DatHost.Net Minecraft Hosting Full Review
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to use a wide variety of Minecraft server hosting providers, from budget-friendly options to premium, feature-rich services. This experience has given me a unique perspective on what makes a hosting provider stand out. I understand the challenges of finding the right balance between performance, ease of use, and affordability, especially when setting up servers for Vanilla Minecraft or heavily modded gameplay.
DatHost.net offers an intriguing package: a single server option with 16GB of RAM at an affordable $13.62/month when paying monthly.
In this review, I’ll take you through the features, evaluate the hardware, and demonstrate how to set up both Vanilla and modded servers on their platform.
I'll also put this server through its paces by running a larger-sized modpack to see how well it performs under real-world conditions. I'll be doing this over several weeks of real-life usage with several players and will update this post with details.
TL;DR
Watch the video
Want to see a video version of this server setup? Check it out here!
Key Features of DatHost.NET
DatHost.net stands out with its simple yet powerful offering: a single server package. This means no confusing tiers or pricing structures—just 16GB of RAM and robust server hardware for all users.
A Ryzen 7900, AMD EPYC 7443 CPU or similar underpins their hosting. This server-grade processor is optimized for multitasking and stability, making it suitable for hosting Minecraft worlds with plugins, mods, or large player counts. We'll talk a bit more about these processors in more depth.
The service supports automatic installation for Vanilla and Paper servers and allows modpack installation via CurseForge URLs, simplifying setup for users of all experience levels.
The pricing is the major feature. At just $13.62/month for 16GB of RAM, it’s highly competitive and very accessible for small to medium-sized communities or players running modded setups. This price point makes this a great server for a single user to play on a server to benefit from performance improvements, automated backups, and 24/7 availability from anywhere with no firewall changes.
Hardware Performance Overview
The no-frills server selection means there's little to think about when signing up. Let's talk about the hardware that you get with your standard server.
High End AMD EPYC 7443, Ryzen 7900 (or Equivalent)
According to the DatHost Minecraft Page, one of the CPUs you might get is the AMD EPYC 7443, which is a server-grade CPU designed for reliability and multitasking. It features 24 cores and 48 threads, which excel in handling multiple tasks simultaneously. For Minecraft, this means smooth performance for plugins, mods, and background processes.
Minecraft heavily relies on single-threaded performance for tasks like entity updates, mob AI, and chunk loading. While the EPYC 7443’s 2.85 GHz base clock (4.0 GHz boost) is very good, how well it performs depends a lot on how the host provisions their server resources. The true test is to see how it performs on a server with several players and hundreds of mods vying for that single-thread.
Overall, the EPYC 7443, Ryzen 7900, or equivalent is a good processor and should perform well for most Minecraft server scenarios, especially Vanilla or moderately modded worlds.
I asked, and the CPU on my server is a Ryzen 5950X, which is a bit less performant than a Ryzen 7900 on single-thread, but still a great CPU. I'm having no issues on my server with performance.
16GB of RAM
The standard 16GB if RAM is quite generous for a Minecraft server, and RAM is indeed a major performance factor. For this price point, 16GB of RAM is quite a lot and is therefore a good value!
Purchasing your DatHost Server
First go to the DatHost.net Homepage and select a Minecraft server. Read further down the page to see their features. You can see that they offer one package that includes:
- 16GB RAM
- RYZEN 7900 or comparable CPU
- 30GB Disk space
There's only one server package on DatHost! Click Order Now.
Select a server location. It will show you the locations closest to you with the best ping times. As of the time of this post, they have servers in many different locations, and every continent (except Antarctica, of course. Sorry, Sir Shackleton)
- US (Denver, Dallas, LA, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, NY, Miami)
- Toronto, Canada
- Brazil
- London, UK
- Paris, France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Japan
- Spain
- Ireland
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Norway
- Chile
- Poland
- Australia
- Turkey
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- South Africa
Next we'll choose the type of server. If you're going to run a vanilla server, Paper is a great choice. Players can connect to this server with a vanilla client and the server has way better performance. Plus, you can add plugins. You can also choose a modded server type here. In the end it doesn't matter as you can change this in the control panel. If you aren't sure yet, just install Paper.
Down lower on the screen, select the server version and click next to enter your account details
From here you'll create your account, after which you can enter your credit card or PayPal info.
After you go through the simple payment process, you'll end up on your dashboard.
Select your server, and you can then go through the settings.
