Optimizing Server Performance
This guide explains performance tuning for dedicated hosting with practical steps to keep uptime stable, reduce regression risk, and maintain a smooth player experience.
Hardware Requirements
- RAM: 8GB minimum, 16GB recommended for larger saves.
- CPU: High single-core performance is preferred (Ryzen 5 / Intel i5 or better).
- Storage: NVMe SSD is highly recommended to reduce autosave stutter.
Settings to Tweak
If you experience lag:
- Reduce
MaxPlayersinCustomHostServerUserSettings.ini. - Increase the autosave interval if possible (check patch notes for current config options).
- Restart the server daily to clear memory leaks common in Early Access titles.
Topic Deep Dive: performance tuning
Performance tuning on dedicated hosting is most reliable when changes are staged, measured, and validated against live-join behavior before wider rollout.
- Plan first: Plan maintenance for performance tuning and announce player-facing impact in advance.
- Measure impact: Track CPU, RAM, and network baselines before and after each configuration change.
- Protect continuity: Keep rollback-ready backups so failed changes can be reverted within minutes.
Operational Checklist
Treat this topic as a repeatable server operation, not a one-time change. Schedule changes during lower traffic, announce maintenance windows, and keep a rollback snapshot before each update. If your server is modded, validate changes on a staging copy first so startup logs, world loading, and player joins are confirmed before production rollout.
Validation Steps
- Capture baseline metrics: Record CPU, RAM, and average player ping before changes.
- Apply one change at a time: Avoid batch edits that make root-cause analysis difficult.
- Review logs after restart: Check for version mismatch and dependency warnings immediately.
- Run a real join test: Confirm fresh clients can connect and complete core gameplay actions.
- Observe for at least 24 hours: Validate behavior under peak load, not only right after reboot.
Performance and Stability Notes
Most hosting incidents come from resource spikes combined with configuration drift. Keep restart cadence predictable, review world/save growth weekly, and cap optional systems that generate extreme entity counts. When performance drops, compare with your last known-good baseline and revert recent high-risk changes quickly to reduce downtime.
Backup and Rollback Policy
Use automated daily backups plus pre-change snapshots for risky operations. Keep at least one off-node copy and test restore procedures routinely. A practical retention strategy is 7 daily, 4 weekly, and 2 monthly restore points. If a change causes instability, roll back first, stabilize service, and then reattempt with a narrower test scope.
Game-Specific Hosting Notes
- Early-access cadence: Expect frequent patches; keep a pinned rollback archive for the previous known-good server build.
- Version lockstep: Confirm client and server patch parity quickly after updates to reduce join failures.
- Session stability: Validate reconnect behavior after long sessions and monitor memory growth over multi-hour uptime.