Project Zomboid server RAM: how much do you need?
Here it is distance between players that costs memory, not the number of players. Zomboid is the one game on this site where four people can be more expensive to host than twelve.
Recommendation
You need a server with at least
8GB
- Engine / Base OS:
- 4 GB
- Player Overhead:
- +2.4 GB
- Estimated Raw Usage:
- 6.4 GB
- Suggested cores:
- 4
- Disk to allow:
- 15 GB+
Cost scales with how many separate map regions are loaded, so spread-out players hurt more than crowded ones.
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What uses the memory in Project Zomboid
Cells of the map are streamed in around every player and held for as long as someone is close. Put four survivors in four towns and Knox County is loaded in four separate places; put twelve in one base and it is loaded once. Each zombie, each item on the floor and each piece of furniture someone built inside a loaded cell is tracked on its own.
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Where people get it wrong
Going by slots alone. On a roleplay server where groups set up far from each other, size as if you had several times the players — and remember that big map mods and vehicle packs raise the baseline before the first connection.