--- title: "How much RAM does a Rust server need? | StreetHosting" description: "How much RAM a Rust server needs: a players x RAM x vCPU table, why memory grows until the wipe, map size, plugins and when to move to a dedicated server." url: "https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need" type: "page" language: "en-US" --- VPS · 9 min · Intermediate Published on Sep 28, 2026 · Updated on Sep 28, 2026 # Rust server RAM: from wipe day to the last week A Rust server does not use the same amount of memory all month. See how much to reserve per player count, what makes usage climb between wipes and how to measure before changing plans. By [Equipe StreetHosting](https://streethosting.com.br/en/autores#equipe-streethosting) · StreetHosting infrastructure and support team [Hardware and datacenter](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/topics/hardware) [Other games](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/topics/other-games) Summarize with: [](https://chat.openai.com/?q=Summarize%20the%20key%20points%20of%20this%20StreetHosting%20guide%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.%20Highlight%20the%20step-by-step%20instructions%2C%20the%20prerequisites%20and%20the%20most%20common%20mistakes. "ChatGPT") [](https://claude.ai/new?q=Summarize%20the%20key%20points%20of%20this%20StreetHosting%20guide%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.%20Highlight%20the%20step-by-step%20instructions%2C%20the%20prerequisites%20and%20the%20most%20common%20mistakes. "Claude") [](https://www.google.com/search?udm=50&aep=11&q=Summarize%20the%20key%20points%20of%20this%20StreetHosting%20guide%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.%20Highlight%20the%20step-by-step%20instructions%2C%20the%20prerequisites%20and%20the%20most%20common%20mistakes. "Google AI Mode") [](https://x.com/i/grok?text=Summarize%20the%20key%20points%20of%20this%20StreetHosting%20guide%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.%20Highlight%20the%20step-by-step%20instructions%2C%20the%20prerequisites%20and%20the%20most%20common%20mistakes. "Grok") [](https://www.perplexity.ai/search/new?q=Summarize%20the%20key%20points%20of%20this%20StreetHosting%20guide%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.%20Highlight%20the%20step-by-step%20instructions%2C%20the%20prerequisites%20and%20the%20most%20common%20mistakes. "Perplexity") Share: [](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=How%20much%20RAM%20does%20a%20Rust%20server%20need%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need "Share on X") [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need "Share on Facebook") [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need "Share on LinkedIn") [](https://wa.me/?text=How%20much%20RAM%20does%20a%20Rust%20server%20need%3F%20https%3A%2F%2Fstreethosting.com.br%2Fen%2Fguides%2Fvps%2Fhow-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need "Share on WhatsApp") For agents: Copy as Markdown [.md](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need.md) In this guide 7 sections * [RAM table by player count](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#tabela) * [Wipe day vs. end of wipe](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#dia-um-vs-fim) * [What makes memory grow](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#o-que-consome) * [Plugins: Oxide and Carbon](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#plugins) * [CPU and disk](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#cpu-disco) * [How to measure](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#medir) * [VPS or dedicated](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#vps-ou-dedicado) Quick answer On **how much RAM a Rust server needs**: count on 10 GB for up to 10 players, 16 GB for 10 to 50, 16 to 24 GB for 50 to 100 and 32 GB for 100 to 200 players. These numbers already account for the end of the wipe, when the map is full of bases; on wipe day usage is much lower. Above 200 players, the way to go is a dedicated server. ## RAM table by player count[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#tabela) The ranges below assume a procedural map of a typical size for each population, Oxide or Carbon with a moderate set of plugins and a monthly wipe. They are reference points measured on real servers, not promises: a modded server with multiplied loot and lots of builds can go past the upper limit. | Players at peak | Map | Start of wipe | End of wipe | vCPU | Ryzen 9950X VPS | | --------------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------- | -------------- | ---------------------- | | Up to 10 | 3000 to 3500 | 6 to 8 GB | 8 to 10 GB | 4 | R$ 144.00 (10 GB) | | 10 to 50 | 3500 | 8 to 10 GB | 12 to 16 GB | 6 | R$ 222.00 (16 GB) | | 50 to 100 | 3500 to 4000 | 10 to 14 GB | 16 to 24 GB | 8 | R$ 326.00 (24 GB) | | 100 to 200 | 4000 to 4500 | 14 to 20 GB | 24 to 32 GB | 10 | R$ 430.00 (32 GB) | | More than 200 | 4500 or more | 20 GB or more | 32 GB or more | Physical cores | Dedicated, R$ 2,229.00 | The column that decides the plan is the end of the wipe. A server that opens with 8 GB to spare can reach the last week out of memory, and that is exactly when the community is most active and most willing to complain. The guide on [hosting a Rust server on a VPS](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/host-rust-server-brazil) mentions 