Factorio Dedicated Server: CPU, UPS, and RAM Requirements for Megabases

Factorio is one of the most CPU-demanding games ever made for server hosting — and one of the least demanding in almost every other dimension. A headless Factorio server simulating a 1,000 science-per-minute (SPM) megabase with trains, bots, and thousands of assemblers can push a single CPU core to its limit, while using barely 2-4 GB of RAM and a few Mbps of bandwidth. That unusual profile makes Factorio the clearest possible case for choosing a dedicated server based on single-thread CPU performance.

If you are planning a multiplayer Factorio world for 5 players or 50, the hardware decision comes down to one number: UPS — updates per second. This guide explains what drives UPS, how to size CPU and RAM, and what to look for in a provider. While you shop, compare dedicated server plans on our comparison table to see which dedicated plans offer the high-clock CPUs Factorio actually needs.

UPS: the metric that matters more than anything

Factorio runs its simulation at 60 UPS by default. When the server cannot finish a tick in 16.6 ms, UPS drops below 60 and the entire factory slows down in slow motion — production rates fall, timers stretch, and players notice immediately. The simulation is almost entirely single-threaded: belts, inserters, assemblers, trains, and biters are all processed by one main thread, with limited parallelism added in recent versions for specific systems. That means a Factorio server is bottlenecked by the fastest single core you can give it, not by core count.

CPU: buy clock speed and IPC, not cores

For a megabase, the difference between a 3.0 GHz server Xeon and a 4.5+ GHz desktop-class Ryzen is the difference between 45 UPS and a solid 60 UPS on the same factory. Modern Ryzen CPUs, especially the X3D line with large L3 caches, are widely regarded in the Factorio community as the best server CPUs for large bases. Practical guidance:

• Small base / starter world (0-200 SPM): 2-4 cores at 3.5+ GHz is plenty.
• Mid game (200-500 SPM): 4-6 cores at 4.0+ GHz keeps 60 UPS with headroom.
• Megabase (500-1,000+ SPM): 6-8 cores at 4.5+ GHz or an X3D-class chip; expect to tune UPS.

Note that the official dedicated server runs on Linux and Windows, but Linux typically delivers slightly better UPS on the same hardware due to lower background overhead.

RAM and storage: small, but not zero

Factorio saves are compact — a megabase save is usually 50-200 MB — and the server process uses 2-4 GB of RAM even on large maps. 8 GB is a comfortable minimum, 16 GB for big multiplayer worlds with many mods. Storage matters for autosaves: Factorio writes periodic autosaves, and on slow disks the save can pause the server for a noticeable stutter. NVMe makes autosaves near-instant, which matters for long-running community worlds that players have invested hundreds of hours in.

World size	CPU	RAM	Notes
Starter / small group	2-4 cores @ 3.5+ GHz	8 GB	60 UPS easily
Mid game	4-6 cores @ 4.0+ GHz	8-16 GB	Comfortable 60 UPS
Megabase	6-8 cores @ 4.5+ GHz / X3D	16 GB	Requires UPS tuning

Bandwidth: a rounding error, until it isn’t

Gameplay traffic for Factorio is tiny — 20 players generate well under 1 Mbps. But map downloads are not: when a player joins a megabase world, they download the full save file (50-200+ MB), and a handful of simultaneous joins will saturate a 100 Mbps port. A 1 Gbps port removes that edge case entirely. DDoS protection matters less for Factorio than for public Minecraft or FiveM servers, but it is still worth having on a public community world.

Mods, Space Age, and the CPU tax

Mods change the UPS math substantially. Quality-of-life mods add little, but content mods — Krastorio 2, Space Exploration, Industrial Revolution, and the official Space Age expansion — add entire production chains that the simulation must process every tick. A 500 SPM base that runs at 60 UPS vanilla can drop to 45 UPS under Space Exploration with the same hardware. Rule of thumb: budget one full CPU tier above the vanilla requirement for any overhaul mod, and test with the actual mod list before paying for a long-term contract. The built-in benchmark command (in the server console or via the /perf tools) gives you a repeatable UPS number to compare hardware against.

Choosing a provider for Factorio

Most dedicated server providers default to server-grade Xeon or EPYC CPUs, which are terrible choices for Factorio megabases. Look for providers that offer Ryzen or other high-clock consumer-class CPUs, and confirm the CPU model before ordering — a “4-core” plan tells you nothing about clock speed. Also verify NVMe storage and a 1 Gbps port, and prefer hosts with data centers near your players even though Factorio’s network traffic is tiny, because the game sends frequent small state updates and jitter matters for the feel of multiplayer.

For a community world, the extra $20-40/month for a high-clock CPU is the best money you can spend — it is the difference between a megabase that runs at 60 UPS and one that crawls at 40. InterServer dedicated servers are worth checking for Ryzen-based dedicated options, and see the full specs to compare CPU models and clock speeds across providers before you commit.