What is the difference between a dedicated server and host-based co-op?

A dedicated server runs the world on a machine that is not anybody's gaming PC, so the world stays up whether or not any particular player is online. In host-based co-op one player's game runs the world and everyone else connects to it, which means the world only exists while that person is playing.

Does Subnautica 2 have dedicated servers?

No. Co-op is peer to peer and host-based, with up to four players in one player's session, and Unknown Worlds have confirmed there are no dedicated servers. The game does provide a cloud upload key so another player can take a copy of the world and host it themselves.

Does Scrap Mechanic have a dedicated server?

Not officially. Survival and Creative multiplayer run through a host player's game. Some providers advertise Scrap Mechanic server rentals, but those run a copy of the game rather than an official dedicated server build from Axolot.

Why do people search for servers for games that do not have them?

Because the problem they are trying to solve is real even when the solution does not exist. What they want is for the world to be reachable when the person who started it is busy, and renting a server is the familiar way to get that. In a host-based game the equivalent fix is sharing the save so somebody else can host.

Is a dedicated server worth it for a small group of friends?

Usually not. A rented server bills every month whether you play or not, and it needs its mods and version kept in step with everyone's client. For a handful of people playing a couple of evenings a week, keeping the save current across their PCs achieves the same availability without the bill.

Which Co-op Games Have Dedicated Servers?

A lot of people arrive at this problem the same way: their group’s world is stuck on one person’s PC, so they search for “[game] dedicated server” - and find that for a good number of co-op games, no such thing exists.

Here is a straight answer for the games we get asked about most, and what to do when the answer is no.

Dedicated Server vs. Host-Based Co-op

Worth being precise about the difference, because it decides everything else.

A dedicated server runs the world on a machine that is nobody’s gaming PC. The world is up whether or not any particular player is around, and anyone can drop in at any hour. You rent it, or you run it yourself, and either way it needs maintaining.

Host-based co-op means one player’s copy of the game is the world. Everyone else connects to their session. Nothing of the world lands on anyone else’s disk, so when the host closes the game, the world closes with it.

Most smaller co-op games - and nearly all recent ones - are host-based. It is cheaper to build, needs no backend, and works fine until your group’s schedules stop lining up.

Which Games Have Dedicated Servers?

Game	Dedicated server?	What that means for your group
Valheim	Yes, official	Rent one, or share the world folder and take turns hosting
Barotrauma	Yes, separate SteamCMD app	Right call for a big crew; overkill for four friends
Project Zomboid	Yes	Pick co-op or a server and stay there - migrating between them loses characters
Palworld	Yes	Moving an existing co-op world onto one usually resets characters
Minecraft	Yes, but not from a launcher	Prism and CurseForge are clients; a server runs separately
Subnautica 2	No	Host-based, up to four players; built-in cloud key hands the world to another host
Scrap Mechanic	Not officially	Rentals exist but run a copy of the game, not an official server build
Big Walk	No	The host is the save; sharing it is the only way to break the dependency
How to Fish	No	Same shape - whoever runs the session owns the progress

If your game is not listed, the question to ask is simple: when the host quits, does the world stay up for everyone else? If not, it is host-based, whatever the store page calls its multiplayer.

What To Do When the Answer Is No

The world still lives in a folder on the host’s machine, and folders can move. That is the whole trick.

Close the game on the host’s machine so nothing is mid-write.
Find the save folder for that game - our per-game guides list the exact paths.
Copy it to the next host, same folder, same structure, same file names.
They host from it, and the group carries on.

Done by hand this works, and plenty of groups run this way for months. The two things that break it are both scheduling problems rather than technical ones: somebody forgets to send the save after a session, or two people host from copies made at different times and one evening quietly overwrites the other.

When a Server Is Genuinely the Right Answer

This is not an argument against dedicated servers. They are the correct choice when:

Your group is large, or spread across time zones, and people want to drop in at odd hours.
You want the world persistently up - crops growing, machines running - rather than only while someone plays.
You are already comfortable maintaining one, and the monthly cost is not a consideration.

They are the wrong choice when it is four friends, two evenings a week, and a bill that arrives whether or not anybody logged in - plus mod and version drift to keep on top of.

The Middle Option

SaveSync covers the gap: it keeps the co-op save synchronized across every PC in your group, peer to peer, so whoever is free tonight opens the current world and hosts. No server, no monthly fee, and no zipping folders into Discord at midnight.

It is a one-time purchase covering every supported game rather than a per-game rental, which is the practical difference for a group that plays several things.

Ask the Right Question

“Where can I rent a server for this game” is often the wrong question. The right one is “how do we make the world reachable when the person who started it is busy” - and for a host-based game, the answer is the save, not the server.

Further reading: SaveSync vs. dedicated servers, how to avoid paying for game servers, and how to play co-op when the host is offline.