Single player is really good to start because you can get the hang of the game and get to understand what's going on, I've been playing for a year and single player is still my favorite. PVP means player vs player, people kill eachother. PVE means player vs everything, people not killing people only dinos. Non dedicated means you can play online with other people but it's your map and people with stay within a certain distance from you, good for private server with friends.