Satisfactory 1.0 landed in September 2024 after years in early access, and the dedicated server has matured alongside it. Running your own server means your factory keeps producing while you sleep, friends can join without you being online, and the simulation runs on hardware that does not also need to render the game.
This is the full setup guide for 2026, covering fresh installs, save migration, configuration, and the performance characteristics you need to understand before choosing hardware.
Why a Dedicated Server
Satisfactory's host-client model has a fundamental limitation: the host's machine runs both the game simulation and the rendering. As your factory grows, the host's frame rate drops, which also drops the server's tick rate. Everyone suffers because one machine is doing two jobs.
A dedicated server separates these concerns. The server handles simulation only, no rendering, no GPU load. Your gaming PC handles your own visuals. The factory can grow to absurd sizes before the server starts struggling, and when it does struggle, the problem is isolated to the server hardware rather than pulling down the host's gameplay.
Hardware Requirements
Satisfactory is CPU and RAM hungry, especially at scale. The simulation is primarily single-threaded for the production tick, with some parallelism for logistics and vehicle pathing.
| Factory size | RAM | CPU | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early game (Tier 1-4) | 4 GB | 2 cores, 3.0 GHz | 10 GB |
| Mid game (Tier 5-7) | 8 GB | 4 cores, 3.5 GHz | 15 GB |
| Late game (Tier 8+, nuclear, trains) | 12-16 GB | 4 cores, 4.0 GHz+ | 20 GB |
| Megabase (multiple biomes developed) | 16-24 GB | Fast single-thread critical | 25 GB+ |
The jump from mid to late game is where most people get surprised. Nuclear power, a full train network, and a few thousand machines can push RAM usage past 12 GB. Plan for where your factory will be in a month, not where it is today.
Installation
Linux (SteamCMD)
mkdir -p /home/steam/satisfactory
steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/steam/satisfactory \
+login anonymous \
+app_update 1690800 validate \
+quit
App ID 1690800 is the Satisfactory Dedicated Server.
Windows (SteamCMD or Steam)
Through Steam, go to your Library, enable "Tools" in the filter, and install "Satisfactory Dedicated Server" directly.
Through SteamCMD:
steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\SatisfactoryServer +login anonymous +app_update 1690800 validate +quit
Configuration
The server config lives at:
- Linux:
~/.config/Epic/FactoryGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ - Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\
The main files are ServerSettings.ini and Game.ini.
ServerSettings.ini
[/Script/FactoryGame.FGServerSubsystem]
mServerName=My Satisfactory Server
mServerPassword=
mAdminPassword=changethis
mMaxPlayers=4
mAutoSaveInterval=300
mAdminPassword: set this to something strong. Admin commands let you delete buildings, kick players, and modify game state. If someone guesses this, they own your factory.
mMaxPlayers: Satisfactory runs well with 2 to 4 players. Performance with 8+ players depends heavily on factory complexity. The game can technically handle more, but you will notice hitching during autosaves and when multiple players are in different biomes simultaneously.
mAutoSaveInterval: seconds between autosaves. 300 is the default. Late game saves can take several seconds to write, so very frequent autosaves (under 120 seconds) can cause periodic lag spikes on slow storage.
Game.ini
[/Script/Engine.GameSession]
MaxPlayers=4
Keep this in sync with mMaxPlayers in ServerSettings.
Ports
| Port | Protocol | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 7777 | UDP | Game traffic |
| 15000 | UDP | Beacon/Query |
| 15777 | UDP | Query (Steam) |
Open all three in your firewall:
sudo ufw allow 7777/udp
sudo ufw allow 15000/udp
sudo ufw allow 15777/udp
Running the Server
Linux
cd /home/steam/satisfactory
./FactoryServer.sh -unattended
The -unattended flag suppresses interactive prompts. For long-term running:
[Unit]
Description=Satisfactory Dedicated Server
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=steam
WorkingDirectory=/home/steam/satisfactory
ExecStart=/home/steam/satisfactory/FactoryServer.sh -unattended
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=15
LimitNOFILE=100000
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
The LimitNOFILE is important. Satisfactory opens a lot of file descriptors for its asset streaming, and the default Linux limit of 1024 can cause the server to crash on larger factories.
