Euro Truck Simulator 2 Convoy vs TruckersMP
Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator each have two very different multiplayer systems, and people regularly search for hosting on the wrong one. The short version up front: TruckersMP cannot be rented from anyone. It is a free third-party network that runs all of its own servers. Convoy is the official co-op mode, and it is the one you can rent as a private dedicated server.
What TruckersMP is
TruckersMP is a free third-party multiplayer mod for both truck simulators, with its own launcher, its own moderation team and real traffic rules. Its public servers put hundreds of drivers on the same map, which is a genuinely different experience from anything the base game offers. The trade-offs: TruckersMP operates every server itself, so no hosting company can sell you one; mods are limited to what TruckersMP approves. After a game update you often wait for TruckersMP to support the new version, or keep playing on an older game version until it does.
What Convoy is
Convoy is the official multiplayer mode SCS built into both games, for up to 8 drivers per session. Anyone can host a session from their own game, but then it only exists while that player is online. A dedicated Convoy server puts the session on hardware that stays up around the clock. Drivers find it by its Convoy Search ID, drop in and out any time, and share synced time, weather, AI traffic and jobs. Your DLC maps and mods work through server packages as long as every driver has the matching content, and because SCS ships server updates alongside game patches, Convoy always plays on the current game version. In both systems your progression, money and trucks live in your own local profile.
Side by side
| TruckersMP | Convoy dedicated server | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the servers | TruckersMP runs all of them | You do: self-hosted or rented |
| Can you rent one? | No, from anyone | Yes |
| Players | Hundreds, shared public servers | Up to 8, your private session |
| Mods and DLC maps | Approved mods only | Your own set, via server packages |
| Game version | Waits on TruckersMP updates | Current version, always |
| Rules and moderation | TruckersMP staff and rules | Your password and your moderators |
| Your career progress | Your own local profile | Your own local profile |
| Price | Free | Free self-hosted, or a small monthly rental |
Which one should you pick?
If you want the massive public trucking experience, real traffic on busy roads and the chaos of hundreds of strangers, that is TruckersMP, it is free, and nobody can sell it to you. If you want a private always-on session for your friend group or VTC, with your own mods, your own password and no third-party rulebook, that is a Convoy dedicated server. Plenty of VTCs use both: TruckersMP for big public events, and a private convoy for day-to-day driving.
If the private convoy is what you came for, an always-on ETS2 convoy server from SurvivalServers is online in minutes, and the same setup exists for American Truck Simulator. Joining either takes a Search ID and nothing else; see how to join a Euro Truck Simulator 2 server.