Independence, host testing terms and conflicts of interest

This page covers two things that a buyer of a "tested" list should ask about: whether the tests were allowed, and who paid for the page.

What host terms say about testing

Read this table as a guide to where to look. The host's current document always governs. A "no clause found" result means the words were not there on the day the document was read.

Two practical points follow for anyone testing a server they rent. A load tool that is not part of the game may fall outside what Indifferent Broccoli's wording allows. A synthetic run that holds the CPU high may meet the heavy-use language at Shockbyte, BisectHosting, ScalaCube or Host Havoc, and the consequence can be suspension without a refund. Ask support first and keep the reply. Construct is the only document read here that names an approval process.

Publishing results is a separate question. None of the documents above has a clause aimed at publishing performance results. Two have broader language a publisher should read: ScalaCube's section 4.5 makes the client "fully responsible for their public statements and actions against the Company", and BisectHosting's ToS allows termination for acting abusively or for damaging its reputation. Host Havoc's ToS treats communications between the parties as confidential unless approved, which matters to anyone quoting a support reply.

What would have to happen before any test

Each host's terms would need to be re-read on the day. Where they are unclear or restrictive, GameServerBench would ask the host for written confirmation before running anything, and record the answer here. A host that refuses, or that bans the activity, would not be tested. Attack-protection or DDoS testing is out of scope on every host.

None of this has happened yet. Test-server spending has not been approved, and no host has been contacted.

GameServerBench's own conflicts

GameServerBench plans to earn affiliate commissions from hosts it writes about. No program has been joined and no link is live, but the incentive is built into the business model, and readers should weigh the site's conclusions with that in mind.

These rules are set before any review goes live:

• A host's commission rate has no bearing on what a page says or where a host appears. Commission rates are not shown to writers as a factor in any comparison.
• The site does not accept payment for placement, reviews or edits.
• If a test server is ever bought, it would be bought without an affiliate link and at the public price.
• If a host provides a free server or credit, the page concerned would say so.
• Hosts can respond through the right of reply.
• Pages with no data say so. A page that has not been measured carries no results table and no score.

Other publishers have conflicts of their own, and the site names them when it cites them. Sparked Host LLC, for example, also operates lagless.gg, which publishes comparison pages. The plain statement of how affiliate income works is on the disclosure page. The planned test method describes what would be measured if these conditions are met.