FiveM Server Requirements 2026: RAM, CPU, Storage and Slots

Before you rent a server or a VPS for FiveM, you want to know what it needs: how much RAM, which CPU, how much disk and how many player slots. Part of that answer comes from Cfx.re, the team behind FiveM, and part of it is sizing advice. This guide keeps the two apart, so you can see which number is official and which one is our estimate.

Quick answer: Cfx.re publishes no minimum RAM, CPU or disk size for a FiveM server. What it does ask for is a free license key from the Cfx Portal, a supported server artifact and the server port (30120 by default) reachable from the internet, and it recommends an x86-64 machine running Windows or Linux with "decent upstream connectivity" and preferably a multi-core processor. Every server gets 48 player slots for free; more need FiveM Element Club Argentum or higher. For hardware, our own estimate for a small roleplay server of up to 32 players is 4 to 8 GB of RAM and 4 fast cores on NVMe storage, growing from there with players and scripts.

Are there official FiveM server requirements?

Not in gigabytes or gigahertz. Cfx.re's Setting Up a Server page asks for one thing before you begin: a free license key from the Cfx Portal. It then links the guides for txAdmin, Windows, Linux and game server hosting providers, and none of them lists hardware. The closest thing to a system requirement is the FAQ on fivem.net/server-hosting: "We recommend a x86-64 system running Linux or Windows (7/2008 R2+), decent upstream connectivity and preferably a multi-core processor."

Everything Cfx.re does state, in one table, as checked on 4 November 2026:

Build numbers move often, so check the Server Download page on the day you install. Two more notes from the same docs. The Linux server is, in Cfx.re's words, "only provided as a courtesy port", and Cfx.re says you are more likely to see issues fixed on the Windows version; our FiveM on Linux guide covers what that means in practice. And if you came here for the PC specs to play FiveM, those are official and live in our FiveM system requirements guide.

Our sizing estimates by server size

Because Cfx.re sets no hardware numbers, every figure in this table is our planning estimate, not a Cfx.re figure and not a benchmark. Your scripts move these numbers more than your player count does, so treat them as a starting point and measure your own server.

Two Cfx.re rules apply on top of any hardware: any server above 48 players needs an Element Club subscription (next section), and the Server Commands page says an sv_maxclients value of 32 or more needs OneSync set to on or legacy, and a value above 64 needs onesync on.

Player slots and OneSync: the official limits

Slots are the one requirement Cfx.re puts numbers on. Its OneSync page says OneSync is free up to 48 slots, and that above that you need a tier from the Cfx Portal "starting from FiveM Element Club Argentum". The tiers as fivem.net/server-hosting listed them on 4 November 2026:

What the docs add:

• OneSync Infinity allows up to 2048 players, and the OneSync page notes there are servers handling more than 1,000 players at once.
• On FiveM for GTAV Enhanced, OneSync big mode is the only mode; the old non-big mode no longer exists.
• On FiveM, onesync legacy still exists, but the Server Commands page calls it "not recommended due to performance issues and graphical glitches". Cfx.re's example server.cfg uses set onesync on.
• To go above 48, the Server Issues page says to use the latest server artifact, set sv_maxclients above 48 within your tier and restart the server. The fivem.net FAQ adds that new Element Club perks can take up to 6 hours to activate.

In server.cfg that looks like this:

# OneSync on, as in Cfx.re's example server.cfg
set onesync on
# more than 48 slots needs FiveM Element Club Argentum or higher
sv_maxclients 64

For the difference between the modes and how to move a server from legacy to on, read our OneSync guide.

CPU: what Cfx.re says and what we advise

Cfx.re's only CPU line is "preferably a multi-core processor". It sets no core count and no clock speed. The Server Commands page, in its section for FiveM for GTAV Enhanced, does show where extra cores go: network IO runs on its own threads (sv_ioThreads defaults to the number of logical CPU threads, clamped to between 2 and 4), sync updates are processed in parallel (onesync_multithreadedPacketProcessing, on by default), and the sync thread's tick rate (sv_syncTickRate) defaults to 60 with a range of 1 to 120, where higher values "can reduce latency but increase CPU usage".

Our advice, not a Cfx.re rule: buy fast cores before many cores. FXServer's own source code (GameServer.cpp) times the main server loop, svMain, at 1000 / 20, so every 50 ms, and prints server thread hitch warning when a gap passes 150 ms. Cfx.re's profiler guide is there to find the script threads behind those hitch warnings. One loop can only run as fast as one core, so single-thread performance comes first and core count second. Our best CPU for a FiveM server guide goes deeper into the threads.

RAM

Cfx.re gives no RAM figure for the server. Our estimates are in the table above. What pushes a server toward the top of its range, in our sizing, is the script stack (framework, phone, inventory, housing) and a database running on the same machine, more than the bare player count.

