A private Squad server gives your group one shared place to play together on your own schedule, instead of trying to line up around whichever public session fits that day. The usual problem with game server hosting is paying for hours when nobody is using the server. With EphemeralHost, you create the server in the browser, start it when your group is ready, and stop paying when it sits idle because it pauses itself after inactivity. Squad runs on the Modded tier and costs from 1.19 €/h. This guide covers when that setup makes sense, how to get started, how sharing works, and what happens after the session ends.
Why a private Squad server can work well for a friend group
For a lot of friend groups, Squad is simply easier to enjoy when everyone has one shared place to meet. Instead of searching for a public server that fits the moment, your group can plan around its own session and focus on playing together.
That matters even more if you want to bring back the same people regularly. A private server gives your group a familiar place to return to for repeat nights, whether that means occasional weekends, a planned evening, or a session that comes together at short notice. The experience stays centered on your friends rather than on whatever public option happens to line up.
For many groups, the real question is not whether renting a server is possible. It is whether the cost makes sense for how often the group actually plays. If your sessions are irregular, paying for time nobody uses can feel hard to justify.
That is where the pay-while-you-play model can fit well. Squad on EphemeralHost runs on the Modded tier and is priced from 1.19 €/h. Billing is per minute and applies only while the server runs, which can make more sense for occasional sessions instead of keeping a server active between game nights.
If you want to compare costs or see the full price list billed per minute, you can do that before deciding. And if you want the game-specific details for Squad itself, see the Squad page.
How your group gets a Squad server running
Getting a Squad server live for your friends is meant to be a short, practical process.
First, create the server in the browser. Then pick the slots that fit your group. After that, you simply wait until people are actually ready to play before starting it.
When the session is about to begin, start the server in the panel or with the /start command in Discord. That keeps the flow simple for a friend group: set it up ahead of time, then start it when everyone is ready to meet in the same place.
Once the server is running, the panel shows the address. That is the part you share with your friends so they can join the session. From there, the focus is not on technical administration. It is just about getting everyone into the same game night with as little back-and-forth as possible.
If you want the Squad-specific details for price and joining, the Squad page covers those game-specific steps. This guide stays at the group level on purpose, so you can understand the overall flow without getting pulled into extra setup detail.
In practice, the pattern is straightforward:
- create the server in the browser
- pick the slots for your group
- start it when people are ready
- copy the address the panel shows
- send it to your friends
That basic flow is the same kind of friend-first idea you may have seen in guides for OpenTTD, Luanti, Enshrouded, Satisfactory, Factorio, Mordhau, Palworld, and Vintage Story. The aim is the same here: one shared place for your group, without turning the evening into a server project.
Sharing the server with your friends
After the server is started, sharing it with your group is simple. One person just takes the address shown in the panel and sends it to everyone else who is joining that session.
That small step is what makes the whole setup feel practical for a friend group. You are not rebuilding the plan from scratch each time you want to play. Instead, your group has one server to meet on, and the person organizing the session can pass along the address when it is time to gather.
This works well in a few common situations:
- a planned night where everyone agrees on a time
- a spontaneous evening when people decide to play at short notice
- a recurring session where the same friends want to regroup
The main point is coordination, not administration. One friend starts the server, shares the address, and the rest of the group knows where to go. That keeps the process centered on getting people together instead of turning the session into a technical task.
There is no need to go deep into in-game joining details here. Those game-specific steps are covered on the Squad page, so this guide can stay focused on the simple part that matters for most groups: start the server, share the address, and bring everyone into the same session.
What happens when the session ends
When the session wraps up, you do not need to remember to shut everything down right away. By default, if nobody is online, the server pauses by itself after 20 minutes.
That idle pause setting is adjustable per server. If your group tends to take longer breaks between rounds or wants more flexibility during a longer evening, you can change it to:
- 1 hour
- 3 hours
- never
When the server pauses, the saved game state stays saved. For a friend group, that is the practical part that matters most. You can finish for the night, let the server pause when nobody is there, and come back later without needing it to keep running the whole time in between.
That setup fits groups who play on uneven schedules. Maybe you meet one evening this week and then do not get everyone together again until later. The server does not need to stay active just to hold your place between sessions.
Games with a world are also backed up at every pause, and the last 3 backups are kept for free. That gives your group a recent set of saved points tied to those natural stopping moments.
If you want more frequent backups, Backup-Plus backs up hourly and keeps 30 days for +€0.05/h. Like other add-ons, it is billed only while the server runs.
Paying only for the time you use
EphemeralHost uses prepaid credit instead of a subscription. That means your group adds credit to the account and uses that balance when the Squad server is running, rather than signing up for a recurring monthly plan.
That model is useful for friend groups whose schedule is uneven. Some groups play a few evenings close together, then take a break for a while. Others only get everyone in the same session once in a while. With prepaid credit, you can top up, use the server for those sessions, and come back later without feeling like you need to keep using it every month just to justify the cost.
Another practical point is that prepaid credit never expires. If your next Squad night is not soon, the remaining balance still stays there for later.
If your Discord account is at least 30 days old, you can also get €2 starter credit. That can help a group try out the setup with a small amount of credit already on the account.
It is also worth keeping the billing model in mind for extras. Add-ons are billed only while the server runs. For a group that plays on and off, that keeps the budget tied to actual play time rather than idle time between sessions.
More guides for hosting games with friends
If your group also jumps between other games, there are similar guides on the site written with the same friends-first approach. They are useful as optional next reading if you are comparing how a shared server setup fits different kinds of game nights.
You can also look at guides for:
- Enshrouded
- Factorio
- Palworld
- Mordhau
That way, your group can see how the same general idea carries across different games before choosing what to host next.
Common questions about hosting a Squad server for friends
Do I need to keep a Squad server running all day for my friends to use it?
No. The idea is to run the server when your group is actually playing, not leave it on all day just in case. You can create it ahead of time, then start it when people are ready.
If nobody is online, it pauses by itself after 20 minutes by default. That pause timer can also be set per server to 1 hour, 3 hours, or never. For groups that play at uneven times, that means the server can fit around your sessions instead of the other way around.
How do my friends join the server once it is running?
After the Squad server is started, the panel shows its address. One person in the group can copy that and send it to everyone else.
From there, your friends use that address to join the session. The useful part is that one person can handle the start, then share the details with the rest of the group without turning the evening into a long setup process.
What happens to the server when nobody is online anymore?
When the server is empty, it pauses on its own after the idle time you have set. The default is 20 minutes.
When it pauses, the saved game state stays saved. Games with a world are also backed up at every pause, and the last 3 backups are kept for free. If you want, Backup-Plus backs up hourly and keeps 30 days for +€0.05/h, billed only while the server runs.
Is a Squad server on EphemeralHost a subscription?
No. It uses prepaid credit instead of a subscription. You add balance to the account and the running time is taken from that credit.
That credit never expires. Discord accounts at least 30 days old can also get €2 starter credit.
How much does it cost to host a Squad server for friends?
Squad runs on the Modded tier and costs from 1.19 €/h.
Billing is per minute and applies only while the server runs. That means your cost depends on how long your group actually uses the server, rather than paying for time when nobody is there.
If you add extras, those are billed only while the server runs too.
A simple way to give your group a regular place to play
For a lot of friend groups, the appeal is straightforward:
- create the Squad server in the browser
- start it when your group is ready to play
- send your friends the address
- let it pause itself when the session is done
That gives your group one regular place to meet without paying for downtime between sessions. If you want to check the current details before setting up your own server, take a look at the Squad page or the pricing information first.