How Long Does It Actually Take to Get a Game Server Running?
Nobody publishes real cold-start numbers for game servers, so customers are left guessing. We measure ours, including the honest number when a server's own console log claims to be ready before it actually is. Here's what we've formally benchmarked so far.
Garry's Mod: 6.2 seconds, cold start
6.2s
mean, cold start, sandbox / no Workshop addons
Measured from container start to the server responding to a real source-engine status query (not just the console printing a ready line), across independent runs on real hardware. A fresh Garry's Mod server without a large Workshop addon list is genuinely fast to get running: this is the number, not a rounded-down marketing figure.
Rust: 51.5 seconds true-ready, with Fast Boot Mode
239.5s
vanilla, honest true-ready measurement
51.5s
with Fast Boot Mode enabled
"True-ready" here means the server was actually confirmed reachable, via a real status query, not just the point where Rust's own engine log claims to be done: in our measurement, the engine's self-reported ready time was roughly 30 seconds early compared to when it genuinely answered a query. Fast Boot Mode is an opt-in setting (off by default) that skips a few specific, real trade-offs to get there faster: see the FAQ below before enabling it.
What isn't on this page yet
We host Minecraft, Project Zomboid, Terraria, and DarkRP too, and don't yet have the same formally benchmarked cold-start numbers for those to publish honestly. Rather than estimate, we're leaving them off this page until they're measured the same way as the two above. We'd rather publish two real numbers than five guesses.
See it start yourself
Start a free GMod or Rust trial on Zeros Host: no credit card required. Watch the console from the moment you click launch.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Rust take so much longer to start than GMod?
Different engines doing fundamentally different amounts of work at boot. GMod's Source engine loads a map and initialises Lua, which is fast by design. Rust's world generation, entity spawning, and navmesh building for AI pathfinding are genuinely heavier processes, and that's before any steamcmd update check. The two numbers on this page aren't a fair fight between engines, they're just what each one actually takes.
What does "true ready" mean, and why isn't it just what the console says?
A server's own console log can report itself as ready before it's actually able to serve a real player: still finishing background world-generation steps, or not yet answering the A2S query protocol that server browsers and status tools use to check if a server is really up. "True ready" means we measured until the server genuinely answers an external query, not until it printed an optimistic line to its own log. In our Rust measurement, the engine's own claim was about 30 seconds early compared to true ready.
Does Fast Boot Mode work on every Rust server automatically?
No, it's opt-in and off by default (FAST_BOOT_MODE=1 to enable), specifically because some of what it changes is a real trade-off, not a free win: it skips ocean patrol path generation (removes cargo ship events) and reuses a baked terrain navmesh (NPCs won't adapt to player-carved tunnels). The 51.5-second figure on this page is what Fast Boot Mode delivers when it's on, not Rust's default out-of-the-box time.
Does a "cold start" mean anything different from restarting my server normally?
Cold start specifically means no cached files from a prior run helping the boot along, closer to a server's very first start than a routine restart. Routine restarts on an already-warm server are typically faster than these numbers, since the OS page cache and steamcmd's manifest checks have less new work to do.