Measure it instead of guessing: start the server with all your resources, let a full evening of players in, and read the peak memory of the server process. On Windows that is FXServer.exe in Task Manager (cfx-server.exe on FiveM for GTAV Enhanced); on Linux, htop shows the process and free -h the whole machine. Size the plan so that peak fits with room to spare.

Storage requirements

Cfx.re names no disk size and no disk type. The server software itself is small: on 4 November 2026 the recommended artifact (build 35245) on the Server Download page was a 44.6 MB download for Windows and 70.6 MB for Linux, and FiveM for GTAV Enhanced build 170 was 83.8 MB for Windows and 85.2 MB for Linux. txAdmin comes inside that download: Cfx.re's txAdmin guide starts it straight from FXServer.exe.

Everything else on the disk is yours: custom vehicles, MLO interiors, clothing packs, the database, logs and backups. The storage column in our table above is an estimate for that content. To see what your own server uses, run this on Linux in the folder that holds your resources folder:

du -sh resources/* | sort -h

We recommend NVMe SSD storage, as advice rather than a Cfx.re rule. Cfx.re's Server Issues page notes that adding resources increases the startup time, and players download your resources from the server's own file server when they join (Cfx.re documents a caching proxy with fileserver_add to move those downloads elsewhere), so fast reads help on both counts.

Network requirements

Cfx.re asks for "decent upstream connectivity" and gives no Mbps figure, so we do not make one up. What is documented:

The server listens on port 30120 by default, and the example server.cfg opens it for both protocols:

endpoint_add_tcp "0.0.0.0:30120"
endpoint_add_udp "0.0.0.0:30120"

Joining players download your resources from the server, so big car and map packs cost upload bandwidth for every new player.

To test that the server is reachable, the Server Issues page has you open http://your-ip:30120/info.json in a browser, which should return your server's info as JSON. It also notes that a new server can take up to 8 minutes after launch to appear in the server list.

Our advice on top: put the server close to most of your players, and use DDoS protection for any public server.

FAQ

How much RAM does a FiveM server need?

Cfx.re does not say. Our estimate is 2 to 4 GB for a test server, 4 to 8 GB for a small RP server of up to 32 players, 8 to 16 GB for up to 64 players and 16 GB or more above that. Heavy script stacks and a database on the same machine push you toward the top of each range, so measure the server process during a full evening before you size up.

What CPU is best for a FiveM server?

Cfx.re only recommends an x86-64 processor, preferably multi-core. Our advice is high single-thread performance first and core count second, because the main server loop runs on one thread every 50 ms. Space-Node's FiveM hosting runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in the EU, shared with other servers on the node.

How many player slots does a FiveM server get for free?

48. Cfx.re's OneSync page says OneSync is free up to 48 slots. For more you need a Cfx Portal subscription: FiveM Element Club Argentum allows 64, Aurum up to 128 with OneSync Infinity and Platinum up to 2048 with OneSync Infinity. On FiveM for GTAV Enhanced, OneSync big mode is the only mode. Raise sv_maxclients once the subscription is active and restart the server.

Can I run a FiveM server on a free VPS?

Cfx.re does not rule it out. It recommends an x86-64 machine running Windows or Linux with decent upstream connectivity, so a free tier on an ARM processor falls outside that. In our view, free tiers rarely have the RAM and CPU for a roleplay server with a framework and scripts. For testing, 2 GB is enough in our estimate; Space-Node's smallest FiveM plan has 2 GB of RAM, up to 16 slots and 25 GB of NVMe storage, with txAdmin pre-installed.

Does a FiveM server need NVMe storage?

Cfx.re requires no particular disk type. We still recommend NVMe, because startup time grows with every resource you add and players download your resources from the server when they join. The server software itself is under 100 MB as a download; your own content takes the rest of the disk.

Sources

All opened on 4 November 2026:

• Cfx.re docs: Setting Up a Server
• Cfx.re docs: OneSync
• Cfx.re docs: Server Commands
• Cfx.re docs: Setting Up a Vanilla FXServer
• Cfx.re docs: Setting up a server using txAdmin
• Cfx.re docs: Server Issues
• Cfx.re docs: Server Download
• Cfx.re docs: End of Support/End of Life Warning Message
• Cfx.re docs: Onboarding Guide FiveM for GTAV Enhanced
• Cfx.re docs: Using the Profiler
• Cfx.re docs: Optimizing Resource Downloads Using a Caching Proxy
• fivem.net: Server hosting, Element Club tiers and FAQ
• citizenfx/fivem on GitHub: GameServer.cpp

Related: FiveM server keeps crashing fix, FiveM resmon guide, FiveM OneSync explained, Cfx Portal license key guide, DayZ Server Requirements 2026