Best Factorio Mods for Multiplayer Servers in 2026

Factorio aims for 60 updates per second (UPS), which gives the game 16.667 ms to calculate each tick. If a tick takes longer, the whole game runs in slow motion for every player on the server. The mods below are the ones that make a shared factory easier to play without adding much to that budget: Squeak Through 2, Even Distribution, Bottleneck Lite, Text Plates, Blueprint Sandboxes, and the planners Factory Planner and Helmod. Each one is listed on the Factorio Mod Portal for Factorio 2.0 and 2.1.

How do mods work on a Factorio multiplayer server?

Everyone needs exactly the same mods. Every player must run exactly the same game version and the same mods as the server. Factorio compares mod checksums when you join, to prevent desyncs.

The game fetches them for you. When you join a modded server, Factorio offers to synchronise your mods with the server. Confirm it, and the game downloads and enables the exact mod versions the server uses, and can sync the mod startup settings too. Every mod you add is still one more download for each new player on their first join, so a short list gets people in faster. See how to join your Factorio server.

Mods must match the server's Factorio version. Check the Factorio version on each mod's page before you install it. On our panel, the Mods tab only offers releases that match the server's Factorio Version setting.

Which mods cost almost nothing?

• Squeak Through 2. Lets you walk between buildings that normally block you, such as adjacent solar panels, pipes and chests. Use this one, not the original Squeak Through: the original was last updated for Factorio 1.1 and does not run on 2.0. Squeak Through 2 is a rewrite that behaves the same by default and adds settings.
• Even Distribution. Changes Ctrl + click-drag so the items in your hand are split evenly across every machine you drag over, and adds an inventory cleanup hotkey (Shift + C). Like every Factorio mod, it has to be on the server and every client.
• Bottleneck Lite. Puts a coloured indicator on every crafting machine and mining drill: working, short of input, output full, no power, and so on. It is inspired by the older Bottleneck mod but has no runtime scripting at all. All its settings are startup settings, so changing them needs a restart.
• Text Plates. Letter, number and symbol plates for labelling stations and parts of the base. You can walk over them. On a server where someone else built the thing you are trying to understand, labels help.

Which planning and blueprint mods work well in multiplayer?

• Blueprint Sandboxes. Gives each player a personal sandbox, and the team a shared one, on separate surfaces with god mode, so you can design and test blueprints without leaving the game. Shift + B toggles it.
• Factory Planner or Helmod. Production planners: choose what you want to make and they work out the recipes, machines and modules. They are windows you open, not buildings on the map. Factory Planner's page says it can be added to a save at any time and supports Space Age.

Which mods should a server think twice about?

Not bad mods. Mods with a cost worth knowing before a group commits to them.

• Overhaul packs such as Space Exploration and Krastorio 2. They change the whole game and add many new mechanics. Check the expansion first: Space Exploration cannot run with Space Age (its mod page lists Space Age as incompatible), and Krastorio 2 does not properly support Space Age. Its authors point to the add-on Krastorio 2 Spaced Out for that. Space Exploration's own page also says some of its setup choices should only be made at the start of a new game.
• Mods that work across the whole map. A mod's cost is not only its own scripts. Factorio's performance guide gives the example of a mod that makes trains repath a lot: its cost shows up in the trains line, not under the mod's name.

How do I find which mod is slowing the server down?

Use Factorio's own tools rather than guessing:

1. In the game, press F4 and turn on show-fps and show-time-usage.
2. Look at the Script update section. Each mod- line is the time that mod's scripts take per tick.
3. If no mod line stands out, look at core lines such as trains or electric networks. A mod can raise those indirectly.

That is why it pays to add mods in small batches: when UPS drops, you know which batch to look at.

How should a group choose a mod list for a server?

• Agree the list before the map is generated, especially for an overhaul. Some overhaul choices only work at the start of a new game.
• Match the expansion. On our panel, the Space Age setting is on by default. Switch it off before creating a new world for mods that cannot run with Space Age. A world made with Space Age needs it on to load.
• Back up before every change. Take a backup before adding or removing mods: how to back up and restore your Factorio world.
• Install from the panel or by upload. The Mods tab installs from the Mod Portal once you fill in your factorio.com Server Username and Server Token. You can also upload the mod .zip files into the mods folder. See how to add mods to your Factorio server.
• Watch memory with players on. Factorio publishes no server memory figure, and a large modded factory uses more than a fresh one. Check the RAM graph on your server's Usage page while people are playing: how much RAM a Factorio server needs.

Our Factorio server hosting includes the Mods tab and a Backups page in the panel.

Do you need a dedicated server at all?

If two of you always play together, hosting from inside the game is enough and free. The game is only up while the host has it open. A dedicated server lets anyone join while the host is offline. Note that a dedicated Factorio server pauses by default when no players are connected, so the factory only advances while someone is on.