The complete guide · 6 min read
Natural Selection 2 Server Hosting Explained: A Complete Guide
This guide covers running a Natural Selection 2 server in 2026: what the game asks of the hardware, the start options, the four JSON files that hold your rules, web admin, admin groups, Workshop mods and maps, and what the end of active development means for a server owner.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- Why NS2 Communities Still Run Their Own Servers
- CPU, Tickrate and Why Clock Speed Wins
- The Start Options That Define Your Server
- ServerConfig, MapCycle, ServerAdmin and BannedPlayers
- Admin Groups Without Handing Out Full Control
- Web Admin, Performance and RCON
- Workshop Mods and Custom Maps
- Hosting a Game That Is No Longer in Development
- What to Compare Before You Rent an NS2 Server
- Natural Selection 2 Server Glossary
- Natural Selection 2 Server Help and Next Steps
Why NS2 Communities Still Run Their Own Servers
Natural Selection 2 is a first person shooter and a real time strategy game at once. Each team has a Commander who looks down on the map, drops structures, gathers resources and researches upgrades, while everyone else fights on the ground. The marines bring rifles, shotguns, flamethrowers, jetpacks and Exosuits; the Kharaa evolve into Skulks, Lerks, Gorges, Fades and the huge Onos.
That mix of roles is why a good server matters more than in most shooters. A round only works when both Commanders are willing, teams are roughly even and the server keeps up when a dozen players fight at a Hive. Communities run their own servers to keep rookie nights friendly, host scrims with fixed rules, try new mods and keep a crowd of regulars who know each other.
CPU, Tickrate and Why Clock Speed Wins
The official NS2 wiki is unusually direct about hardware. It says the server does not make full use of many cores: at best it uses two threads, and one of them does the main processing. Hosts therefore favour high clock speeds over large core counts. The community figures the wiki prints look like this:
| Max players | Minimum clock speed in the wiki | RAM in the wiki |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | 3.0GHz | 2GB |
| 16 | 3.6GHz | 2GB |
| 20 | 4.0GHz | 2GB |
| 24 | 4.4GHz | 2GB |
Our NS2 servers start at 5.0GHz, above the wiki's figure for a full 24-player server, and the order form adds 5.2GHz+ and 5.6GHz+ tiers. The wiki also notes that the tickrate shown in web admin does not go above 30, and that a reading above 30 is a calculation error, so judge performance by how steady it stays during big fights rather than by its peak.
The Start Options That Define Your Server
Most NS2 settings are start options rather than lines in an ini file. The panel fills in the ones that tie the server to our network; these are the ones owners change:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| -name | The name shown in the server browser |
| -password | A join password; leave it out for a public server |
| -limit | The player limit, up to 24 |
| -map | The first map, ns2_summit if not set |
| -mods | Workshop mod IDs to load, separated by spaces |
| -webadmin, -webuser, -webpassword | Turn on the web interface and set its login |
ServerConfig, MapCycle, ServerAdmin and BannedPlayers
Since build 220 the rest of the configuration lives in JSON files, which the server creates on its first start. Each has one job:
- ServerConfig.json holds gameplay settings: rookie_friendly, the server tags, auto team balance, and end_round_on_team_unbalance, which ends a round when teams are too uneven (0.4, or 40 percent, by default).
- MapCycle.json sets the minutes between map changes, order or random mode, and the maps, including Workshop maps tied to their mod IDs.
- ServerAdmin.json defines admin groups and users.
- BannedPlayers.json lists bans with a name, ID, reason and expiry time, where 0 means permanent.
Auto team balance in NS2 does not swap players between teams. As the wiki explains, it holds a player from the bigger team in a special spectator mode until the numbers on the field even out, and that player may switch teams without penalty. Two settings control it: how many players over even it takes to start, and how many seconds to wait first.
Admin Groups Without Handing Out Full Control
The admin system in ServerAdmin.json is one of NS2's best features for a community. A group is either an allow list, where members may only run the commands named, or a block list, where they may run everything except the commands named. You might give moderators sv_kick and sv_say, and keep sv_ban and sv_reset for senior admins.
Users are listed by name with their ID and the groups they belong to. NS2 uses its own Steam ID format, so the wiki gives the conversion: for an ID written STEAM_0:0:X, use X times 2; for STEAM_0:1:X, use X times 2 plus 1. The 32-bit Steam community ID shown by common Steam ID converters is the same number.