Windows
Run FactoryServer.exe from the installation directory. Use the -unattended flag if launching from command line.
Save Migration
From Singleplayer or Hosted Session
Your local saves are at:
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\ - Linux:
~/.config/Epic/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/
Copy the .sav file to the server's save directory and claim it through the server manager web interface (accessible at http://your-server-ip:7777 in a browser).
From Early Access / Experimental
1.0 saves from the final experimental branch are compatible with the release version. Saves from much older experimental builds (Update 7 or earlier) should work but may trigger a one-time migration that takes longer to load. Back up before migrating.
Performance Tuning
Memory
The single biggest performance factor. Satisfactory loads the entire world into memory, not just the area around players. A factory with 5,000 machines uses more RAM whether players are near it or not. If the server starts swapping to disk, performance collapses. Monitor with:
watch -n 5 'ps aux | grep FactoryServer | grep -v grep'
If RSS (resident set size) is approaching your total available RAM, you need more RAM.
CPU
The production tick is single-threaded, so clock speed matters more than core count. A 4-core Ryzen at 4.5 GHz will outperform an 8-core Xeon at 3.0 GHz for Satisfactory specifically. This is the same pattern as Minecraft: IPC and frequency beat parallelism.
Storage
Autosaves are the most I/O intensive operation. A late game save can be 50 to 100 MB, and writing that to disk takes noticeable time on a spinning HDD. NVMe or SSD is strongly recommended. The difference between a 50ms save on NVMe and a 2-second save on HDD is the difference between a micro-stutter and a full gameplay hitch.
Network
Satisfactory is bandwidth-light compared to shooters. 1 Mbps per player is more than enough. Latency matters for conveyor belt interactions and building placement but is forgiving compared to something like FiveM or DayZ.
Updating
Stop the server, run the SteamCMD update, start the server:
sudo systemctl stop satisfactory
steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/steam/satisfactory +login anonymous +app_update 1690800 validate +quit
sudo systemctl start satisfactory
Coffee Stain pushes updates regularly. Some updates require all players to update their game client before reconnecting. The server log will show version mismatch errors if this happens.
Hosting Recommendations
Satisfactory's server requirements make the hosting choice straightforward:
Early to mid game (2-4 players): an 8 GB plan with fast CPU is comfortable. Space-Node Satisfactory hosting starts at plans sized for exactly this use case, with NVMe storage to keep autosaves smooth.
Late game megabases: you want 12-16 GB and the fastest single-thread CPU you can get. Premium tier hosting with Ryzen 9 9950X or 7950X class hardware makes a measurable difference at this factory scale.
Solo with friends joining occasionally: even a 4 GB plan works if you are still in early tiers. Upgrade when the factory demands it, not before.
The most common mistake is underestimating RAM growth. Your factory uses 4 GB today, but in two weeks of building it might need 10 GB. Choose a host that makes upgrades painless.
FAQ
Related guides: for more on Satisfactory hosting, see server requirements and port setup. For general server hardening, read the game server security guide.
Can I run mods on a dedicated server? Yes, with limitations. Mods need to be installed on both the server and all clients. The Satisfactory Mod Manager (SMM) supports server installations. Not all mods are server-compatible, check the mod page on ficsit.app for compatibility notes.
Why does my server tick rate drop during autosaves? The save process serializes the entire world state to a file. On slow storage this blocks the simulation thread. Switch to SSD/NVMe storage and consider increasing the autosave interval if the factory is very large.
How much RAM does a fully built factory actually use? It varies wildly. A compact factory building all items through Tier 8 might use 8 GB. A megabase with distributed production across multiple biomes, nuclear power, a train network, and drone logistics can push 16 to 20 GB. The variable is total machine count and logistics network complexity.
Can two separate factories run on the same server? Yes, run two server instances on different ports. Each needs its own installation directory and port configuration. Budget RAM and CPU for each independently.