Palworld server RAM requirements

What Pocketpair says a Palworld server needs

Pocketpair's requirements page (guide version 1.0.4, copyright 2026, no publication date, read 8 Nov 2026) lists a short set of recommendations:

The RAM note is worded ambiguously. It reads as 16 GB for a normal server and 32 GB or more for larger ones, but the page does not spell out where "larger" starts. The page also says deploying through Docker Desktop is deprecated because of storage I/O performance.

What Pocketpair's documentation does not say

The requirements page gives no minimum CPU, no network bandwidth figure, no per-player RAM, no maximum player count, no storage capacity and no Windows or Linux version numbers. It does not say how RAM changes over days of uptime.

Pocketpair's configuration page does name settings that change load. It says raising BaseCampMaxNumInGuild (default 4, maximum 10) "raises processing load", gives the same warning for BaseCampWorkerMaxNum (maximum 50), and marks PalSpawnNumRate as "Impacts performance". ServerReplicatePawnCullDistance sets how far away Pals sync, between 5000 and 15000. None of these entries gives a memory figure, so they tell you which dials matter, not how many gigabytes each costs.

What hosts and community pages publish

Hosting companies fill the gap with player-count tables. Each publisher below sells hosting, so treat the figures as sizing advice from a seller, not as measurements.

The sources disagree with each other. For about 10 players, Pocketpair's page points to 16 GB, WinterNode to 12-16 GB, and Sparked Host's calculator to 24 GB for medium bases. Sparked Host's page also lists an 18 GB "closest match" for 26-32 players, below its own 32 GB+ guidance for that range. None of the three shows how its numbers were produced.

Sparked Host says base activity matters more than player count, with BaseCampWorkerMaxNum as the main lever. That fits Pocketpair's own load warnings on the settings above, but it is still a host's statement.

What hosts list on their Palworld plans

Plan structures differ, and some do not state RAM at all, as of 8 Nov 2026:

• Indifferent Broccoli sells by player count ($5.99 for 1 player up to $24.99 for 32) and says plans "provide uncapped RAM" with "RAM use is subject to fair use" (Palworld page). It lists no GB figure, so you cannot compare it with a table above. See the Indifferent Broccoli review.
• Host Havoc lists Palworld from $12.00/month, with 4 to 32 slots, and does not list plan RAM. The page's 16 GB and 32 GB figures are Pocketpair's self-hosting guidance, not plan specs (Palworld page).
• DatHost lists one Palworld plan: 16 GB DDR5, Ryzen 9 7950X, 60 GB NVMe, "unlimited" slots, at €14.90 monthly, €8.90 per month on six months or €6.90 per month on a year (Palworld page). That is the only one of these three with a stated RAM figure, and it matches Pocketpair's 16 GB line on paper. See the DatHost review.

A RAM figure on a plan page is a claim about the plan, not evidence that the server will stay within it over weeks.

How to choose a size

Start from Pocketpair's 4 cores and 16 GB if you expect regular play or several bases, and treat 8 GB as the case where Pocketpair itself warns about out-of-memory crashes. Group size is a weak predictor on its own. Hosts and Pocketpair both point to base count, Pals per base and spawn settings as the load drivers.

A practical order of decisions:

1. Decide the player slots you need, then the largest base and worker settings you plan to allow.
2. Begin at 16 GB. If a host plan lists no GB figure, ask support what the server process is allowed to use.
3. Log memory for at least a week (below) and compare the peak with the plan size before paying for a longer term.
4. If memory climbs steadily regardless of activity, read the lag and memory growth guide before buying more RAM.

For arithmetic across player counts and base settings, use the server RAM calculator. Its inputs come from published figures like those above, so its output is an estimate. Cost comparisons are in rent, VPS or host at home.

How to log your own memory use

Pocketpair's REST API GET /metrics endpoint returns serverfps, serverframetime, currentplayernum, maxplayernum, uptime, basecampnum and days (REST API metrics). It does not return memory, so log that from the operating system. On Linux, a minimal one-minute log looks like this (confirm the process name with ps first; it is not given in Pocketpair's docs):

while true; do
  echo "$(date -Is),$(ps -o rss= -p "$(pgrep -f PalServer | head -n1)")" >> palworld-rss-kb.csv
  sleep 60
done

On Windows PowerShell:

while ($true) {
  $p = Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.ProcessName -like 'PalServer*' } | Measure-Object WorkingSet64 -Sum
  "$(Get-Date -Format o),$([math]::Round($p.Sum/1MB))" | Add-Content palworld-ws-mb.csv
  Start-Sleep -Seconds 60
}

Record the player count, base count and any restart time next to the file. Plot the peak after a busy evening against the same hour a week later. A flat peak means your size is enough for that load; a rising baseline points to growth over uptime. The general method is in how to benchmark your game server.

What GameServerBench plans to record

GameServerBench holds no Palworld memory measurements. The planned protocol would run scripted bot load at three player counts against the same save and log process memory, CPU and ping on a schedule, then publish the raw logs with the dates. Long-run memory growth would need a 30-day run, which has not happened, so this page makes no such claim. Hosts' terms may restrict automated load, which is covered on the independence and host terms page.

Next, see the Palworld hosting hub for plan structures, or the restart guide if your server slows down over time.