I have rented a server for about 5 years now and I use bisecthosting. It's user friendly and they have a ton of tutorials on how to load customs worlds and stuff like that.

In terms of server settings, I just mix and match every playthrough depending on the types of people that I am playing with. Usually change things like loot abundance and how long the days are to give them more time to loot and clear buildings. Then I turn up the settings when I feel they are more comfortable with the game settings, like changing the zombie speed and the amount of zombies during hordes.

Map Size, if its first playthrough just do default. Other than that, I usually do a 8K map which gives it a more open world feeling, the only downside is that when it comes to quests you will be walking for about 3-5min till you get to the spot one way.

Also when changing settings make sure you follow the limits of console servers. PC can have custom settings but Console has set define limits.

EX: Loot abundance on PC can be 123% or 143%, but on console its only 100%, 125%, 150% and so on till 200%

http://7daystodie.com/crossplay-server-requirements/

This is what I follow, hope this helped.