A gaming server is a persistent online gaming environment that is set up on a personal computer or within a server hosting solution, such as a dedicated server or a cloud server. By setting up your own gaming server, you have full control over the game software that is installed, as well as any modifications (mods) you may have installed to customize your experience.
In addition, you can control who is able to connect to the server, limiting server access to only your friends and other approved players. Using a dedicated gaming server requires more initial setup, but it provides a number of unique benefits not offered by “official” game servers.