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Best Multi-User Game Engines & Frameworks for self-hosting

The 14 best Multi-User game engines & frameworks you can self-host, ranked by community traction.

OpenRA

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source remake of classic RTS games

Replaces Command & Conquer, Red Alert

★ 17.2k Medium setup GPL-3.0

Luanti

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source voxel game engine and server

Replaces Minecraft

★ 13.4k Easy setup LGPL-2.1

Minetest Server Note Mineclone2 alt

Game Engines & Frameworks

Dedicated server software for hosting Minetest game worlds

Replaces Minecraft server

★ 13.4k Medium setup LGPL-2.1

RomM

Game Engines & Frameworks

Self-hosted ROM manager and retro game library

Replaces Playnite, LaunchBox

★ 12k Medium setup GPL-3.0

TrinityCore

Game Engines & Frameworks

MMORPG server emulator for World of Warcraft

Replaces official WoW servers

★ 10.7k Hard setup GPL-2.0

DevilutionX

Game Engines & Frameworks

Modernized Diablo engine with cross-platform multiplayer

Replaces Diablo original

★ 9.7k Medium setup Unlicense

Spring RTS Engine Note - Beyond All Reason server

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source engine for hosting real-time strategy game servers

Replaces Total Annihilation

★ 4k Hard setup GPL-2.0

Retrom

Game Engines & Frameworks

Self-hosted game library server with launcher clients

Replaces Playnite, Steam library

★ 2k Medium setup GPL-3.0

Crafty Controller

Game Engines & Frameworks

Web-based Minecraft server management panel

Replaces Minecraft Realms, Pterodactyl

★ 1.7k Medium setup GPL-3.0

Gaseous Server

Game Engines & Frameworks

Self-hosted ROM library and metadata server

Replaces LaunchBox

★ 925 Medium setup GPL-3.0

Sapphire Server

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source server emulator for Final Fantasy XIV

Replaces official FFXIV servers

★ 819 Hard setup GPL-3.0

Aleph One

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source engine for the Marathon trilogy with multiplayer

Replaces Marathon original

★ 808 Medium setup GPL-3.0

CMaNGOS

Game Engines & Frameworks

Continued MaNGOS World of Warcraft server emulator

Replaces official WoW servers

★ 550 Hard setup GPL-2.0

Ryzom Core

Game Engines & Frameworks

Open-source MMORPG engine and game framework

Replaces World of Warcraft

★ 448 Hard setup AGPL-3.0

Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Multi-User within the game engines & frameworks category. Compare them on the individual app pages for setup difficulty and resource requirements.