If you want to play Space Engineers together in multiplayer mode online, you have three options:
- Join a community or public dedicated Space Engineers server.
- Host a server on your own PC
- Host a server on external server hardware
The simplest solution for a shared Space Engineers adventure is undoubtedly the first option: You choose a suitable, freely accessible server and join it together, without having to worry about hosting. However, in this case you won’t have any decision-making power about the game world’s texture or the use of mods. Besides, you won’t have control over whether and when the server is online.
The latter problem also exists in option number two: If you host the game on your own PC, the Space Engineers server will only be available when your device is turned on. Besides, since the technical requirements are very specific, due to many moving and interacting objects with real-time physics, it requires a very powerful PC, even if you plan to only have two to four players.
To achieve an optimal gaming experience when hosting a Space Engineers server, it is therefore recommended to use external hardware resources, which you can rent from various hosting providers for a monthly fee.