How to Configure Proxmox for Game Servers

Why Proxmox for Game Servers

Proxmox VE lets you run multiple game servers as isolated containers or VMs on one physical machine. Each server gets its own resources, IP, and environment — a crash in one doesn't affect others. LXC containers are ideal for game servers: low overhead, near-native performance.

Hardware Recommendations

• CPU: High single-thread performance matters most (Intel 12th+ or AMD 5000+). Game servers rarely use multiple cores
• RAM: 16GB minimum for 2-3 game servers, 32GB+ for more
• Storage: NVMe SSD for container root disks, HDD for backups
• Network: Gigabit ethernet minimum

Network Setup

Use Proxmox bridges for game server networking:

• vmbr0 — bridge to physical NIC, gives containers direct network access
• DHCP or static IPs for each container
• For isolation: create separate bridges (vmbr1, vmbr2) with VLANs

# Example: give CT 200 a static IP
pct set 200 --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=192.168.1.100/24,gw=192.168.1.1

LXC vs VM

• Use LXC for: Minecraft, Terraria, Valheim, most game servers — near-zero overhead, shared kernel
• Use VM for: Windows game servers, or if you need kernel-level isolation
• LXC containers are the default recommendation for Linux game servers

Creating Game Server Templates

Create one configured container, then clone it:

# Create a base template
pct create 9000 local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard.tar.zst \
  --hostname game-template \
  --cores 2 --memory 4096 --rootfs local-lvm:20 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp

# Install common dependencies
pct enter 9000
apt update && apt install -y wget unzip screen
exit

# Convert to template
pct template 9000

# Clone for new servers
pct clone 9000 201 --hostname minecraft-1

Resource Allocation

• Minecraft: 2 cores, 4-8GB RAM, 20GB disk
• Terraria: 1 core, 1-2GB RAM, 8GB disk
• Valheim: 2 cores, 4GB RAM, 10GB disk
• Always leave 2GB+ RAM for the Proxmox host itself

Backup with vzdump

# Backup a container
vzdump 200 --storage local --compress gzip

# Schedule in Proxmox UI: Datacenter → Backup → Add
# Or via cron:
0 3 * * * vzdump 200 201 202 --storage local --compress gzip --mailnotification always

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