Running an Unturned game server close to your player base reduces latency, improves tick stability and gives you more control over mods and persistence. For operators targeting Asia-Pacific audiences, a Hong Kong Server or Hong Kong VPS is often the optimal choice because of its low-latency links to mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. This article explains the practical and technical steps to host Unturned on a Hong Kong VPS, what to watch for from the network and system perspectives, and how Hong Kong locations compare with typical US VPS or US Server alternatives.
How Unturned servers work — high-level principles
Unturned is a Unity-based multiplayer survival game that supports dedicated servers. The dedicated server exposes game ports to handle client connections, Steam authentication/query services and optional remote management (RCON) or Workshop content downloads. Key architectural aspects to understand before provisioning a VPS:
- Game loop and tick rate: The server processes game logic on a main loop and sends state deltas to connected clients. CPU single-thread performance and consistent clocking matter for tick stability.
- Network I/O: Serving dozens of players requires low packet loss and low jitter. UDP is used for latency-sensitive gameplay traffic—packets must be delivered reliably and quickly.
- Persistence and IO: World saves, logs, and Workshop mod files require fast disk IO and consistent writes to avoid corruption during crashes.
- Compatibility: Unturned servers can run on Windows or Linux. On Linux you’ll often use the SteamCMD tool and run the dedicated server binary under an account, possibly within screen or systemd.
Why choose a Hong Kong VPS vs. US alternatives
When your players are in Asia-Pacific, choosing a Hong Kong VPS gives measurable advantages:
- Lower latency: Routing to Hong Kong is typically shorter for APAC players than to US Server locations, reducing round-trip time (RTT) and improving responsiveness for combat and movement.
- Better routes to PRC and nearby regions: Hong Kong has excellent transit and peering agreements with regional ISPs, which helps avoid international hops and reduces jitter.
- Localized bandwidth costs and throttling: Hosting in Hong Kong avoids transpacific links and often results in fewer restrictions than some home-country ISPs might apply to foreign-hosted games.
That said, a US VPS or US Server can still be appropriate if your player base is primarily in the Americas or if you need specific compliance or integrations located in the US. Choose the physical location according to where your players are concentrated.
Provisioning a Hong Kong VPS for Unturned — recommended specs
Server sizing depends on expected concurrent players, mods and tick settings. Below are baseline recommendations for a stable Unturned server experience:
- CPU: 4 vCPU minimum for up to ~30 players; prefer high single-core clock speeds and modern CPUs for improved tick handling.
- RAM: 8 GB for small/moderate servers (30 players); 16+ GB for large worlds, heavy Workshop content or many mods.
- Storage: SSD (NVMe preferred) for low-latency writes. 50–100 GB for base installs + Workshop caches; scale up as you add maps/mods.
- Bandwidth: 1 Gbps network port is typical on quality Hong Kong VPS offerings. Ensure the provider’s network supports sustained outbound traffic and has DDoS mitigation if you want resilience.
- OS: Ubuntu LTS or Debian for Linux installs; Windows Server if you prefer the Windows build.
Technical steps to install and run an Unturned server (Linux example)
The steps below outline a typical Linux-based installation using SteamCMD. Adjust as needed for Windows environments.
1) Prepare the VPS
- Provision a Hong Kong VPS with your selected CPU/RAM/SSD.
- Install an LTS distribution (e.g., Ubuntu 22.04) and create a non-root user for the game server.
- Harden the system: configure SSH key authentication, disable root SSH login, and enable automatic security updates if desired.
2) Install dependencies
- Install common packages: build-essential, ca-certificates, lib32gcc1 (if required), and screen or tmux for background sessions.
- Install SteamCMD (official Valve command-line tool) to download and update the Unturned server binary.
3) Download the server with SteamCMD
- Create a steam user and run SteamCMD under that user to install the Unturned Dedicated Server. Use the app IDs and validate the exact app id and depot for Unturned at the time of install (Steam updates may change IDs). Always run an update before launching.
