Starting & Stopping
You control a server's running state with Start and Stop — and these are also your main cost controls.
Starting a server
Click Start on a stopped server (from its Console card or its instance page). The server:
- Moves into the Starting state while it provisions and launches the game.
- Charges its hourly rate (using any banked time first — see Pausing Billing by Stopping).
- Becomes Running when it's ready to accept players.
Stopping a server
Click Stop on a running server. The server:
- Moves into the Stopping state while the game shuts down cleanly (saving your world).
- Pauses billing — you're not charged while stopped.
- Banks any unused time from the current hour for next time.
Stopping never deletes your server or its save data.
Restarting a server
Some games offer a Restart, which stops and starts the server in one action — handy for applying certain changes or clearing a stuck state.
Give it a moment
Starting and stopping aren't instant — the game needs time to launch or to save and shut down cleanly. The status will show Starting or Stopping until the operation finishes. While in those states, the configuration blades are locked.