You want an Eco server for your group, or you already run one and Steam has delivered a string of updates since August. This guide covers how much RAM to pick, how to set up a server and keep it on the current build, and what Update 14 through Hotfix 14.2.1 change for admins and for older worlds. For the two settings that shape a whole playthrough, see our guide to Eco meteor and collaboration settings.
Quick answer: For Eco server hosting, start on 4 GB of RAM for a small group on a fresh world and plan for 8 GB or more once the world is months old with several settlements; memory grows with how much of the world has changed more than with player count. Keep the server on the latest build, which as of 4 November 2026 is Hotfix 14.2.1 from 16 October. Hotfix 14.1.1 fixed "an issue that allowed malicious actors to manipulate bank account data on servers", so a server on 14.1 or older should update. Update 14 loads Update 13 worlds, but overrides made for Update 13 stop the server from booting until you adjust or remove them, so copy the Storage folder first.
What an Eco Server Does While You Are Offline
Most survival servers sit idle when the last player logs off. Eco does not: plants grow back or fail to, pollution spreads, the laws and stores your players set up keep working, and the meteor timer keeps counting. A group that plays in the evenings still needs a server that stays on during the day.
Update 14 made those hours count for more. Ground pollution is now split into acid rain, chemical, soil and heavy mineral pollution. Soil pollution mostly recovers once the source is gone; chemical and heavy mineral pollution last and need decontaminants when they build up, and burying pollutants no longer contains them. Fresh pollutants get 24 hours before they affect the ground, time to dispose of them "even when your operations run while you are offline", as Strange Loop Games puts it. Why Eco servers die before the meteor covers what keeps a world alive that long.
How Much RAM an Eco Server Needs
Strange Loop Games publishes requirements on Steam for the game, not for the dedicated server. Those figures (Windows 11 64-bit, 8 GB RAM minimum, 16 GB recommended) describe the PC you play on, so do not size a server from them.
On the server, memory follows the age and size of the world. A fresh world for a handful of players fits in 4 GB. After months of cleared forests, mines, several settlements and a body of laws, 8 to 12 GB becomes the comfortable range. Our Eco server hosting follows that curve with four tiers of 4, 6, 8 and 12 GB, each on NVMe storage.
Hotfix 14.2.1 helps older worlds: machines "now use far less memory while running", so the short pauses for memory cleanup come less often, and large, long-played worlds start significantly faster. If an established world lags, check CPU load and the performance logs below before you move up a tier; our Eco lag guide goes through the symptoms.
Setting Up an Eco Server
The dedicated server runs on Windows and Linux; Strange Loop Games keeps a Linux installation script and added Debian 13 and Ubuntu 26.04 to it in Maintenance Update 13.0.3. On a hosted server the panel handles the install, so your work is the world and its settings.
- Pick the location closest to most of your players. Moving later means copying the world to a new server.
- Decide meteor and collaboration before the first start. The meteor and collaboration guide explains the combinations.
- Set the rest in the config files. Eco keeps each group of settings in its own file, such as Balance.eco, Difficulty.eco, Economy.eco, EcoSim.eco, Features.eco, Network.eco and Performance.eco. The matching .template files carry the defaults of the current build, while your .eco files hold the values your server runs with, so a changed default does not always reach an existing server (see EcoSim.eco below).
- Make yourself admin. Since Update 14.1, granting or revoking admin rights with the admin commands takes effect without the player reconnecting.
- Add mods in the server's Mods folder or through its mod.io integration (see the mod section).
- Moving an existing world? It lives in the Storage folder; for a server on your own PC, Strange Loop Games points to
Steam/steamapps/common/Eco/Server/Storage. Copy that folder to the new server before its first start. On our plans you upload it through the panel.
