--- title: "A server for an event: pay for the evening, not the month" description: "The honest maths for a weekly event, the point where a monthly plan gets cheaper again, then scheduling, the Discord bot and the shared wallet." url: https://tickserv.com/guides/game-server-for-events site: "TickServ (https://tickserv.com)" lang: en published: 2026-10-16 games: [holdfast, barotrauma, mordhau] --- # A server for an event: pay for the evening, not the month A Holdfast regiment holding its line battle on Saturday, a Barotrauma crew picking its campaign back up on Thursday, a Mordhau clan training on Sunday: many communities play on fixed dates, one or two evenings a week. And many pay for it with a monthly server that sleeps the other five days. This page does the honest maths — including the point where a monthly plan becomes the right choice again — then shows how to switch the server on at event time without anyone having to think about it, and how to split the bill. ## The maths: 4 hours a week A 4-hour event every week is about **17 hours a month** (4 × 52 ÷ 12). Billed per started hour, server off at €0, with the sizes we recommend for each game: | Game | Recommended size | 17 h a month | Monthly plan reference | | ---------- | ---------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------- | | Holdfast | 8 GB Eco, €0.03/h | €0.51 | €8 | | Holdfast | 16 GB dedicated CPU, €0.13/h | €2.21 | €8 | | Barotrauma | 4 GB Eco, €0.02/h | €0.34 | €6 | | Barotrauma | 8 GB dedicated CPU, €0.10/h | €1.70 | €6 | | Mordhau | 8 GB Eco, €0.03/h | €0.51 | €20 | | Mordhau | 8 GB dedicated CPU, €0.10/h | €1.70 | €20 | Prices include VAT. The right-hand column is a **reference**, not a quote: it is the price we use for a monthly plan for that game, deliberately set below the entry level of the market. For Barotrauma it was checked on 8 September 2026 (entry offers around $7 a month); for Mordhau, on 10 October 2026 (one host's cheapest offer at $24 a month for 8 GB). For Holdfast it is **provisional**: hosts often rent it in player brackets, and this figure has not yet been taken from a specific price list. ### The point where monthly gets cheaper again Divide the reference by the hourly price and you get the number of hours beyond which the monthly plan wins. On dedicated CPU, that is about **60 hours a month** for Holdfast and Barotrauma — roughly 14 hours a week — and 200 hours for Mordhau. On Eco, the threshold is above 260 hours a month everywhere. A server that must stay visible all week, to recruit through the server browser or so anyone can drop in whenever they like, is a monthly-plan use. Take one: it is the right tool for that need. What follows is for communities that play at fixed times. ### What per-started-hour billing counts The meter starts when the server is running, not when it begins starting: startup minutes are not billed, and a start that fails costs nothing. Every hour begun is charged in full, once: a 3 h 20 evening costs 4 hours. At these prices, the difference is counted in cents. ## On time, without anyone thinking about it **Weekly scheduling** starts and stops the server on its own. You declare slots — a day, a start time, an end time, in your time zone — up to twenty. - The server **starts on its own** at the beginning of the slot. A slot our scheduler missed is caught up as long as it is not over; if you stop the server by hand mid-slot, it is not restarted. - During the slot, it **stays on even when empty**: the half-hour while the crew gathers does not switch it off. It is therefore billed for the whole slot. - ⚠️ At the end time, it **stops, even with players connected**. Put your margin inside the slot. - Outside slots, it stops by itself after **15 minutes without players**. - A slot fits within one day: it ends before midnight. For an event that runs late, start by hand or from Discord, and let auto-shutdown close up behind the last player. - A scheduled start needs a balance. Allow for the game's own startup time too. Measured on our pre-production: about 4 min 30 s for Holdfast and 4 min 20 s for Mordhau on a fresh machine, 1 min 13 s for Barotrauma. Have the slot begin a quarter of an hour before muster. ## Wake it from Discord Link your community's Discord to the server, and three commands are all it takes: **`/wake`** starts it, **`/status`** tells you whether it is running, **`/sleep`** stops it. Any member of the linked Discord can use them, without an account with us. It answers the 8:55 pm "is it up?", and the early arrival who wants to start the session without waiting for the organiser. Linking uses a one-time code, confirmed inside the Discord by someone with the "Manage Server" permission: nobody can attach your server to someone else's Discord. ## Splitting the bill: the shared wallet Even at a few euros a month, the "who pays?" question comes up eventually. The **shared wallet** answers it: you create it, you attach the server, and each member puts in their share, from their balance or by card. The server draws from the shared wallet **first**, then from your balance if it is empty. Anyone you have given access to the server can contribute, whatever their role. Only those who can already start it can attach a server: a plain member cannot have their own machine paid for with the group's money. ## Handing the keys to organisers: the invite link Event players need nothing more than the server address and its password. Organisers can receive an **invite link**, which you create from the "Share" window: - three roles: **Operator** (start, stop, manage the world), **Can start** (start and stop, without touching the world), **Member** (see the address and join); - valid for 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, single-use or reusable, and revocable at any time; - accepting it requires a TickServ account. The bill stays yours, or the shared wallet's. ## Game by game, what to know - **Holdfast**: up to 150 slots, no world to keep. No in-game admin access, and a full battle has not yet been measured on our servers: it is all in [the Holdfast line battle guide](https://tickserv.com/guides/holdfast-line-battle-server). - **Barotrauma**: up to 16 slots. Only a **campaign** writes a save, and it comes back untouched from one week to the next; a mission leaves nothing behind. Details in [the Barotrauma guide](https://tickserv.com/guides/barotrauma-server-hosting). - **Mordhau**: up to 64 slots, and a console in your dashboard. During acceptance testing, no real player has yet joined our Mordhau servers, and their visibility in the in-game browser is not proven: join using the address shown in your dashboard. ## Try it before the big day The first hour of play is on us. Run a rehearsal before the event: create the server, link the Discord, wake it with `/wake`, bring a few players in, and look at the statement afterwards. You will know what an evening costs you before bringing everyone along. > [Create your server](https://tickserv.com/app) · [What a server costs, in detail](https://tickserv.com/guides/game-server-cost)