Tool
Game server RAM and plan size calculator
Pick a game and a player count, and this tool shows the published RAM figures collected here that apply, who published each one, and whether that publisher sells hosting. It doesn't produce one confident number, because no such number exists: for the same small group, publishers can differ by a factor of two or more, and nobody on this list shows measurements. GameServerBench has not measured RAM use for any game.
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What you enter
| Input | Options |
|---|---|
| Game | One of the seven listed below |
| Players | A whole number. Required |
| Overhead, GB | Optional. RAM for the operating system and other software, if you run the machine yourself |
| Headroom, percent | Optional. Extra margin on top of the published figure |
What you get back
- The developer's figure, if one exists and could be read.
- The range of matching published figures: the lowest and highest numbers from rows whose player band includes your count.
- Every matching row, with publisher, figure, the date it was read or published, whether the publisher sells hosting, and whether the figure is heap or machine RAM where that is stated.
- A planning total:
planning_total = highest_matching_figure × (1 + headroom ÷ 100) + overhead. It is labelled as arithmetic.
If no row matches your count, the tool says so and lists up to four of the nearest bands. It doesn't interpolate. Figures with no numeric player band, such as a single recommendation for a modpack or a row described as "new world" or "small group", match every player count and are flagged. Those rows widen the range: Valheim at 4 players, for example, shows 3 to 8 GB.
The published figures
Where a table marks a figure as heap or machine, that matters: heap is what the game may use, and machine is total RAM, so the two aren't directly comparable.
Palworld. Developer: Pocketpair lists 16 GB, and says 8 GB can boot but raises the risk of out-of-memory crashes.
| Publisher | Sells hosting? | Players: GB |
|---|---|---|
| Sparked Host | Yes | 2-4: 8; 5-8: 10-12; 8-16: 16; 16-24: 24; 24-32: 32+ |
| WinterNode | Yes | 1-3: 6; 4-6: 8; 7-10: 12-16; 10-20: 16-24; 20+: 32. Its FAQ gives different bands: 1-4: 8; 5-10: 12-16 |
| XGamingServer | Yes | 1-4: 4; 5-16: 8; 17-32: 12+ |
Valheim. No hardware figure from Iron Gate was found on the pages read.
| Publisher | Sells hosting? | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Host Havoc | Yes | New world: 4 GB; explored, 6+ players: 6-8 GB; explored, 8-10 players: 8 GB |
| Indifferent Broccoli | Yes | A few players: about 3 GB; small group: 4 GB; large modded or explored 1.0 world: 8 GB or more |
Project Zomboid Build 42. No official hardware figure was found. The community-written PZwiki reports that the shipped StartServer64 file sets 16 GB of starting memory, which is a default and not a requirement.
| Publisher | Sells hosting? | Measure | Players: GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Zomboid Fans | No sign of it | Heap | 2-4: 4; 4-8: 6-8; 8-16: 8-12+ |
| WinterNode | Yes | Not stated | 2-4: 6-8; 5-10: 8-10; 10-20: 10-12; 20+: 12-16 |
| Connect Hosting | Yes | Machine | 2-4: 6-8; up to about 10: 10; 10-20: 12; 20+: 16 |
| Pine Hosting | Yes | Not stated | Small: 10; medium: 12-16; larger or long-running: 16+ |
All the Mods 10. The All the Mods team's general server guide asks for at least 6 GB allocated for most ATM packs, with no ATM10-specific figure.
| Publisher | Sells hosting? | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| BisectHosting | Yes | 10 GB recommended |
| Sparked Host | Yes | 10 GB recommended |
| Host Havoc | Yes | 10-12 GB |
| SiriusMC Wiki | Not stated | 8-10 GB recommended |
| Space-Node | Yes | 1-5 players: 12 GB; 5-15: 16 GB; beyond: 32 GB |
| iTechGuides | Affiliate links | Small group: 12 GB machine with 8-12 GB heap; 5 or more: 14-16 GB machine. It says these ranges consolidate Space-Node's figures |
| Publisher | Sells hosting? | Setup and players: GB |
|---|---|---|
| PaperMC docs | No | Paper servers: "at least 6-10GB, no matter how few players" |
| Host Havoc | Yes | Vanilla 5-10: 2; vanilla 10-20: 3; modded 15-25: 6 |
| DatHost | Yes | Vanilla 5-10: 4-6 recommended; vanilla 10-20: 6-8 recommended; modded (50-80 mods) about 10 players: 8-10 |
| Sparked Host | Yes | Vanilla 10: 4; Fabric 5 with 30 mods: 5; Forge or NeoForge 5 with about 50 mods: 7 |
Enshrouded. Developer: Keen Games' specifications list 16 GB for 4-6 and for 16 players. Its FAQ says the server process uses about 4.4 GB idle, up to 100 MB per player, and should stay under 6 GB. Keen doesn't reconcile the two. Indifferent Broccoli, which sells hosting, says 8 GB minimum and 16 GB "to run well".
Hytale. Developer: Hytale's server manual says at least 4 GB and gives no per-player figure. Host Havoc, which sells hosting, recommends 2-4 players: 4-6 GB; 5-8: 6-8 GB; 8-16: 10-16 GB; 16+: 16 GB or more. Host Havoc's figures date from January 2026, and the game has changed a good deal since.
How to use the range
Treat the low end as a claim that a server might start, and the high end as a seller's comfortable margin. Then check your choice against your own server: how to benchmark your own game server shows how to read actual use, ideally inside a host's refund window and within its terms. RAM is also only half the picture, because a server short on CPU lags with memory to spare. MSPT vs TPS explains how to tell the difference.