Update 14 to 14.2.1: What Changed for Server Admins
| Build | Released | What matters for a server |
|---|---|---|
| Update 14 | 6 August 2026 | Garbage and recycling, four ground pollution types, reworked upgrade modules; overrides must be adjusted or the server will not boot |
| Hotfix 14.0.1 | 6 August 2026 | Some players could not join a migrated world |
| Hotfix 14.0.2 | 7 August 2026 | Migration left modules on some tables; a race condition that crashed the server |
| Hotfix 14.0.3 | 13 August 2026 | Module and talent bonuses could near or pass 100%; a crash when migrating worlds from Update 12 or earlier |
| Update 14.1 | 2 September 2026 | Update 14 worlds migrate fully; fixes for extreme CPU use in the meteor shower after impact, a fuel deadlock that froze all work orders, and weather lost on restart |
| Hotfix 14.1.1 | 6 September 2026 | Bank account data manipulation fixed; a boot crash tied to plugin load order |
| Update 14.2 | 8 October 2026 | Update 14.1 worlds migrate fully; economic statistics; simulation updates as background jobs; performance logging; mod.io auto updates |
| Hotfix 14.2.1 | 16 October 2026 | Lower machine memory use, faster start for large worlds, smaller economy history database |
Before You Move a World From Update 13
The Update 14 notes warn that "migration between major versions is generally not supported", then say the game "will however load worlds from Update 13 fine". On load it removes all modules from tables, converts them and puts them in void storage, to be applied again at the configured star cost. Then check three things:
- Machines that drew ocean water stop until you install a desalinator, because the ocean now holds salt water.
- Pipes no longer have a room tier, so rooms with pipes in their walls need building blocks there before they count again.
- Pollutants stored deep underground now pollute their surroundings quickly, which can cut the housing score of nearby homes.
Mods and overrides are the bigger risk. Most game files changed, and "servers will fail to boot until these adjustments have been made, unless respective overrides are removed". Compiled mods that add no recipes and do not touch the module system will likely boot, but may fail in use until recompiled against Update 14.
Copy the Storage folder before the first start on any new build. A change of mods can also trigger a world migration, and Hotfix 13.0.1 fixed a bug where such a migration corrupted the save beyond repair: affected servers had to restore a backup from before it.
Why 14.1.1 and the Builds After It Matter
The first line of Hotfix 14.1.1 is a security fix: "An issue that allowed malicious actors to manipulate bank account data on servers." On a server where the economy is the game, that alone is reason to update. Update 14.2 then fixed freezes of several seconds when many objects were created at once on busy servers, pipe loops that froze every work order, liquid tanks that crashed the server, and a server that would not start when the save held items from a removed mod (those objects are now removed with a warning). With 14.2.1 the economy history database takes about half the disk space; existing history is converted automatically on the first start after the update.
Settings That Changed or Arrived
Open the file, find the key and change its value. Defaults are those of the current build.
| File | Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance.eco | CraftGarbageRatio | 0.08 | Share of an item's salvage materials added to its recipe as garbage |
| Balance.eco | BasicModuleStarCost, ModernModuleStarCost, AdvancedModuleStarCost | 1 | Stars a player spends to plug that upgrade into a table |
| Balance.eco | SpecialtyModuleStarCost | 0 | The same for specialty upgrades |
| EcoSim.eco | GroundPollutionGraceDays | 1.0 | Days before a fresh pollutant starts polluting the ground |
| EcoSim.eco | ChemicalNaturalDecayCeiling | 1.0 (0.3 before 14.2) | Level above which chemical pollution no longer decays by itself |
| EcoSim.eco | HeavyMineralNaturalDecayCeiling | 5.0 (1.0 before 14.2) | The same for heavy mineral pollution |
| Economy.eco | AccountBalancePrivate | false | Show a bank balance only to citizens with access and elected banking titles |
| Economy.eco | JournalRetentionDays | 0 | Days of economic statistics to keep; 0 keeps everything |
Strange Loop Games marks the two raised decay ceilings "Requires updating the EcoSim.eco configuration file". If your server has its own EcoSim.eco with the old values, set ChemicalNaturalDecayCeiling to 1.0 and HeavyMineralNaturalDecayCeiling to 5.0 yourself, or keep the old values if your group wants pollution to stay harsh.
