Factorio Most RAM sizing guides for game servers work the same way: count your players, look up a table, pick a number. That approach works well for games where each player is the main resource cost. Factorio is different, and if you apply that logic here you’ll either end up over-provisioned on day one or scrambling for more RAM six months in.
The short version: a 2-player server that’s been running for 200 hours can easily need more RAM than a fresh 10-player vanilla server. Player count is a factor, but it’s a smaller one than most guides suggest. Factory age and map exploration are what actually drive long-term memory usage - and most servers that run into performance problems late in a campaign are hitting this exact wall.
What Makes Factorio Different
Factorio’s headless (dedicated) server is remarkably lean at startup. A fresh vanilla save uses somewhere around 300-500MB of RAM. That’s it. You could technically run one on hardware that would embarrass a modern smartphone (you probably shouldn’t try that though.. keep reading).
The problem is that number doesn’t stay there. Two mechanics drive it up over the life of a server:
Chunk retention. When players explore the map, Factorio loads those chunks into memory - and keeps them there. Unlike some games that unload distant regions, Factorio holds all explored terrain in RAM indefinitely. A server where players have been roaming for months can have a surprisingly large memory footprint just from the map, independent of how many machines are running.
Entity accumulation. Every belt segment, assembler, inserter, power pole, and bot adds to what the server has to track and update every tick. A sprawling megabase isn’t just visually large - it’s hundreds of thousands of discrete entities the server is simulating in real time. Memory scales with that count.
This is why the “how many players?” question only gets you part of the way there.
The Three Variables That Actually Matter
1. Factory age and complexity
This is the dominant factor. The longer a save runs and the more infrastructure players build, the more RAM the server needs - even if the player count stays the same.
A server in its first week, with everyone still in the early-game phase, is cheap to run. That same server after six months of dedicated play, with multiple bus lines, a full train network, bot logistics, and a sprawling defense perimeter, is a different story. We see tickets about this regularly: a server that ran perfectly for two months starts feeling sluggish, and the usual assumption is something broke. Often it’s just a factory that grew into its RAM allocation.
2. Map exploration
Related to chunk retention above, but worth separating out. Two servers can have identical factories but very different RAM usage if one group has been driving cars across the map exploring resources while the other stayed close to spawn.
If your players tend to explore aggressively or you set up a large world at the start, budget extra RAM for this. It compounds. A particularly large explored map on an old save can add 2-3GB on its own before you account for the factory itself.
Keep your world size intentional
When creating a new server, avoid generating a massive world if you don’t need it. The default size works well for most groups. You can always expand, but you can’t shrink explored terrain.
3. Mods
Mods affect RAM in two ways, and it’s worth understanding the distinction.
The first is startup overhead - the fixed cost of loading mod assets and prototypes when the server initializes. A handful of quality-of-life mods adds almost nothing here, maybe a few hundred MB at most. Large overhaul packs are a different story. Bob’s Mods and Angel’s Mods together can add 1-2GB to startup RAM on their own, purely from loading assets. Pyanodon’s mods are similarly heavy.
The second way mods affect RAM is indirect: overhaul mods tend to make factories bigger and more complex. More intermediate items means more production lines, more belts, more inserters, more everything. A Bob’s/Angel’s playthrough that reaches the late game will have a significantly larger entity count than a vanilla playthrough at the same stage - and that shows up in memory usage.
Space Exploration and similar multi-surface mods add a third wrinkle: each active surface the server is simulating contributes its own chunk and entity memory. The more planets or surfaces your players are actively using, the higher the RAM floor.
RAM Recommendations by Scenario
These ranges assume a dedicated headless server with WinterNode’s 3GB minimum as the floor. The “what this looks like” column is meant to help you figure out which row actually describes your situation.
| Scenario | RAM | What this looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh vanilla, 1-4 players, early game | 3GB | Just started, first few hours, small starter base |
| Vanilla, 5-10 players, active mid-game | 4-6GB | 50-200 hours in, mid-size factory, moderate map exploration |
| Overhaul mods (Bob’s/Angel’s, Krastorio 2), small group | 5-6GB | 2-4 players but running a heavy mod pack from day one |
| Space Age, multiple planets active | 6-8GB | Multi-surface saves with Nauvis plus at least two other planets in use |
| Long-running megabase, heavy mods, or large player count | 8GB+ | Hundreds of hours in, large explored map, or combining overhaul mods with Space Age |
The 3GB starting point is the practical minimum for a hosted server. A fresh vanilla save runs well under that, but you need headroom for the OS, the server process itself, and the growth you’re not accounting for yet.
If you’re planning a long campaign, it’s worth starting one tier higher than you think you need. Upgrading mid-game is straightforward, but RAM pressure that builds gradually is harder to notice until it’s already affecting performance.
Space Age Specifically
Space Age launched in October 2024 and changed the RAM calculus for anyone running the expansion. Wube’s official client requirements went from 4GB (base game) to 8GB minimum for Space Age. The dedicated server runs without graphics overhead, so it needs less than a full client - but the multi-planet simulation is genuinely more demanding.
The main driver is surface count. Each planet your players are actively visiting is a separate simulated surface with its own chunks, entities, and resource nodes. A server where players are spread across Nauvis, Vulcanus, and Fulgora simultaneously is doing considerably more work than a single-planet base game server.
If you’re running Space Age with an active group, treat it like a modded server and start at 6GB. For larger groups or late-game multi-planet operations, 8GB is the safer number.
Signs Your Server Needs More RAM
RAM pressure in Factorio tends to build gradually rather than hitting you all at once, which makes it easy to dismiss early warning signs as normal “late game slowdown.”
Watch for these:
- Autosave lag that gets worse over time. A little stutter during saves is normal. Lag that grows noticeably longer every few weeks is usually the save file (and therefore the memory footprint) growing.
- Sluggishness that started months in, not immediately. If the server ran great for the first two months and then got progressively worse, factory and map growth are the likely cause - not a configuration problem.
- A save file that’s grown unexpectedly large. File size and memory usage track together. If your save is pushing past a few hundred MB, the server memory footprint has grown accordingly.
If you’re not sure what’s going on, reach out to support. We can take a look at what’s happening on the server side and help figure out whether more RAM would actually help or if something else is going on.
WinterNode’s Factorio server hosting starts at 3GB and scales at $1.99/GB of RAM - no tiers, no contracts. Moving from a 4GB to a 6GB plan is a $3.98/month difference, so upgrading when your factory outgrows itself isn’t a painful decision.
All our game servers are backed by a 48-hour refund policy, so there’s no risk in getting started. Got questions about sizing for your specific setup? Our support team responds to tickets, and we’re on Discord if you’d rather ask there.
Frequently Asked Questions
A fresh vanilla server for 2-4 players runs comfortably on 3GB. For 5-10 players or moderately developed factories, 4-6GB is a safer range. Large factories, heavy overhaul mods, or Space Age servers with multiple active planets should plan for 6-8GB or more.
Yes. Space Age involves managing multiple planets simultaneously, which increases memory load. Wube's official client requirements jumped from 4GB to 8GB for Space Age, and dedicated servers follow a similar trend at scale.
Yes, but in two different ways. Mods add a fixed upfront load at startup - large overhaul packs like Bob's and Angel's can add 1-2GB on their own. The bigger long-term driver is still factory and map growth: explored chunks stay in memory indefinitely regardless of mods.
WinterNode's Factorio plans start at 3GB, which is the practical minimum for a hosted dedicated server. Fresh vanilla saves run well below that, but you need headroom for factory growth.