Swarm Hosts / Guides

FAQ

How does Swarm Hosts compare with Crafty Controller, AMP, and Pterodactyl?

The biggest difference is ownership of the management layer. Swarm Hosts runs the browser control plane while your games run on your hardware. Crafty, AMP, and Pterodactyl are panels you install and operate yourself, with different game, operating-system, licensing, and administration tradeoffs. Use the game server panel decision guide for a source-linked comparison or read about hosted and self-installed control planes.

Can I really use Swarm Hosts for free?

Yes. Free includes one connected host. Bring your own Windows 10/11 or Linux computer and use Swarm Hosts as the remote game server control panel. Linux can use Docker Engine or rootful Podman; Windows 10/11 uses Docker Desktop in Linux-container mode. You can run unlimited Swarm Servers on your own hardware, limited by the machine's CPU, memory, disk, ports, and the games you choose.

Do I need Docker?

You need a supported container runtime. Docker remains the default when it is available, and Linux hosts can use Podman by setting SWARM_CONTAINER_RUNTIME=podman before starting the agent.

What hardware do I need?

Use a Windows 10/11 or Linux PC, mini PC, home server, or VPS that you control. Linux hosts need Docker Engine or rootful Podman. Windows 10/11 hosts need Docker Desktop running Linux containers. Every host also needs enough resources for the game server and network access to the Swarm Hosts web app.

How does a swarm host get created?

The installer registers a new swarm host when you enter a valid one-use enrollment code. After enrollment, the agent uses that host's own credentials to reconnect automatically.

Where do I get an enrollment code?

Open Profile → Connect a host → Generate enrollment code. Enter the code when the installer prompts you. It can be used once and expires after 15 minutes. Account and API tokens cannot enroll hosts. Existing hosts keep their own credentials and do not need a new code for an ordinary restart.

Do I choose host ports manually?

Not in the current launch UI. Swarm Hosts assigns host ports automatically from the swarm host's allowed range.

Can I run multiple servers on one host?

Yes. By default the swarm host must still have available CPU, memory, and free ports. If you enable Allow over commit on the swarm host detail page, Swarm Hosts will stop enforcing CPU and RAM capacity for that swarm host, but free ports are still required.

Can I reserve only part of my computer for Swarm Servers?

Yes. As the swarm host owner, open Swarm Host → Operations → Capacity and choose Custom allocation, then enter CPU units and memory in MB. Swarm Hosts enforces that budget against the limits committed to Swarm Servers. Choose All detected resources to allow use of the reported machine capacity, or Automatic to retain the default 10% host reserve and scheduling based on current usage. Whole-computer CPU and memory pressure is reported separately because other applications can compete for the same hardware.

Custom or all-resource allocation cannot be combined with Allow over commit, and an allocation cannot be saved below resources already committed to deployments.

How do players connect?

Copy the player address shown on the Swarm Server page. It may use a managed relay, custom hostname, or host public IP. Use the displayed port and follow the game guide's connection steps.

What is the difference between Swarm Drone and Skitter?

Swarm Drone is the Discord assistant for slash commands. Use /swarm to link your account, list servers, check status and resources, view a redacted log tail, or queue a confirmed start, stop, restart, or backup. Use /support new to create a structured support case.

Skitter is the conversational support assistant. Mention @Skitter in #support for troubleshooting and continue in the thread it creates. Skitter does not receive general server-action access. See the full Discord bot guide for commands, privacy, and troubleshooting.

Do I need port forwarding?

Not when a supported deployment uses the managed shared relay. For direct public access from a home network, usually yes. Swarm Hosts shows assigned ports and public reachability so you can verify the path.

Are hosted relays and custom server addresses available?

Managed shared relay access and custom swarmhosts.com addresses are included in Free and Plus where the deployment path supports them. Neither plan includes a Swarm Hosts-operated dedicated private relay.

What do Free and Plus include?

During Early Access, accounts can have preview access instead of enforced Free or Plus limits. Check Profile for your current access. Choosing Plus at signup saves a preference; it does not start a subscription or charge you.

