Enshrouded Server Requirements Calculator

Enshrouded dedicated server requirements

Enshrouded's dedicated server is a standalone Windows application distributed free on Steam (SteamCMD app ID 2278520). There is no native Linux build, but it runs reliably on Linux through Wine, which is how most Linux VPS and container hosts deploy it. The server is capped at 16 players — that's a hard engine limit, not a license tier, so no amount of hardware raises it.

RAM

This is the spec people most often get wrong in both directions. Per the official guidance, the server idles at roughly 4.4 GB even with nobody connected, and each connected player adds only about 100 MB of direct overhead. On paper that means a full 16-player server needs barely 6 GB, and Keen Games' docs even note the process should not need to exceed about 6 GB of physical RAM.

In practice, the per-player math is misleading. The real memory driver is the world itself: as players explore, terrain chunks load and stay resident, and every voxel that gets dug, built, or destroyed is persistent state the server tracks. A save that ran comfortably on 6 GB in its first few sessions can feel tight after dozens of hours. Practical targets:

• 1-2 players: 6 GB
• 3-6 players (typical co-op): 8 GB
• 7-10 players: 12 GB
• 11-16 players, mature world: 16 GB

CPU

Enshrouded's server is strongly clock-bound rather than core-bound. The expensive work — streaming and rewriting voxel terrain, physics, and entity simulation — runs on a small number of hot threads, so per-core frequency matters far more than core count. Keen Games' official targets are an Intel Core i7 at 3.2 GHz or an AMD 6-core/12-thread CPU for groups of 4-6, stepping up to an i7 at 3.7 GHz or an AMD 8-core/16-thread CPU for a full 16-player server. The biggest trap is cheap shared hosting with many low-clock vCPUs: those can technically run the server but will stutter under load. Prioritize a high base clock on a few dedicated cores.

Storage

The uncompressed server files are around 13 GB, and the official recommendation is to keep about 30 GB of free space for the install, save data, and updates. The world save grows modestly as your map is explored and built, but it stays small relative to the install — there's no meaningful per-player storage scaling. Use an SSD (NVMe preferred): world saves and player teleports both hit disk, and fast storage noticeably reduces hitching during fast travel on busy servers.

Network / bandwidth

The official figure is roughly 2 Mbit/s of upload capacity per player. That means a full 16-player server wants on the order of 30 Mbit/s+ of free upstream; small groups need far less. Voxel edits are the bandwidth driver, so bandwidth spikes when players are actively terraforming or building near each other. Latency matters for combat feel — host in a region central to your group. Total monthly egress is modest for most groups (single-digit to low-tens of GB per active player), so data caps are rarely the limiting factor.

Vanilla vs modded

Enshrouded has no official mod support. Community loaders such as Shroudtopia and EML (Enshrouded Mod Loader) do work on dedicated servers, but they add some idle RAM and CPU overhead before anyone connects. If you run mods, budget roughly 50% more RAM than the equivalent vanilla tier as a safe margin, and expect to re-validate or update mods after each game patch.

Tuning an Enshrouded server for performance

Most Enshrouded performance problems are not raw-hardware problems — they're long-session memory creep and a few config choices. Here's what actually moves the needle.

• Schedule regular restarts (every 8-12 hours is the community norm). This is the single highest-impact change. The server accumulates world and entity state over long sessions and does not fully release it when players log off. A scheduled restart clears the buildup and keeps tick performance consistent. Many groups run an overnight restart via cron, Task Scheduler, or their host's restart scheduler.
• Right-size your player slots. Set the slot count in enshrouded_server.json to what you actually use. Leaving it at 16 doesn't pre-allocate huge resources, but advertising fewer slots avoids surprise load spikes and keeps the experience matched to your hardware.
• Give the process headroom, don't cap it tight. Because memory grows with the explored/built world, provision RAM above the idle-plus-players estimate. A server starved for RAM will swap and stutter long before it crashes.
• Put the save on fast storage. World writes and teleports are disk-bound. An NVMe SSD reduces save-pause hitches and speeds the fast-travel that 16-player servers do constantly.
• Pin to high-clock cores. On a shared box, the server competes with other workloads. On Windows you can set CPU affinity/priority; on Linux use taskset/nice or a host plan with guaranteed (not burst) clock.
• Open the right ports. Enshrouded uses 15636 (game port) and 15637 (query port = gameport+1) over UDP and TCP. Misconfigured port forwarding is the most common "server won't show up" issue.
• Keep the server updated, and update mods in lockstep. Run SteamCMD with app_update 2278520 validate after patches. If you use Shroudtopia/EML, expect mods to break on game updates — disable them first if a patch lands mid-session.
• Back up the save folder before big changes. Voxel worlds are irreplaceable to a group; snapshot the save directory before updates, mod changes, or migrations.

What to look for in an Enshrouded host

If you'd rather rent than self-host, a few capabilities matter more for Enshrouded than the headline price. Use this as a neutral checklist when comparing providers.

• High single-core clock, dedicated (not burst) CPU. Enshrouded is clock-bound, so a plan advertising many shared vCPUs at low frequency will underperform a plan with fewer, faster guaranteed cores. Look for explicit base-clock numbers and "dedicated" or "reserved" CPU rather than "fair-use" sharing.
• RAM headroom and the ability to upsize. Because memory grows with your world, choose a plan a tier above the bare idle estimate, and confirm you can scale RAM later without rebuilding the world.
• Wine/Windows-build support if hosting on Linux. There's no native Linux server, so a Linux host must run the Windows build under Wine. Good hosts handle this transparently; verify the panel installs app ID 2278520 cleanly.
• One-click or guided server install and updates. SteamCMD app installs and post-patch validate runs should be easy. Look for automatic update handling.
• Console and file/FTP access. You'll want to edit enshrouded_server.json, inspect logs, and manage saves directly.
• Automatic backups and a scheduled-restart feature. Given memory creep and irreplaceable voxel saves, built-in scheduled restarts and rolling save backups are genuinely useful, not just upsells.
• Server location and low latency to your group. Combat feel depends on ping; pick a region central to your players. Adequate, uncapped upload bandwidth (the game wants ~2 Mbit/s per player) matters more than total monthly transfer.
• DDoS protection. Public game servers attract attacks; network-level filtering is worth confirming.

CPU note: Heavily single-thread/clock-bound. Enshrouded streams and rewrites voxel terrain on a small number of busy threads, so high per-core clock matters far more than total core count. Official guidance: Intel i7 at 3.2 GHz or an AMD 6-core/12-thread CPU for 4-6 players; i7 at 3.7 GHz or an AMD 8-core/16-thread CPU for a full 16-player server. Avoid oversubscribed/shared 'vCPU' hosts with low clocks.

Numbers anchor to Keen Games' official 'Recommended Server Specifications': idle ~4.4 GB RAM, ~100 MB direct per player, server should not exceed ~6 GB physical RAM, ~13 GB server files with 30 GB free recommended, ~2 Mbit/s upload per player, 16-player maximum. The base_ram_gb (5) and per-player figures here intentionally exceed the raw 4.4 GB idle + 100 MB/player math because real memory climbs with explored terrain and base building over long sessions — direct per-player overhead alone understates true usage. Mods are unofficial; the modded multiplier is a safety margin, not an official figure.