Palworld Server RAM and CPU Benchmarks: Configuring for 4 to 32 Players

Palworld is one of the most resource-hungry survival games you can self-host, and most of the “4 GB is enough” advice floating around comes from servers that run for two hours before crashing. This guide gives you real RAM and CPU numbers for 4 to 32 players, the PalWorldSettings.ini options that actually move performance, and a monitoring routine that keeps long-running servers stable.

Why Palworld is so heavy

The Palworld dedicated server simulates an open world with hundreds of Pals, each with its own AI pathfinding, plus base workers, egg incubators, and persistent item drops. The engine is Unreal-based, and the server is essentially the game running headless. Memory usage is notoriously high because the world keeps every Pal, base, and dropped item in memory, and CPU load scales with both player count and base count — a server with 30 players all building large bases can use more resources than an empty 64-slot server.

RAM benchmarks by player count

These allocations assume a few weeks of uptime, include the operating system, and leave headroom for save spikes. A fresh 4-player server idles around 4–5 GB and climbs as players build bases and capture Pals:

Players	RAM	Notes
4 players	8 GB	Works, but tight during base raids
8 players	12 GB	Comfortable for a private group
16 players	16 GB	Standard for community servers
24 players	24 GB	Recommended for populated worlds
32 players	32 GB	For full servers with many bases

The single biggest memory driver is the number of active bases and Pals, not raw player count. If you are budgeting, count bases first: each active base camp with workers adds roughly 1–2 GB of world state on a long-running server. Memory is also the spec where hosts under-advertise the most, so check the real hardware — the provider reviewed on this site publishes exact RAM sizes and CPU models instead of “up to” language.

CPU: core count matters here

Unlike many survival games, Palworld spreads its load across multiple threads. A modern 8-core CPU at 3.5 GHz+ is the sweet spot for up to 16 players; go 12–16 cores if you want headroom for 32 players plus the OS and a backup task. Avoid old low-clock server CPUs: Palworld’s simulation is tied to real time, and when the CPU cannot keep up, the server slows down — players see rubber-banding and “connection timed out” errors rather than a graceful degradation. Sustained multi-core performance is what separates a good Palworld box from a bad one.

The PalWorldSettings.ini options that matter

Edit PalWorldSettings.ini in the server’s Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer folder. These options have the biggest impact on performance and stability:

• ServerPlayerMaxNum — set this to your honest slot count. It defaults to 32, and advertising more slots than the hardware can serve is the most common cause of evening lag.
• BaseCampWorkerMaxNum — capping base workers limits per-tick AI cost on crowded servers.
• DayTimeSpeedRate / NightTimeSpeedRate — keeping these near default avoids unnecessary AI churn on long-running worlds.
• AutoSaveSpan (minutes) — raising it from the default reduces the world-save freeze that causes periodic stutter.
• bUseAuth — leave enabled unless you are actively troubleshooting login issues.

Bandwidth and storage

Expect 1–3 Mbps per player, with bursts during base raids and Pal captures, so a 1 Gbps port handles 32 players easily. Storage is simple: Palworld saves are a few GB at most, but the game writes constantly, and an NVMe drive (or at least a good SATA SSD) prevents save corruption during crashes and cuts restart time after patches.

Setup checklist

• Install via SteamCMD: app_update 2394010.
• Run once to generate the config, then stop the server.
• Edit PalWorldSettings.ini — server name, password, and player max.
• Open UDP 8211 (game) and UDP 27015 (Steam query) in the firewall.
• Start with ./PalServer.sh and verify from the in-game community server list.

Monitoring and the memory question

Palworld had well-documented memory-leak problems in early versions, and current builds still creep upward over long uptimes. The practical fix is a scheduled daily restart during off-peak hours — it clears the leak and costs a minute of downtime. Watch RAM with htop or a monitoring agent and set an alert at 80% usage. If your server is hitting swap during peak hours, add RAM before you add players; that is cheaper than the reputation damage of a crash during a base raid.

Sizing the right machine

The good news: Palworld scales with cores, so the machine you need is easy to spec — 8+ modern cores, 16–32 GB RAM, NVMe, 1 Gbps. That profile is standard fare on any decent bare-metal game server, and buying it outright beats fighting other tenants for CPU on a shared plan, because Palworld needs sustained multi-core performance, not occasional bursts. Compare game-server-ready plans with published CPU and RAM specs before you commit.

See the plans we recommend for Palworld hosting — exact cores, RAM, and NVMe sizes, no vague “up to” language.