Free is $0 forever and includes one connected Swarmhost, unlimited servers on that host, managed shared relay, custom DNS, local backups, and core non-metered platform tools. Plus is $5/month or $50/year and removes count-based plan limits for normal self-hosted game-server use under fair use. Paid checkout is not open yet during Early Access. See the current comparison on the Pricing page.

If an account later moves from Plus to Free, Swarm Hosts keeps its registered hosts, deployments, and local backup data. New host registration is blocked while the account remains above Free's one-Swarmhost limit.

What if I run multiple swarm hosts behind one home router?

Give each swarm host a different host-port range with --port-range-start and --port-range-end. Overlapping ranges on the same account and public IP are rejected.

How do I manage files?

Open the Swarm Server and choose Files & Backups. Swarm Hosts supports browsing, uploading, editing, moving, deleting, and downloading files from the Swarm Server's persistent data directory.

How do backups work?

Open Swarm Server → Files & Backups → Backups to create a local backup, set a schedule, restore a backup in place, or restore it as a new server. Backups use storage on hosts you control; cloud backup storage is not included. Keep an independent copy and test restoration before relying on a backup. For moving a server to another host, see Move a Swarm Server.

Can game servers and backups use different drives?

Yes. Before creating the host's first Swarm Server or backup, the host owner can open Swarm Host → Operations → Game and backup drives, discover local drives or mounts, and choose separate non-nested folders. The selected backup folder contains primary/ for backups made on that host and replicas/ for Swarm Zone copies.

Choose these locations before adding game data. This setting does not move existing servers or backups. It accepts supported local folders and rejects network shares, symlinks, junctions, and locations that already contain managed data. If a selected drive is unavailable after restart, the agent keeps its last working selection and shows the problem on the host page.

See game and backup storage for setup details.

Can I keep backup copies on other hosts?

Yes. Protected servers in a Swarm Zone can copy backups directly between compatible hosts on the same local network. These copies do not travel through a relay or the Swarm Hosts web service.

Protected tiers target a snapshot every five minutes. Current agents transfer only missing file chunks after the first copy when possible; older compatible agents can still transfer the complete archive. The zone page shows whether copies are synced, missing, or stale.

Read the Swarm Zones guide for requirements, storage use, and automatic recovery from verified backups.

Which games are supported?

The public launch catalog currently includes:

Staging Games

These forty additional games appear under Staging in the launch menu:

They are available for evaluation while game client joining, server-browser listing, and gameplay remain awaiting manual validation. Staging does not promise crossplay, mod compatibility, game-specific Server Actions, or a successful backup restore. Begin with a disposable vanilla world and follow the staging evaluation guide.

Other games are not currently offered for new public Swarm Servers.

For multiple hosts, backup-copy health, and automatic recovery, see the Swarm Zones, Swarm Sync, and failover guide.

Can I share a swarm host or Swarm Server with another user?

Yes. Owners can open the host's Access view or the server's Settings → Access view and use Manage sharing to grant access to another registered user. Choose permissions for the tasks they need.

Does Contribution run other people's servers on my computer?

Not during the current Early Access phase. Contribution tracks declared capacity, qualification, and Contribution Power. Customer workloads on contributed hardware and contribution benefit access remain disabled. See Swarm Evolution and Contribution for the current controls and limits.

What does the Public Access badge mean?

It shows the latest external connection-check result for the server or host gateway. Check the game-specific readiness result too, then join with a game client to confirm players can use the server.

How do I remove a server?

Open Swarm Server → Settings → Danger zone and use Delete Swarm Server. Deletion takes priority over queued actions on that server, including backups. If an action has already been dispatched, deletion waits for it to finish safely, then runs next; chained follow-up work is skipped. Other servers' tasks remain independent. Cleanup waits while the host is offline. An action with an unknown outcome still requires inspection before automatic cleanup can proceed.

After host cleanup, the dashboard record, server-linked backup records, and schedules are removed. World files remain on the host and hosted backups remain in your account. Save a backup before deleting anything you want to keep. Use Force delete only when normal cleanup is stuck; it removes dashboard records immediately and may leave the container running.