is undoubtedly one of the best dedicated game server hosting services on the market. Just make sure it supports your favorite game.