Web Admin, Performance and RCON
The dedicated server includes a small web server. Started with the web admin options, it serves a page where you can watch the performance graph, see players and run console commands. For remote access it needs a login, either a single user set by -webuser and -webpassword, or several users from an .htpasswd file named with -webusers.
The same web server answers simple requests with JSON about the server, and it can run RCON commands sent as web requests, with the reply shown on the server console. Web admin listens on a port of its own (80 unless -webport sets another), so ask support which port to use on your server before you switch it on.
Workshop Mods and Custom Maps
- Find each mod's ID on its Steam Workshop page.
- Add the IDs to the -mods start option, separated by spaces, and restart the server.
- For a custom map, add an entry to MapCycle.json with the map name and its mod ID.
- Make sure the map has been loaded once through -mods before the cycle uses it.
- Check the log after the restart for mods that failed to load.
Avoid listing the same map twice when the cycle runs in order mode, as the wiki advises, and use the cyclemap console command when you want to move to the next map early. Because joining players download mods automatically, a long mod list mainly costs connection time for newcomers, so keep it to what your players actually use.
Hosting a Game That Is No Longer in Development
When Unknown Worlds ended active development in February 2023, it said it would keep hosting Matched Play servers so players can still find on-demand games. For a community server owner the end of development has a quiet upside: the build no longer changes, so mods and configs that work today keep working, and you are not caught out by surprise patches on a Friday night.
Keep a scheduled Steam Update task anyway. It costs nothing when there is no new build, and it means the server follows straight away if a fix ever does arrive.
What to Compare Before You Rent an NS2 Server
Natural Selection 2 is pickier about hosting than most shooters. Check these before you buy.
- Single-core clock speedNS2 runs its game logic on one thread, so ask for the clock speed, not the core count.
- Access to the JSON filesYour rules live in ServerConfig, MapCycle and ServerAdmin. You need to edit all of them.
- Start optionsMods, the player limit and web admin are start options. Make sure you can change them.
- Slots up to 24The server stops at 24 players. Offers above that are not more players.
- BackupsConfigs and admin lists take time to build. Check how long backups are kept.
- LocationTest the ping before you buy; it matters more than any spec sheet.
Natural Selection 2 Server Glossary
- Commander
- The player on each team who builds, researches and gives orders from above.
- Kharaa
- The alien team: Skulk, Lerk, Gorge, Fade and Onos.
- Hive
- The alien base structure that spreads infestation and spawns new aliens.
- Tickrate
- How many times a second the server updates the game; NS2 tops out at 30.
- ServerConfig.json
- Gameplay settings: rookie mode, tags, team balance and round end rules.
- MapCycle.json
- The map rotation, including Workshop maps.
- ServerAdmin.json
- Admin groups, their commands and the users in them.
- Rookie friendly
- A server flag and tag that marks a server as welcoming to new players.
- Matched Play
- Unknown Worlds' on-demand matchmaking servers.
Natural Selection 2 Server Help and Next Steps
Official sources and our own pages.
- Natural Selection 2 on SteamThe game, its Workshop and its news.
- Natural Selection 2 news on SteamUnknown Worlds' updates and the 2023 development notice.
- Gaming Deluxe control panelLogging in and using the panel tools.
- Our server locations
- Contact support24/7 help with mods, admin groups and start options.
How this guide was made: researched from the Steam store, Unknown Worlds' announcements on Steam and the official Natural Selection 2 wiki's Dedicated Server page (archived copy, as the live wiki did not answer our reads), drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Sources, checked 23 October 2026:
- Natural Selection 2 on Steam (Unknown Worlds, KRAFTON, 30 October 2012, Commander, lifeforms, open game code, Workshop mods downloaded on join)
- Unknown Worlds Entertainment ceases active development of Natural Selection 2, Steam news, 14 February 2023 (117 updates, Matched Play servers stay)
- Natural Selection 2 news on Steam (Matched Play v1.0, 9 December 2022; hotfix 344, 30 December 2022)
- Dedicated Server, official Natural Selection 2 wiki, archived copy of 27 December 2021 (server app 4940, start options, -limit max 24, JSON files, web admin, admin groups, CPU and RAM figures; the live wiki did not answer)
- Gaming Deluxe order form, Natural Selection 2 Dedicated Server