Running a minetest server on an old pc

[Laser0073]

Hi, I am going to create a dedicated minetest server for me and a few other people, and I was wondering what hardware a server needs to run smoothly. Going on the cheap, would a pentium d work? If not, what would be acceptible? Also, what should I tweak/add to the server? I want to run ~10 people. Thx! :)

[Calinou]

For 10 players, a Pentium D might struggle quite a bit, even if you're got 2 GB of RAM or more.

I suggest you try with that setup, and if it's too slow, try using dedicated_server_step = 0.2 in minetest.conf (it halves the tick rate, from 10 TPS to 5 TPS).

Don't forget about network bandwidth too (if people from the Internet connect to it), you'll need about 0.15 Mb/s download/upload per non-local player connected. So, if you have 10 non-local clients, you need to have 1.5 Mb/s download and upload at least, if you want it to work well.

[Laser0073]

OK, thanks for the advise! So how much ram would i need? I want to run quite a few mods, such as mesecons, pipeworks, moreores, technic, moreblocks, animals_modpack, unified_inventory, etc.

[Calinou]

OK, thanks for the advise! So how much ram would i need? I want to run quite a few mods, such as mesecons, pipeworks, moreores, technic, moreblocks, animals_modpack, unified_inventory, etc.

I would advise having at least 2 GB of RAM, 1 GB of RAM might be too few, even if you're running some lightweight GNU/Linux (without a desktop environment) like Debian or Ubuntu Server.

[Laser0073]

OK, thanks for the advise! So how much ram would i need? I want to run quite a few mods, such as mesecons, pipeworks, moreores, technic, moreblocks, animals_modpack, unified_inventory, etc.

I would advise having at least 2 GB of RAM, 1 GB of RAM might be too few, even if you're running some lightweight GNU/Linux (without a desktop environment) like Debian or Ubuntu Server.

Ok, I'll try to get 4GB. Thanks again!

[CWz]

honestly i had no issues running on Pentium D with 1 GB ram. 10 max players is probably the best it can do though

[Laser0073]

Yeah, I managed to get my hands on a pc with 2.5 gb of ram and a core 2 duo @ 2.66Ghz. Setting up the server will take some time, but I'll post how it went! :)

[Laser0073]

UPDATE: Installed debian minimal with 512mb of ram. As advised, i ordered 2gb more. Upgraded to 8400 @3ghz, & installed a 160gb hdd. Openssh is setup, and i'll have a working server within the week. Thanks guys, these forums saved me a lot of headache.

UPDATE: Starting to stress-test server. With 2 players putting lots of load on the server it uses ~50-80% of my 512mb of ram. Im running 2 servers on the core 2 duo, with one assigned to each core to avoid lag.

UPDATE: Added 2GB of ram. Running smoothly, no issues.

UPDATE: Switched to a rack server, with better specs. Old server had some power issues, so I got a Dell R200 Xeon quad core with 4GB of RAM.