Can I rent my own WARDOGS server?
The studio named three partners on Steam: QONZER, BisectHosting and xREALM. Rent from them. WD Help does not sell a slot and does not copy prices. We have not put our own box in the browser yet.
Early Access · three studio partners
Your own WARDOGS server
In the Steam post “The 11th Reason NOT To Buy WARDOGS” the studio named three approved hosting partners: QONZER, BisectHosting and xREALM. Rent on their storefronts. WD Help does not sell a slot and does not invent prices or an IP. Steam post →
What already exists
- The client has a server browser. The studio says this is not hidden SBMM: you see a list and you join yourself.
- A match holds up to 100 players and three teams. If a community box ever appears, slots are counted from that figure, not from “12 friends in a basement”.
- The Steam page discloses kernel Easy Anti-Cheat as its own line. A community box without the official binary and their EAC will not appear in the browser.
The queue at beta open is not dedicated servers
In the recap the studio separately walked through why thousands queued at the beta open: a Twitch-drops and DLC grant bug on their backend. Those were official match servers, not a community box. It does not describe rental today. Recap → · Where drops stand → · Is it down now →
What changed by Early Access
- The studio is no longer silent on hosts. Three names — QONZER, BisectHosting, xREALM — were said out loud in Steam News. Those are their partners, not ours.
- A home VPS “like Squad in an evening” is still not a studio promise. A box without their partner and the official binary will not appear in the browser — kernel EAC.
- On 30 September, in Update 0.1.2, the studio gave community-server admins two switches: a daily restart at a UTC time, and RCON AllowedHosts — who can reach RCON at all. We do not copy prices, SKUs, or an IP from this.
- Landings outside those three names can still be a queue for a page. Pay only a host the studio named, and only when a slot actually starts.
WD Help spec for day 0
This is our shopping list, not a Bulkhead letter. We size hardware like a 100-player tactical shooter: single-thread matters, a cheap node does not. No prepay.
| Browser name | WD Help |
|---|---|
| Slots | 100 · three teams |
| Region | Frankfurt · backup Amsterdam / London |
| Binary | Steam Dedicated Server only |
What we demand from a host
- Region: Frankfurt. Backup — Amsterdam or London. Skip the US.
- 100 slots, three teams, browser name — WD Help.
- High single-thread CPU (Ryzen 7000/9000 or a recent i7/i9), not an old Xeon on a noisy node.
- 16–32 GB RAM, NVMe, DDoS in the price, cores pinned — not a $12 shared node.
- Official Steam Tools binary only. A stranger exe or “their anti-cheat” — walk away.
- The box is visible in the in-game browser the same day. If not — a refund, not “wait for a patch”.
Who we watch — not who we pay
The first three are names from the studio letter. The rest are who we watched before that letter. A landing page is not our slot. Skip US-first hosts and “Minecraft for $4”.
| Host | EU | As of 11 September |
|---|---|---|
| QONZER | Named by studio | One of three approved hosting partners in the Steam post “The 11th Reason NOT To Buy WARDOGS”. We do not copy their price or SKU. |
| BisectHosting | Named by studio | Named by the studio in the same post. Community Hosted Servers go through their storefront, not WD Help. |
| xREALM | Named by studio | The third partner from that same Steam letter. We do not sell a WD Help slot and we do not invent an IP. |
| Loafhosts | Frankfurt | They write it plainly: nothing to pay until a binary exists. Sized for 100 slots, Frankfurt on the list. An honest waitlist. |
| GTX Gaming | Frankfurt · Amsterdam · London | The storefront already sells “instant setup” — that is marketing, there is no binary. EU cities and a 24-hour refund claim. Pay only when a slot actually starts. |
| G-Portal | Germany · typical EU | Not in the studio's three-partner letter. A large EU shooter host. Check their catalog yourself; we do not copy a SKU. |
| 4NetPlayers | Germany · EU | No SKU. A German Squad / Arma host. Worth a look on binary day, not as a prepay. |
| Nitrado | EU + global | No SKU. Often first to list a new Steam dedicated. Check Frankfurt and 100 slots, not the brand. |
How WD Help takes a slot
- Steam → Library → Tools grows an app named WARDOGS Dedicated Server.
- The studio named QONZER, BisectHosting and xREALM on Steam. Start there. A stranger exe or “their anti-cheat” — walk away.
- Open 2–3 hosts from the table. One question: can you start the official binary in Frankfurt at 100 slots today? No — next.
- Pay the first yes. Server name WD Help. No password until the squad confirms a join.
- Check: the box is in the WARDOGS browser, friends join without a third-party launcher. Then the IP lands on the site banner.
WD Help does not sell a slot and does not prepay. We have not bought a box. When we do, it is Frankfurt × 100 from the first of the three the studio named whose official Steam dedicated shows in the browser. Join and IP land on the banner only then. Official studio channels are Steam and Discord.
What you can do after the studio letter
In Steam News the studio named three approved hosting partners: QONZER, BisectHosting and xREALM. Community-box rental sits on their storefronts. WD Help does not sell a slot and does not copy their prices. A home VPS “like Squad in an evening” is still not a studio promise: kernel EAC cuts a stranger binary.
You can play on studio servers through the in-client browser. The studio says this is not hidden SBMM — you see a list and you join. Pick the region with lower ping, a full 100-player slot and three teams. Password rooms in the beta are for a friends invite, not a “secret community server”. A pirate binary will not join the list: kernel Easy Anti-Cheat cuts a stranger host.
The WD Help spec for our own box is unchanged: Frankfurt, 100 slots, official Steam dedicated, the name WD Help, no prepay. The studio has already named partners — Join and IP land on our banner only when our box is actually in the browser. Official channels are Steam and the studio Discord, not a stranger Telegram of “WARDOGS slots”.