8 GB for up to 50 players, and that number holds for the start of the cycle with a medium map. Here the goal is to size for the whole month. ## Wipe day vs. end of wipe[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#dia-um-vs-fim) On wipe day the map is empty: just terrain, monuments, resources and animals. In the following hours the first houses appear, and within a week the map has hundreds of bases with thousands of blocks, doors, chests, furnaces, traps and dropped items. Each of those objects is an entity the server keeps in memory, simulates when needed and writes to the save. Facepunch forces a map wipe on the monthly update, which lands on the first Thursday of the month. Many servers run extra wipes, weekly or biweekly, precisely to keep the map light and the player base fresh. In practice: * **Weekly wipe:** usage stays close to the start-of-wipe column the whole time. You can go one tier lower in the table, keeping an eye on the weekend peak. * **Biweekly wipe:** usage reaches the halfway point between the two columns. Use the table as it is. * **Monthly-only wipe:** the last week gets close to the end-of-wipe column. This is where spare memory matters most. Two details confuse a lot of people. The blueprint wipe erases players' research progress, but it does not touch the map, so it does not change usage. And restarting the server in the middle of a wipe does not give back the memory taken by the builds: on startup, it loads the save with all the entities back. A daily restart helps clear plugin leftovers and fragmentation, but only a map wipe resets the curve. ## What makes memory grow[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#o-que-consome) Besides the builds, four factors explain most of the difference between two servers with the same population: * **Map size:** the `server.worldsize` sets the area. A bigger map means more terrain loaded, more monuments and more room for bases to spread out, so the memory floor rises from the first minute. * **Resource multiplier:** 2x, 5x and 10x servers produce bigger bases sooner. A 5x server reaches in one week what a vanilla server takes a month to build. * **Loose items and despawn:** items dropped on the ground, corpses and backpacks disappear over time, but plugins or settings that extend that time make entities pile up. * **Custom maps:** maps made in the editor, with extra monuments and prefabs, usually have many more fixed entities than a procedural map of the same size. The save follows memory: a map with lots of bases produces a large file, and every autosave takes longer. On very full servers, the moment of the save shows up for players as a small freeze. ## Plugins: Oxide and Carbon[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#plugins) Oxide (uMod) and Carbon are the two most widely used plugin frameworks. Both take a fixed amount of memory and compile or load plugins inside the server process. The weight of a plugin depends less on the file size and more on what it stores: * **Light:** kits, teleport, messages, admin commands. They store little state and barely change the total. * **Heavy:** zones, player stats, item stacking, building removal, NPC events. They store data per player or per entity and grow with the wipe. A server with 60 well-written plugins can use less than one with 15 poorly written ones. When usage climbs more than the population explains, disable plugins one by one on a test server and compare. ## CPU and disk[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#cpu-disco) Rust's simulation runs mainly on one thread. When the map fills up, the server needs more time per frame and the server framerate drops: players feel lag on doors, gathering and combat even with free memory. That is why the table raises vCPU along with RAM, but what helps most is clock speed per core. The technical reason is in [single-thread vs. multi-thread CPU on servers](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/infrastructure/single-thread-vs-multi-thread-cpu). The extra cores handle saving, networking, RCON and the processes running alongside the game. On disk, the installation is moderate. What grows is the map save, the backups you keep from each wipe and the logs. An NVMe disk shortens the autosave time, which is when the server depends on the disk the most. The tiers in the table have 100 to 320 GB of NVMe, which leaves plenty of room for several wipes' worth of backups. ## How to measure[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#medir) Measure on the same server at three points: right after the wipe, in the middle and the day before the next one. The curve is what shows whether the plan holds up for the month. 1. In the console or over RCON, the `serverinfo` command shows the entity count, the process memory and the server framerate. 