Your server location determines how fast data travels between your players and the server. Pick a datacenter close to your players and they get low ping. Pick one on the wrong continent and everything feels sluggish.
What Latency Actually Means
Latency (ping) is the time it takes for data to travel from a player's computer to the server and back. It is measured in milliseconds.
| Ping | Experience | |---|---| | 1-30 ms | No noticeable delay. PVP and building feel instant | | 30-80 ms | Slight delay. Rarely noticeable in survival. PVP is slightly harder | | 80-150 ms | Noticeable delay. Block breaking has visible lag. PVP is frustrating | | 150-250 ms | Significant lag. Rubber-banding starts | | 250+ ms | Nearly unplayable for most activities |
Netherlands: The European Hub
The Netherlands has some of the best internet infrastructure in the world. Amsterdam is one of the largest internet exchange points globally (AMS-IX). Dutch datacenters have excellent connectivity to all of Europe, the UK, and even the Middle East.
Typical ping from Netherlands servers:
| Player Location | Expected Ping | |---|---| | Netherlands | 1-5 ms | | Germany, Belgium, UK | 5-20 ms | | France, Scandinavia | 10-30 ms | | Spain, Italy, Eastern Europe | 20-50 ms | | Turkey, Middle East | 40-80 ms | | US East Coast | 80-100 ms | | US West Coast | 140-170 ms | | Australia | 250-300 ms |
Best for: European player bases. Mixed European/Middle Eastern communities. Small groups with some US East Coast friends (80-100 ms is still playable for survival).
US Hosting: East vs West
The United States is large. A server in New York performs very differently from one in Los Angeles.
US East (New York/Virginia) typical ping:
| Player Location | Expected Ping | |---|---| | US East Coast | 5-20 ms | | US Central | 20-40 ms | | US West Coast | 60-80 ms | | Canada | 10-30 ms | | UK / Western Europe | 70-90 ms | | Netherlands | 80-100 ms |
US West (Los Angeles/Oregon) typical ping:
| Player Location | Expected Ping | |---|---| | US West Coast | 5-20 ms | | US Central | 30-50 ms | | US East Coast | 60-80 ms | | Japan, Australia | 100-150 ms | | Europe | 140-170 ms |
Best for: North American player bases. US East is the best all-rounder for mixed US and European players.
How to Decide
Rule 1: Locate Your Players
Ask your community where they are from. If 80 percent are European, pick Netherlands. If 80 percent are North American, pick US. It is that simple.
Rule 2: Mixed Audiences
If you have players in both Europe and the US, pick the location closest to the majority. A 50/50 split? US East Coast is the best compromise. European players get 80-100 ms and US players get 5-40 ms.
Rule 3: PVP Matters More
For survival servers, 100 ms is barely noticeable. For competitive PVP servers, every millisecond matters. If your server is PVP-focused, pick the location closest to your PVP players.
Network Quality Matters More Than Distance
A poorly connected datacenter 500 km away can have worse latency than a well-connected one 2000 km away. Look for:
- Tier 1 network providers: Datacenters connected to multiple backbone providers route traffic efficiently
- DDoS protection: Game servers get attacked. Make sure the datacenter has DDoS mitigation
- NVMe storage: Chunk loading speed depends on disk performance, not just network latency
The Netherlands has world-class network infrastructure. AMS-IX (the Amsterdam Internet Exchange) is one of the busiest in the world. Data routed through Amsterdam reaches most of Europe in under 20 ms.
Can You Change Location Later?
Yes. On most hosts, migrating between locations means:
- Download your server files (world, plugins, configs)
- Create a new server in the new location
- Upload your files
- Start up and verify
World files can be several GB, so the transfer takes time. But no data is lost.
Space-Node's Location
Space-Node servers run in the Netherlands. This gives excellent connectivity across Europe with 5-30 ms ping for most European countries.
Need a server in the US or another European country? Contact our live chat or support team and we can arrange custom locations. Check the plans here.
