SHSelfHostIndex

AssaultCube vs Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
AS AssaultCube Lightweight multiplayer first-person shooter VS CA Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Open-source turn-based survival roguelike
FeatureAssaultCubeCataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseZlibCC-BY-SA-3.0
LanguageCC++
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,029★ 12,896
First released20062013
ReplacesCounter-StrikeNetHack

Why pick each one

Choose AssaultCube if…

  • Released under the Zlib license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
AssaultCube details

Choose Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if…

  • Enormous depth
  • Active development
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead details

Frequently asked questions

Is AssaultCube or Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead better?

Neither is universally better. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead has the larger community, while AssaultCube is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are AssaultCube and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead free and open-source?

Yes. AssaultCube is licensed under Zlib and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead under CC-BY-SA-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run AssaultCube and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead with Docker?

AssaultCube: check the project docs for container support. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: check the project docs for container support.

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