2. On the VPS, the memory available to the system: `free -h` 3. The process using the most memory: `ps -eo pid,comm,rss --sort=-rss | head` If the memory available at the peak of the last week drops below 20% of the total, move up a tier before the next monthly wipe. If the server framerate drops while memory is to spare, the problem is CPU or a plugin, not RAM. Set up swap as a safety net so the kernel does not kill the server when memory runs out, as shown in the guide on [swap on Ubuntu](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/set-up-swap-ubuntu-vps). But Rust running on swap stutters on every save; if swap ends up in use every day, you are short on RAM. ## VPS or dedicated[](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#vps-ou-dedicado) Up to 200 players, the [Ryzen 9 9950X VPS](https://streethosting.com.br/en/vps/ryzen) covers it with clock speeds up to 5.7 GHz, DDR5, NVMe and Anti-DDoS included, in São Paulo. A server for friends fits the R$ 144.00 plan (4 vCPU, 10 GB, 100 GB NVMe). A community of 10 to 50 players goes with the R$ 222.00 one (6 vCPU, 16 GB, 160 GB NVMe), and servers of 100 to 200 players call for the R$ 430.00 one (10 vCPU, 32 GB, 320 GB NVMe). The upgrade is done in the control panel and charges only the prorated difference for the cycle; do it right after a wipe, because it requires restarting the VM. Above 200 players, or with several large servers on the same network, a [dedicated server](https://streethosting.com.br/en/dedicated) starts to make sense. The Extreme SM, with a Ryzen 9 9950X and 128 GB of DDR5 for R$ 2,229.00, keeps the VPS's high clock speed with exclusive physical cores, 2 TB of NVMe and a dedicated 10 Gbps. There is also the Budget SM, with a Ryzen 9 5900XT and 64 GB of DDR4 for R$ 1,499.00, for those who need memory and isolation on a smaller budget. Delivery takes up to 6 days, so plan the migration for the week of the wipe. The signs that the time has come are in [when to use a dedicated server](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/infrastructure/when-to-use-a-dedicated-server). Always migrate on wipe day: the new map is created on the new machine and nobody loses a base in the move. In this guide * [RAM table by player count](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#tabela) * [Wipe day vs. end of wipe](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#dia-um-vs-fim) * [What makes memory grow](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#o-que-consome) * [Plugins: Oxide and Carbon](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#plugins) * [CPU and disk](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#cpu-disco) * [How to measure](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#medir) * [VPS or dedicated](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/how-much-ram-does-a-rust-server-need#vps-ou-dedicado) ## Frequently asked questions How much RAM does a Rust server need? For up to 50 players on a medium map, 8 GB is enough at the start of the wipe, but memory climbs with the builds and reaches 12 to 16 GB in the last weeks. Reserving 16 GB keeps the server from going down exactly when the map is at its fullest. Why does a Rust server use more memory every day? Because every wall, door, chest, trap and item dropped on the ground is an entity the server keeps in memory and writes to the save. The further the wipe goes, the more bases exist, and memory follows. The wipe resets the map and usage goes back to the start. Does map size change Rust RAM usage? Yes. A bigger map has more terrain, more monuments and more room to build, and the server uses more memory from the very first minute. Maps of 3500 to 4000 are the common middle ground; 4500 or more only pays off if you have the population to fill it. Do Oxide or Carbon plugins increase RAM usage? Yes. The framework takes a fixed amount and each plugin adds its own. Plugins that store data per player or per entity, such as zones, stats and item stacking, grow along with the wipe and tend to be the heaviest. When does a Rust server need a dedicated server? When it goes past 200 players at peak, when the network runs several large servers or when the 32 GB VPS gets tight at the end of the wipe. A dedicated server gives you exclusive physical cores and plenty of memory for large maps and heavy saves. Next step See Ryzen VPS Ryzen 9 9950X VPS in São Paulo with root access, NVMe and gamer Anti-DDoS. [See Ryzen VPS](https://streethosting.com.br/en/vps/ryzen) [See dedicated servers Exclusive hardware in São Paulo with NVMe and Anti-DDoS.](https://streethosting.com.br/en/dedicated) ## Related guides [VPS Advanced How to host a Rust server on a VPS in Brazil Rust is one of the most demanding games to host. Learn how to install the Rust Dedicated Server on a Linux VPS with SteamCMD, set up RCON, install Oxide and keep everything stable. 3 min Read guide](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/vps/host-rust-server-brazil) [Infrastructure Intermediate Single thread vs multi thread CPU: what matters on a server A game server can lag with the CPU at 25% while a database puts every core it can find to work. Learn where that difference comes from, how to tell which side your application is on, and what kind of vCPU to buy. 11 min Read guide](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/infrastructure/single-thread-vs-multi-thread-cpu) [Infrastructure Intermediate When to use a dedicated server: moving from a VPS to bare metal A dedicated server makes sense when predictable performance and physical isolation matter more than the flexibility of a VPS. The decision usually comes up with continuous workloads, compliance requirements, heavy I/O or specific licensing. With clear criteria, the migration lowers risk and avoids unnecessary cost. 4 min Read guide](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides/infrastructure/when-to-use-a-dedicated-server) [← Back to the Guide Center](https://streethosting.com.br/en/guides)