does emacs require an X server?
 

Is there any way to run gnu emacs without an x server? like straight from a virtual console like vi or pico? i've only ever seen it run on an x server(or on windows/apple).

You don't need the X server to run emacs. You can just add a flag -nw

eg. emacs -nw

edit: or to install it completely without X support you might want to install emacs-nox