MINECRAFT HOSTING
GAME SERVERS
Game Panel
by A Project Zomboid server needs more memory than most guides admit, and far more than it used to. Since Build 42 moved inventory handling and timed actions onto the server, a small group of two to four players wants 6 to 8 GB, five to ten players wants 8 to 10 GB, and a larger or heavily modded community wants 12 to 16 GB.
If you are reading an older guide that says 2 GB is enough, it was written for Build 41 and it is no longer true.
RAM, honestly
| Group | RAM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 players, vanilla | 6 to 8 GB | Build 42 baseline, not a comfortable ceiling |
| 5 to 10 players, vanilla | 8 to 10 GB | Where most friend groups land |
| 10+ or modded | 12 to 16 GB | Mods are the multiplier, not players |
The community rule of thumb is roughly 6 GB base plus about 0.5 GB per player. That figure comes from the Build 41 era and now sits at the low edge, which is worth knowing before you buy anywhere.
Two things drive the number more than player count:
- Mods. Fifty mods with two players online can consume more than 5 GB on its own. The cost is paid at load, not at peak.
- Map exploration. Memory climbs as players open new cells. A server that is fine on day one can be short on day thirty, because the loaded world has grown.
Why servers die when several people explore at once
The most common failure is not a crash under load. It is several players loading unseen map areas simultaneously, each pulling new cells into memory at the same moment. A server sized for the average is sized for the wrong thing: what matters is the peak, and the peak happens when the group splits up.
If your server dies when people spread out, that is the signal, and more RAM is the fix rather than more CPU. That is the opposite of Minecraft, where low ticks are usually CPU and adding memory changes nothing, and worth knowing if you run both.
Mods, and the part that breaks joins
Project Zomboid mods are shared through Steam Workshop, and both sides need them. The server lists mod IDs in its config, and every player subscribes to the same collection. A mismatch usually shows up as one person unable to join while everyone else is fine.
- Agree the mod list before the world starts. Adding a map mod to a world people have already explored can strand builds and vehicles.
- Removing a mod is the dangerous direction. Anything created by it may not survive its removal.
- Take a backup before any change. Ours run automatically and restore from the panel. Mod lists behave the same way in Terraria: agree them before the world, not after.
Before you buy, anywhere
- Size for the peak, not the average. Six people who all log in on a Friday is the number that matters.
- Count the mods, not just the players. A four-player heavily modded server can outweigh a twelve-player vanilla one.
- Distance still matters. We run in Frankfurt today. Zomboid tolerates latency better than a shooter, but combat and looting both feel worse over distance.
You can run Project Zomboid server hosting with mods installable from the panel and automatic backups before changes.
When a dedicated server is the wrong answer
If two of you play together at the same times and nobody minds the world only existing while one person is online, hosting from the game is free and enough. A dedicated server is worth paying for when people play apart, when the save has become something you would be upset to lose, or when a mod list has outgrown what a desktop will keep open.
