What is TSPG: Painkiller?

Updated

TSPG: Painkiller is a free Zandronum multiplayer server hosting service based in St. Louis, MO, USA, aimed at the North American community. If you want to run your own Zandronum servers without setting up the infrastructure yourself, you can register an account on the site and start hosting; the trade-off is that the service is tied to a specific region and cluster, so players outside North America may see worse latency than on a closer host.

What the service actually provides

The site describes itself as a "free Zandronum hosting solution" offering "high quality and lag-free multiplayer servers for the North American community." In practice, that means:

  • Zandronum server hosting — you sign up, then host your own servers through the platform rather than running a dedicated machine.
  • A North American location — the cluster sits in St. Louis, MO, which is the main reason the service targets NA players.
  • A shared ecosystem — server lists, server stats, and a WAD repository are part of the same site, so players can find and join hosted games from one place.

Who it is for

TSPG: Painkiller fits you if you play or organize Zandronum multiplayer sessions with a mostly North American player base and you don't want to maintain your own server. It is less suitable if your players are concentrated in Europe or other regions, since the physical location of the cluster is the dominant factor in ping.

If you're in the European community, the site's navigation points to a sibling cluster, TSPG: Euroboros, which serves the same role for that region. The two are part of the same TSPG network, so the choice between them is mostly a question of where your players are.

How to get started

  1. Create an account. The site has a User Area with Login and Register links; hosting requires signing up.
  2. Host a server. Once registered, you can set up your own Zandronum servers through the platform.
  3. Get help if needed. The site links an official Discord for hosting support, updates, and community chat, and asks that you read the Discord rules before interacting.

The site also publishes Rules, Policies, and an FAQ, which are worth reading before you host — they define what is and isn't allowed on the clusters.

Costs and sustainability

Hosting is described as free. The project is supported through donations: a Patreon for TSPG (with Discord and hosting benefits for patrons), plus Ko-fi and PayPal options for the maintainers. Donations are framed as covering cluster payment costs, so the free hosting depends on community support rather than a paid tier. The site does not list any pricing for hosting itself.

Things to keep in mind

  • JavaScript is expected. The site notes that content is squeezed by sidebars unless JavaScript is enabled to autohide them, so a script-blocked browser will look broken.
  • Region matters more than features. The main decision variable is whether St. Louis is a good network location for your players; everything else about the service is standard Zandronum hosting.
  • It's one node in a network. If Painkiller doesn't fit your player base, check the other TSPG clusters before assuming the whole network is wrong for you.