Performance Settings and Logs
Update 14.2 moved the periodic civics and world simulation updates (law timers, settlement checks, animal populations, plant growth, pollution) into low priority background jobs, instead of "saturating assigned cpu cores for up to several seconds". Performance.eco controls this and the new logging:
| Setting | Default | What Strange Loop Games says |
|---|---|---|
| BackgroundWorkCpuPercent | 25 | Maximum share of processor cores for background jobs; 0 restores the old behaviour |
| SlowJobLogThresholdMs | 0 (off) | Logs recurring jobs slower than this; 200 recommended when investigating |
| JobSummaryMinutes | 0 (off) | Logs a summary of every recurring job; 5 recommended when investigating |
| TrackRuntimePauses | false | Since 14.2.1: logs pauses over 200 ms and stalls over 500 ms, with whether memory cleanup caused them |
| ServerGC, BoostThreadPool | false | Faster garbage collection and thread pool growth, at a cost |
To chase lag, set SlowJobLogThresholdMs to 200 and JobSummaryMinutes to 5 for a session, read the log, then set both back to 0. Strange Loop Games warns that ServerGC and BoostThreadPool "may cause serious issues when more than one Eco server instance is running on the same dedicated machine without an abstraction layer", and ServerGC costs extra memory. On shared game hosting you do not know what else runs on the machine, so leave both off unless your host confirms they are safe.
Mods After Update 14.2
The server's mod.io integration grew a lot in 14.2. The Browse Mods tab has a search box, its Subscribe button is now called Track, and the server can keep tracked mods and whole collections up to date, with pinned versions and skipped mods. ModKit.eco controls it:
- ModUpdateMode: "Notify" (default) only reports new versions, "Download" also downloads them, "Install" also installs them.
- UpdateCheckIntervalHours: 6 by default.
- ModIoAccessToken: signs the server in to a mod.io account; TrackModIoSubscriptions and FollowModIoCollections (both false by default) then keep that account's subscribed mods and collections installed.
Downloads are checked against the file size and hash published on mod.io and refused when flagged as malicious, and an update keeps your edited config files, writing the mod's version next to yours with a .new ending. The server browser lists mods installed through mod.io, not mods installed another way. On a world you care about, leave ModUpdateMode on Notify and install updates after copying the Storage folder, for the 13.0.1 reason above.
FAQ
How much RAM does an Eco server need? 4 GB for a small group on a fresh world, 8 GB or more for an established world with several settlements. The 8 to 16 GB on Steam is for the PC you play on, not the server.
Which Eco version is current? Hotfix 14.2.1 of 16 October 2026, as of 4 November 2026. Strange Loop Games has said the next major update brings animal husbandry, with no release date yet.
Can I keep my Update 13 world on Update 14? Usually, yes. Migration between major versions is generally not supported, but Update 14 loads Update 13 worlds. Copy the Storage folder first, then fix ocean-water machines, rooms with pipes and stored pollutants.
What did Hotfix 14.1.1 fix? An issue that let malicious actors manipulate bank account data on servers, a boot crash tied to plugin load order, plant and far terrain display bugs, and several modding problems. Update past it to 14.2.1.
Why does my Eco server not start after Update 14? Most likely an override or mod made for Update 13. Take them out, start the server, then add them back one at a time as their authors update them.
Does an Eco server keep running when nobody is online? Yes. Plants grow, pollution spreads and the meteor timer counts down with nobody connected, which is why Eco needs a server that stays on.
Sources
All opened on 4 November 2026:
- Strange Loop Games on Steam: Update 14 (6 August 2026), Eco 14 Preview (24 July 2026), Hotfix 14.0.1, Hotfix 14.0.2, Hotfix 14.0.3, Update 14.1, Hotfix 14.1.1, Update 14.2, Hotfix 14.2.1, Maintenance Update 13.0.3, Hotfix 13.0.1
- Steam: Eco news hub (latest post Hotfix 14.2.1), Eco store page (system requirements)
- Space-Node: Eco server hosting (plans, RAM guidance, uploading a world)