Minecraft Server Control Panel
First, get familiar with the Server Control Panel. You'll start on the settings page. Here you can change many of the Server settings, like your Server name and you can select a custom domain. This is the domain you give to your players, and if you use a custom domain instead of the IP address, you don't have to give them a port.
Settings
The Gameplay settings are where you can set the game options, like difficulty, game mode, PvP settings and more.
If there are settings that you aren't able to find, you can always edit them in the File Manager by editing server.properties directly. You can also ask their very responsive tech support for assistance. They respond quickly over email.
In the Settings, you can also change your World settings, like the seed, and you can change the location of your server.
Let's go through the process of setting up a few server configurations
Server Type
Setting Up a Vanilla or Paper Server
In Server Type, choose Paper, Spigot, Purpur or any of the Vanilla server settings.
If your server isn't already on Paper, you'll be prompted if you want to change the type.
After you reset the server and change the type, the server will reboot. You can then move on to the Mods & Plugins section to install any mods. Or you can upload any plugins using the file manager.
Setting Up a Modpack Server with CurseForge
One of DatHost's standout features is the ability to install modpacks using CurseForge URLs. Follow these steps:
- Find Your Modpack. Copy the CurseForge URL of the modpack you want to use.
- Input the URL. Paste the URL into the server setup interface.
- Customize Settings. Configure server options specific to the modpack, such as memory allocation and modpack-specific settings.
- Launch the Modpack Server. Start the server and connect to your modded world.
This feature simplifies the often complex process of setting up modded servers. There's more information on this below in the Mods & Plugins section.
Mods & plugins
Depending on the type of server you set up, you'll have different options available in the Mods & Plugins menu. This is where you can install plugins and even select a modpack.
Since I'm currently set up with a Forge server, I can install a modpack by pasting the CurseForge URL for that modpack into the interface.
If I was running a Paper server, the above screen would not be available to me, and instead I could manage plugins in the Bukkit Plugins screen. Since I'm running Forge, I get an error on this screen and options to change my server type.
After changing the server type to Paper, I can now upload Bukkit Plugins.
File Manager
The file manager allows you to manage the files on the server directly. Here you can edit the server.properties file, whitelist.json, and even manage your world directories. For example, if you upload a world, you can unzip it here and set the name properly by renaming the folder or editing server.properties to match you uploaded world name.
FTP Login
At the bottom of that page is your FTP login information if you want to manage files from your computer desktop FTP application.
Commands
The commands screen allows you to enter any server command on a schedule. You can also initiate server restarts. So you can send a message to your players and restart the server on a daily basis for example.
Console
The Console screen gives you access to your server's console where you can watch what's happening on the server and issue commands.
Wipe Server
The Wipe Server option allows you to restart with a new world on your existing server. It leaves the server intact while resetting the world.
Reset Server
The Reset Server option clears the entire server of whatever modpack or server you're running and resets it to default settings. This is a good idea if you're changing modpacks entirely. Be sure to download your world first!
Backups
The backups screen shows you your automated backups and you can initiate your own manual backups as well.
Pros and Cons of DatHost
Pros:
- Competitive pricing at $13.62/month for 16GB of RAM.
- Robust hardware with an AMD Ryzen 7900, AMD EPYC 7443, or similar CPU
- Easy server setup for both Vanilla and modded servers.
- Automatic modpack installation via CurseForge URLs.
- MySQL databases are included.
Cons:
- Many of the server options that you may be used to from a Multicraft server platform aren't available in the interface requiring you to edit the server.properties file directly, and manage files in the file manager or via FTP. You can also request assistance from DatHost support.
- There is no world management or upload option. You manage worlds directly in the File manager, which is just a bit more technical.
Servers are fixed at 30GB of disk storage.Update: DatHost just added an option to purchase additional disk space, so this is no longer an issue!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get additional ports on your DatHost server?
Yes, you can add custom ports for your Minecraft server. In general, you can ask their tech support team to add them for you, which they'll do promptly.
If it is for voice chat, DatHost Minecraft servers have a "Voice port" automatically assigned. If the system detects that the Simple Voice Chat plugin is present on the server and no config file is written for it it will automatically create the appropriate mod config file with the "Voice port" configured. If your server doesn't have this, it may have been created before this feature was added. Contact their support team for help.
Is DatHost Right for You?
DatHost.net is an excellent choice for Minecraft players seeking budget-friendly hosting with reliable performance. While the options are limited, the 16GB server at a very reasonable price can support most server situations. The combination of price, features, and performance makes it a great option for many.