So, I'm using Ubuntu and Debian mostly, and server editions of these, with no x-server installed.
I've tried appending vga=795 after the linux command in grub - this gives me pretty good resolution. However, it also says vga=xxx is deprecated. Use gfxpayload=true.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1282368
If you scroll down, dino99 says that:
the gfxpayload is a workaround & we'll having a cleaner boot system when released in few weeks.
This was back in 2009. Further research have yielded no results, but I might just be low on google-fu. How can I set the resolution for a pure terminal server?
vga=795. – Joe Internet Jul 22 '11 at 16:33