How Custom and Private Servers Work on gats.io

gats.io lets you host your own match through the Host Game option, with three visibility modes: Public, Custom, and Private. You configure the rules (region, capacity, game type, weapons, armor, damage multiplier, starting upgrades, and more), launch the server, then share an invite link or let players find it in the server list. The catch: a hosted server stops automatically if it stays empty for a while, and you can only launch a new one after the old one has stopped.

Hosting options at a glance

All three use the same configuration panel — the difference is visibility and access, not the rule set.

What you can configure

When you host, the setup form exposes these settings:

• Region and city — North America or Europe, plus a city selection.
• Capacity — 1 to 81 players.
• Privacy — Public or Private.
• Game type — FFA, TDM, or DOM.
• Weapons — Any, or restricted to Pistol, SMG, Shotgun, Assault, Sniper, or LMG only.
• Armor — Any, No Armor, or Armor I–III only.
• Damage multiplier — 0.5x, Normal, 1.5x, 2.0x, 3.0x.
• Collision damage — None, Players, Objects, or Players and Objects.
• Starting upgrades — None, Tier One, Tier Two, or Tier Three.
• Recharge rates — Perk, Health, and Armor recharge each scale from 0.5x to 3x (perks up to 5x).
• Player speed and bullet speed — 0.5x to 2x.
• Block density — 0% to 100%.
• Toggles — Bottomless Mags, Disable Fog, Disable Score Squares.
• Description — optional text shown with the server.

This is the same rule set the game's own server browser filters on, so a Custom server with unusual settings (say, Pistol Only, No Armor, 2x speed) is a deliberate variant rather than a separate mode.

Step by step: hosting a server

1. Open gats.io in a desktop browser. Mobile devices are not supported for play — the site directs mobile visitors to stats.gats.io instead.
2. Log in or register an account (the host flow sits behind the login).
3. Choose Host Game and pick Public, Custom, or Private.
4. Set region, capacity, game type, weapon/armor restrictions, multipliers, and toggles as needed.
5. Select Host Server.
6. Expected result: a "Your server is running!" confirmation with an invite link you can copy, plus a Connect button.
7. Share the invite link (private sessions) or let players find it in the server list (public).

Managing and stopping

The Manage your server panel shows the running server and a Stop Server button. Two behaviors matter:

• A server automatically stops if it has been empty for a while — you don't need to shut it down manually after everyone leaves.
• A new server can only be launched once the old one has stopped. If hosting fails or the button seems unresponsive, check whether a previous server is still winding down.

Common snags

• "Servers aren't loading" — the page itself notes server outages can happen (the excerpt references a DDoS). If the server list is empty or hosting fails, it may be a platform-side issue rather than your settings.
• "You are already connected to this server!" — you're still attached to a session; disconnect before connecting elsewhere.
• Stats page down — the changelog area notes stats can be down for maintenance, so don't treat missing stats as a hosting problem.
• Invite link doesn't work for a friend — confirm the server is still running; an empty server may have auto-stopped before they joined.

Choosing between Public, Custom, and Private

• Pick Public when you want a full lobby quickly and default-ish rules are fine.
• Pick Custom when the rules matter (weapon restrictions, damage/speed tuning) but you still want players to discover the match.
• Pick Private for friend groups or when testing a configuration before opening it up — the invite link is the entry point.

In all cases, plan for the empty-server timeout: if you're organizing a match, send the invite link before the lobby sits idle too long.