Optimising Your Rust Server to Reduce RAM

Important!

Some of these settings may affect gameplay. Always notify your players if changes affect entity spawning, animal populations, or other game mechanics.

Running a Rust server can be demanding on memory, especially with many players and active entities. Optimising your server helps reduce RAM usage, improves performance, and provide a smoother experience for your players.

1. Reduce Animal and NPC Spawns

High numbers of animals and NPCs increase AI processing and use more memory. Reducing spawns helps lower RAM usage and keeps your server running smoother.

You can adjust populations using the server console or server.cfg. Use this format:

[animal].population "<value>"

• [animal] → the type of creature (e.g., chicken, bear, wolf)
• "<value>"→ Population active on the server, per square km (e.g., 0 for none).

For example: chicken.population 0 (by default is 3)

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2. Limit Server FPS

Capping the server’s FPS reduces RAM and CPU usage, improving performance under load. However, setting it too low can make gameplay feel unresponsive, so aim for a balanced value.

Recommended Setting:
server.fpslimit → 120 FPS or lower – Helps keep CPU and RAM usage under control.

Set via console command or server.cfg:

Use the server console or server.cfg file:
For example: fps.limit 60

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3. Use a Smaller Map Size

Large maps require the server to load more terrain, monuments, and entities, which increases memory usage. Reducing the map size lowers RAM demands and helps improve overall server stability.

The optimal map size depends on the number of active players on your server. Small groups don’t need extensive worlds, while larger communities may require more space. Some trial and error may be necessary to determine the best size for your server.

server.worldsize → 3000–4000 – Reduces memory load from large maps

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4. Schedule Regular Server Restarts

Memory leaks and resource buildup can occur over time. Restarting the server clears temporary data.

If you don’t know how to schedule a server restart, you can follow this guide How to Set a Server Restart Schedule in Rust.

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5. Optimize Plugins and Monitor Performance

Plugins can use significant memory. To manage this:

• Remove or disable unnecessary plugins.
• Use monitoring plugins (like Performance Monitor) to track memory usage and plugin execution times.
• Regularly review plugin impact and adjust as needed.

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6. Adjust the Save Interval

By default, the server saves the world frequently. On smaller maps this isn’t an issue, but with larger save files these constant writes can create stutters. Raising the value of server.saveinterval reduces how often the server writes to disk, which helps smooth performance. Even if our Rust Server Hosting uses SSD NVMe storage, extremely large save files can still cause noticeable lag if saves happen too often.

You can follow our guide on How to Change How Often Your Rust Server Saves to change the settings.

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7. Adjust Upkeep and Decay

Inactive bases and unused structures add unnecessary entities to the map, increasing memory usage over time. By tuning upkeep and decay rates, you can clear these abandoned builds faster and keep the world more efficient. This may shorten the time players can leave bases unattended, but it greatly helps server stability.

For more details and settings, see our guide on How to Configure Building Decay on Your Rust Server.

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8. Monitor Server Memory and Metrics

Use the panel dashboard monitor or external tools to track server performance in real time:

• Panels like RustAdmin or control panel monitors can display CPU, RAM, and FPS usage.
• Monitoring allows you to make proactive adjustments before players notice performance issues.

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9. Scale Hardware if Necessary

If RAM usage remains high despite optimizations, upgrading your server resources may be the most effective solution.

• Minimum practical RAM: 8GB
• For larger servers with more players or plugins: 16GB+

More RAM allows the server to handle bigger maps, higher player counts, and more plugins without performance drops. This ensures smoother gameplay and a better overall experience for your community.

If you expect your playerbase to grow, it’s worth reviewing your hosting plan to make sure it provides the resources you need. You can check our available plans for more details.

For more details on the amount of RAM you need, use our Rust RAM Calculator tool.

Rust Server Hosting

Starts at $11.99

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