Source: https://gameye.com/glossary/server-browser/

---
title: "Server browser | Gameye"
description: "A server browser is an in-game UI that lets players manually browse a list of game servers and pick which one to join, instead of being placed automatically by matchmaking."
---

# Server browser

A server browser is an in-game UI that lets players manually browse and select which game server to join. Players see a list of active servers with details like map, player count, ping, and game mode, then choose one and connect directly. It’s the opposite of automatic [matchmaking](https://gameye.com/glossary/matchmaker/), where the system picks the server for you.

## Server browser vs. matchmaking

- **Server browser** — the _player_ chooses. Used in community-driven games where players want control over which server, map, or community they join. Common in sandbox games, survival games, and games with custom or modded servers.

- **[Matchmaker](https://gameye.com/glossary/matchmaker/)** — the _system_ chooses. Players press “Play” and the matchmaker finds or creates a match based on skill, region, and queue. Common in competitive games, battle royales, and anything optimising for fair matches.

Many games offer both — a competitive ranked mode that uses matchmaking, plus a casual or community mode with a server browser.

## Infrastructure implications

Server browsers need long-running servers that persist between sessions. The server stays up, players join and leave, and it keeps running — different from session-based matchmaking, where a server is allocated per match and released when the match ends.

For [game server hosting](https://gameye.com/glossary/game-server-hosting/), server-browser games typically run on [reserved capacity](https://gameye.com/glossary/reserved-capacity/) (always-on servers) rather than on-demand allocation. Because the servers run 24/7, cost efficiency comes down to utilisation — how full the servers are on average.

## Frequently asked questions

**What is a server browser?**
An in-game screen that lists available game servers — with their map, player count, ping, and mode — and lets the player pick one to join directly, instead of being matched automatically.

**What’s the difference between a server browser and matchmaking?**
With a server browser the player chooses the server; with matchmaking the system chooses it based on skill, region, and queue. Browsers suit community and modded games; matchmaking suits competitive games that need fair matches.

**Do server-browser games need different hosting?**
Usually yes. They rely on long-running, always-on servers (reserved capacity) that persist as players come and go, rather than the per-match, on-demand allocation used by matchmade games.

Building a multiplayer game? Gameye hosts dedicated game servers: ship your server as a Docker container and start one per match with a single API call, in a region near your players.

[See how it works →](https://gameye.com/how-it-works/)

[Back to Glossary](https://gameye.com/glossary/)

## Related terms

- ### Matchmaker

A matchmaker groups players into sessions by running player data — location, skill, latency — through a set of rules to find the best possible match. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/matchmaker/)
- ### Dedicated Server

A dedicated server is a remote machine that runs your game logic independently of any player's client — the authoritative source of truth for every match. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/dedicated-server/)
- ### Session hosting

Session hosting is when a server, or computer, runs your game’s matches. Each match, with a set group of people, is considered a session. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/session-hosting/)
- ### Reserved capacity

Reserved capacity is a committed block of compute resources at a discounted rate, used as a cost-efficient baseline for predictable game server workloads. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/reserved-capacity/)