Essential Linux Commands for Game Server Admins

You don't need to be a sysadmin to run a game server on a VPS — just a handful of commands. Here's the practical cheat sheet, grouped by what you'll actually do.

Quick answer

The Linux commands a game server admin uses most are cd and ls to move around, nano to edit configs, cp, mv and tar for files and backups, screen or tmux to keep a server running after you log out, top/htop, free -h and df -h for resources, and systemctl and journalctl for services and logs.

If you only memorise a handful, make it these — they cover ninety percent of day-to-day game-server admin on a VPS:

The rest of this cheat sheet groups every command by the job you're doing.

Moving around & files

pwd                 # where am I?
ls -lah             # list files, sizes, hidden ones
cd /home/gameuser   # change directory
nano server.cfg     # edit a file (Ctrl+O save, Ctrl+X exit)
tail -f logs/latest.log   # watch a log live

Keeping a server running: screen / tmux

If you start a server over SSH and close the terminal, it stops. screen (or tmux) keeps it alive in a detachable session:

screen -S mc            # new session named 'mc'
# start your server here, then press Ctrl+A then D to detach
screen -r mc           # re-attach later
screen -ls             # list sessions

Managing processes

htop                       # live process viewer
ps aux | grep srcds        # find a running game server
kill 12345                 # stop a process by PID
kill -9 12345               # force-stop if it won't die

Services (systemd)

systemctl status myserver  # is it running?
systemctl restart myserver # restart it
systemctl enable myserver  # auto-start on boot
journalctl -u myserver -f  # follow its logs

Permissions & ownership

chmod +x start.sh          # make a script runnable
chown -R gameuser:gameuser server/   # fix ownership

Disk, network & updates

df -h                      # disk space
ss -tlnp                   # what's listening on which port
ufw allow 27015/udp        # open a game port (ufw)
apt update && apt upgrade   # update (Debian/Ubuntu)

Master screen, systemctl and tail -f and you can run almost any game server from the command line with confidence.

Networking & diagnostics commands

• curl ifconfig.me — show your server's public IP, useful when sharing an ip:port with players.
• ss -tlnp — see exactly which process is listening on which port, the fastest way to debug "port already in use".
• traceroute host — trace the network path to a host, useful when diagnosing lag or packet loss.
• dig +short domain — check DNS resolution quickly without the noise of a full dig output.
• ping -c 4 host — a quick four-packet check that a host is reachable at all.

Log files worth knowing

• /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages — the general system log, first stop for anything not covered by a service's own log.
• journalctl -xe — recent systemd errors with extra context, the fastest way to see why a service failed to start.
• dmesg -T — kernel messages with human-readable timestamps, useful after an OOM kill, a crash, or a hardware/driver issue.

Good habits that prevent most Linux headaches

• Always try screen -r or tmux attach before assuming a server died — it may just be detached, not gone.
• Check df -h before every big update or backup so a full disk doesn't stop it halfway through.
• Keep a personal text file of your frequently-used commands and server-specific paths — you will forget them.
• Double-check the target of any destructive command (rm, kill -9) before hitting enter, especially over a slow SSH session.

Related guides

For a deeper dive on resource monitoring, see how to check CPU, RAM and disk usage. To lock a VPS down properly, read how to secure a Linux VPS and how to set up a firewall with ufw. If a scheduled task silently isn't running, check cron job not running.