Factorio Space Age Multiplayer Server: Setup, DLC and RAM (2026)

Q: How many players can a Space Age server hold?

Factorio has no fixed limit and maxplayers defaults to 0, meaning unlimited. In practice the limit is how much the factory asks of every player's CPU. Our plans are sized for 8, 16 and 32 players.

A Factorio Space Age server is a normal Factorio 2.0 headless server with three built in mods switched on in mods/mod-list.json: space-age, quality and elevated-rails. The server itself does not need a copy of the expansion, but every player who joins does, because Factorio checks that each client has the same mods as the server. Give it 4 GB of RAM for a normal group, 8 GB for a megabase or heavy mods, and pick a fast CPU over more memory, because Space Age runs several planets and space platforms at once.

Short answer

Run Factorio 2.0 or newer on the server. Space Age does not exist on 1.1.
In mods/mod-list.json, set space-age, quality and elevated-rails to "enabled": true.
Create a new map (or load a 2.0 save) and start the server.
Every player needs Factorio 2.0 and the Space Age expansion on their account, on the same version as the server.

On GamezServers, Space Age is a switch in the panel and is on by default.

Who needs to own Space Age?

Players: everyone who joins a Space Age map needs to own the expansion. Factorio compares mod lists on join, and the expansion mods are only available to owners. A player without it cannot join, there is no "guest" mode.
The server: no. The free headless server from factorio.com includes the expansion content. It does not need a game license.
Mixed groups: if even one friend does not own Space Age, run the server with all three expansion mods off. Factorio 2.0 without the expansion is still the full base game with all the 2.0 improvements, and everyone can play.

What Space Age turns on

The expansion is three mods that ship with the game, and you can see them in the mods menu:

Mod	Name in mod-list.json	What it adds
Space Age	`space-age`	Space platforms, rockets to other planets: Vulcanus, Fulgora, Gleba and Aquilo, plus new buildings and a reworked tech tree
Quality	`quality`	Quality tiers on items and buildings, quality modules and the recycler
Elevated Rails	`elevated-rails`	Rail ramps and elevated tracks

space-age depends on the other two, so enabling Space Age means all three. You can run quality or elevated-rails alone, but players still need the expansion for either one.

The relevant part of mod-list.json looks like this:

{
  "mods": [
    { "name": "base", "enabled": true },
    { "name": "elevated-rails", "enabled": true },
    { "name": "quality", "enabled": true },
    { "name": "space-age", "enabled": true }
  ]
}

To run vanilla 2.0, set the three expansion entries to false.

Turn it on before the map is made

Pick Space Age or not before you create the map. The map generator, the tech tree and the recipes all change with the expansion.

Adding Space Age to an existing 2.0 base game save: possible, Factorio migrates the save, but your research and recipes change under you. Back up first, and expect to rework parts of the base.
Turning Space Age off on a Space Age save: everything that only exists in the expansion, planets, platforms and their contents included, is removed when the save loads without it. Do not do this on a map you care about.

On GamezServers, the panel's Space Age setting applies to the map you create. If you switch it on an existing map, click Backup first.

How much RAM does a Space Age server need?

Factorio is light on memory compared with most survival games, but Space Age raises it. Every planet you land on is its own surface that stays loaded, and every space platform keeps simulating while it flies.

Setup	RAM we would pick
Base game 2.0, a few friends	2 GB
Space Age, up to 16 players, a couple of planets	4 GB
Space Age megabase, many platforms, or big mods on top	8 GB

Our Factorio plans are 2, 4 and 8 GB, sized for 8, 16 and 32 players. We would put a Space Age group on 4 GB from the start and move up only if the base grows huge. You can upgrade from the dashboard any time, prorated. More on sizing in how much RAM a game server needs.

Why UPS matters more than RAM

Factorio is deterministic: every player's PC runs the whole simulation, and the server keeps everyone in lockstep. The game aims for 60 updates per second (UPS). When the factory needs more work per tick than a machine can do, UPS drops and the game runs in slow motion for everyone, since all clients have to keep up.

So late game slowdown on a Space Age server usually comes from the slowest player's CPU, not from the server's memory. What helps:

Fewer, bigger platforms instead of dozens of small ones. Each platform simulates all the time.
Trains over huge belt spaghetti between distant parts of the base.
Fewer idle bots. Big robot networks with thousands of bots are expensive. Keep the counts sensible.
Watch Gleba. Spoilage means a lot of items changing state, which adds work when a Gleba base sprawls.
Measure before guessing. The show-time-usage option in the F4 debug menu shows which parts of the simulation cost the most.
A fast server CPU helps the server side keep up, which is why our Factorio servers run on high clock CPUs.

Setting up the server

Self hosted:

Download the headless server for Linux from factorio.com and unpack it.
Edit mods/mod-list.json as above. If the file does not exist yet, start the server once to create it.
Create a map: ./bin/x64/factorio --create ./saves/spaceage.zip
Copy data/server-settings.example.json to server-settings.json and set at least name, game_password and visibility.
Start it: ./bin/x64/factorio --start-server ./saves/spaceage.zip --server-settings ./server-settings.json
Forward UDP 34197 on your router.

On GamezServers: pick a plan, keep Space Age on in the panel, set a Join password, and start. The map is created automatically. Players connect with Multiplayer, Connect to address, and the address from your dashboard. The full walkthrough is in the Factorio hosting quick start.

Other mods on top of Space Age

Mods from the mod portal work on a Space Age server as long as they support 2.0 and, where relevant, the expansion. Check each mod's page: many say whether they need or conflict with Space Age. Players get them automatically when they join. Details in how to install mods on a Factorio server.

Server settings worth changing for Space Age

In server-settings.json:

auto_pause: true (the default) pauses the game when nobody is on. Keep it, or platforms and Gleba farms keep running and spoiling while everyone sleeps.
autosave_interval: 10 minutes is fine. On a very big map saves get slower, so do not go much lower.
only_admins_can_pause_the_game: true stops random players freezing a public server.

All keys with defaults are in Factorio server-settings.json explained.

FAQ

Can a player without Space Age join a Space Age server?

No. Factorio requires every client to run the same mods as the server, and the expansion mods are only available to owners. Run the server with Space Age off if anyone in the group does not have it.

Does the headless server need a Space Age license?

No. The headless server is a free download and includes the expansion content. Only the players need to own it.

Can I play Space Age multiplayer without a dedicated server?

Yes, one player can host from the game. The world is then only online while that player plays. A dedicated server keeps the factory available to everyone at any time.

Is Space Age multiplayer cross platform?

Factorio supports multiplayer between PC versions (Windows, Linux and macOS) on the same game version. Console versions follow their own rules, so check the official factorio.com announcements before planning on console players.

How many players can a Space Age server hold?

Factorio has no fixed limit and max_players defaults to 0, meaning unlimited. In practice the limit is how much the factory asks of every player's CPU. Our plans are sized for 8, 16 and 32 players.