- Download Workshop mod files to a dedicated directory if you use community maps or plugins.
4) Configure networking and firewall
- Open the necessary ports on your VPS and provider control panel. Unturned commonly uses UDP 27015 for gameplay and UDP 27016 for Steam query/RCON—verify the exact ports your build uses and the ports configured in your server launch args or config files.
- Allow SSH on a custom port for remote admin, and restrict it via firewall rules or a VPN.
- On Linux, configure ufw/iptables to only expose required ports and consider fail2ban for SSH abuse protection.
5) Server configuration and launch options
- Place server configuration files (e.g., Commands.dat, Server.dat, or a config JSON depending on the Unturned version) and set required variables such as server name, password, max players, and map.
- Use optimized launch arguments to reduce overhead, for instance running the server as a dedicated headless process, and attach to screen or create a systemd unit for automatic restarts and log control.
- Schedule regular world backups (cron or automated scripts). Backup both world files and Workshop/mod directories.
6) Workshop and mods
- Use SteamCMD or the server’s built-in Workshop sync to pre-download mod content. This prevents clients from experiencing lengthy downloads mid-join and reduces in-game lag related to content transfer.
- Organize mods in clear directories, and keep versioning so you can roll back in case of an incompatible update.
Operational best practices
Beyond installation, you should adopt operational procedures to keep the Unturned server healthy and provide consistent gameplay:
- Monitoring: Use tools like Prometheus/Node Exporter, or a hosted monitoring service to track CPU, memory, disk IO and network throughput. Monitor UDP packet loss and jitter if possible.
- Auto-restart and crash handling: Configure systemd units or supervised processes to restart the server after crashes and rotate logs to avoid disk saturation.
- DDoS and abuse mitigation: If you expect an open public server, choose a Hong Kong VPS provider that offers DDoS protection or quick mitigation options. Even small servers can be targeted.
- Backups and snapshots: Regularly snapshot the VPS and store backups off-instance to recover from data corruption or operator error.
Performance tuning tips
Small optimizations can significantly improve user experience:
- Pin the server process to dedicated cores (CPU affinity) to minimize interference from background tasks.
- Tune Linux network stack: increase UDP receive buffers (net.core.rmem_max and rmem_default) and adjust TCP/UDP queue sizes when expecting many concurrent connections.
- Prioritize SSD for the worlds/mods directory and use separate disks or cloud-block volumes for backups.
- Test with tools like ping, mtr and iperf3 from representative client regions to measure real latency, throughput and routing quality between your Hong Kong VPS and target player populations.
Selecting the right hosting option — practical trade-offs
When choosing between a Hong Kong Server, a US VPS or a US Server, consider these trade-offs:
- Latency and player location: Hong Kong is superior for Asia players; US locations are better for North/South America. Mixed audiences may require a multi-region strategy.
- Cost vs. performance: US Server pricing, peering and bandwidth costs differ—Hong Kong VPS providers may offer competitive bandwidth for APAC routing. Always compare sustained bandwidth, not just CPU/RAM specs.
- Compliance and data locality: Legal requirements and data sovereignty may force you to host in a specific jurisdiction.
- Support and management: Managed server options reduce ops overhead but add cost. If you prefer full control and automated CI/CD for mod updates, an unmanaged Hong Kong VPS makes sense.
Summary
Hosting Unturned on a Hong Kong VPS provides a low-latency, well-peered environment for APAC players and can deliver superior gameplay responsiveness compared with many US VPS or US Server alternatives when your audience is regional. Focus on correct port management, stable CPU and SSD performance, network tuning, and operational practices like monitoring, automated backups and DDoS protection. With a properly sized Hong Kong VPS and an automated deployment pipeline (SteamCMD + systemd or Docker), you can run a resilient, low-latency Unturned server that scales with your playerbase.
If you’d like to evaluate Hong Kong VPS options and capacity tiers for production Unturned deployments, see the Hong Kong VPS plans available at Server.HK Cloud.
