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Free on your own PC

Free Vintage Story dedicated server on your own PC

Vintage Story isn't on Steam — NodeMesh downloads the server and a matching .NET runtime straight from the official sources and unpacks them side by side, so there's nothing to install system-wide on your PC. On a real Windows PC we watched it install, boot and save its world inside the server's own folder, after fixing a bug that stopped a fresh server from starting at all. Vintage Story is in Beta on NodeMesh, on the Windows or Linux PC you already have.

Free on your own PC — one host, no time limit.

How it works on your PC

1

Install the agent

Sign up, then paste one command from your dashboard on the PC that will run the server — PowerShell on Windows, a terminal on Linux. The agent installs as a service and pairs with your account.

2

Pick the game

Choose the game in the panel. NodeMesh downloads the dedicated server, sets it up and starts it, and you watch every step in the live console.

3

Share the address

Switch on the traffic relay for the server and the panel gives you a public address. Send it to your friends: their traffic goes through the relay to your PC, so you never open a port on your router.

What your PC needs

Memory for the server (minimum)2 GB
Memory for the server (recommended)4 GB
WindowsSupported (newer, in beta)
LinuxSupported

The memory figures are for the game server alone. If you also play on the same PC, the game itself needs its own memory on top.

Friends join without port forwarding

Players need to own Vintage Story themselves (the dedicated server is free to run). In the game client: Multiplayer → Connect to Server → paste the address the panel gives you. Only the game port goes through NodeMesh's relay, so nothing needs opening on your router — just make sure your friends' client version matches the server's, or it'll refuse the connection.

Good to know

Vintage Story and a portable .NET 10 runtime both come from official sources as one install — no Steam account and no system-wide .NET on your host. Every save, world and config file lives inside the server's own folder, so your backups always include it. There's no RCON for this game, and no player-count query, so the panel can't show who's online. The Config tab currently covers server name, password, player cap, public listing, whitelist mode and default role — the whitelist toggle doesn't take effect yet, a defect we found and are leaving open rather than guess at the fix. There's no mod support wired up yet, even though Vintage Story has its own mod site NodeMesh could pull from later.

What is free

One host — your own PC — is free with no time limit, for up to 5 game servers: the web panel and console, the config editor, the mod manager, auto-restart on crash and the traffic relay. Extra hosts cost credits.

See pricing →

Beta: this game runs on NodeMesh today, but our full hardware test of it is not finished yet. We would rather say so than call it stable.

Questions

Do I need Steam for this?

No. Vintage Story isn't distributed on Steam — NodeMesh downloads the dedicated server and a matching .NET runtime directly from the official sources, both pinned inside your server's own folder.

Does it run on Windows and Linux?

Both. We install the matching pinned build and .NET runtime for whichever OS your host runs, with no system-wide .NET install needed.

Is there a Whitelist Mode toggle I should avoid?

For now, yes — we found that the Whitelist Mode control on the Config tab doesn't actually change anything on the server yet, and we're leaving it open until we can confirm the real values it needs rather than guess.

Is it really free?

Yes, for one host. Running game servers on your own PC is free with no time limit — up to 5 servers, traffic relay included. You only pay, in credits, if you add more hosts.

Why is it marked Beta?

On a real Windows PC we found and fixed a bug that stopped a fresh server from starting, then watched it install, boot and keep its world inside the server folder through a stop and restart. A real player joining a session, and the rest of the Config tab, are still ahead of us, so the Beta label stays for now.

Your server, on your PC

Create an account, install the agent and pick the game. One host is free with no time limit.

Create a free account