Ghost Open-Source Game Server Hosts Minecraft and Valheim Instantly
Quick Reads
- Ghost lets you spin up dedicated game servers for Minecraft, Valheim, Rust, and more in seconds.
- Servers run on your own Hetzner Cloud account, cutting costs compared to AWS or GCP.
- The platform is fully open source, built by developer Hayden Bleasel.
- Currently only Hetzner Cloud is supported, but more backend adapters are planned.
- Ghost ranked #1 on Product Hunt on its launch day, May 9, 2026.
Self-hosting just got much easier for gamers. Ghost, an open-source dedicated game server platform, lets users spin up Minecraft, Valheim, Rust, Palworld, Enshrouded, and Terraria servers on their own Hetzner Cloud accounts in seconds. The Ghost open-source game server launched today on Product Hunt and quickly claimed the top spot.
The platform targets gamers who want to avoid expensive, overly complicated hosting solutions. Community members have already pointed out that Hetzner offers a far cheaper option than AWS or GCP for running game servers. Ghost builds on those savings by providing a clean, simple setup process.
The tool is built by Hayden Bleasel, who was transparent about the reasoning behind open-sourcing it. Bleasel said he open-sourced Ghost so people can learn from it, and so the community can work together to support every dedicated game server out there. That collaborative spirit has already drawn strong early interest.
There are, however, some features still in development. Currently, the platform only supports Hetzner Cloud as a backend. But Bleasel has indicated he plans to make the backend swappable with adapters, eventually allowing providers like OVH Cloud as alternatives. Auto-restart and self-healing for crashed servers is also on the roadmap.
For small gaming groups in particular, the Ghost server is a compelling option. The full project is available on GitHub, and the platform is accessible at useghost.sh. It is free to use and fully open source.
