Satisfactory ships with a default player cap of four, and for a long time newcomers assume that’s a hard wall. It isn’t. The four-player default is a tuning choice, not a technical limit, and on a dedicated server you can raise it to 8, 16, or higher by editing a single configuration value. This guide walks through exactly how to change the limit, what the values mean, and how much RAM you’ll realistically need before your factory chugs.
How many players does Satisfactory support?
Out of the box, both peer-to-peer co-op and dedicated servers cap multiplayer at four players. According to the official Satisfactory wiki, the server is “tuned to be most performant with the default player cap of four.” That’s the number Coffee Stain Studios officially supports and balances around.
However, the wiki also notes that “up to 127 players are theoretically possible, but not practically.” In other words, the engine will accept a much larger number, but stability, performance, and resource usage degrade well before you get anywhere near that ceiling. For most groups, 8 is a comfortable, well-tested target and 16 is achievable on strong hardware. Treat anything beyond that as experimental. This is a dedicated-server-only change in practice — raising the limit only makes sense when a persistent server (not a host’s listen session) is doing the heavy lifting.
How to change MaxPlayers on a dedicated server
There are two supported methods. Both set the same underlying engine value, so pick whichever fits your setup — don’t use both at once.
Method 1: Edit Game.ini
The cleanest approach is to add the player limit to the Game.ini configuration file. Add (or edit) the following section and key, replacing 8 with your desired cap:
- Section header:
[/Script/Engine.GameSession] - Key:
MaxPlayers=8
Critically, the wiki warns: “Always make ini edit changes with the game server shut down. The ini files are written to on graceful shutdown, and you may find your changes overwritten otherwise.” So the correct order is: stop the server, edit Game.ini, save, then start it back up. Editing while the server is running is the single most common reason people see their change vanish.
Method 2: Startup parameter
If you’d rather not touch the ini file (or your host locks it), you can pass the value as a launch argument on the server startup command. The exact syntax from the official wiki is:
-ini:Game:[/Script/Engine.GameSession]:MaxPlayers=8
Append that to your server’s launch parameters and restart. On most managed hosts this is exposed as a simple “Max Players” field in the control panel that writes the value for you — no command line required. If you’re on managed Satisfactory hosting with a control panel, you’ll typically just set a slider or number box and hit save. Our step-by-step walkthrough lives in the Satisfactory server docs.
Common player-limit values
| MaxPlayers value | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (default) | Most co-op groups | Officially supported and performance-tuned |
| 8 | Larger friend groups / small communities | Widely used; needs more RAM than default |
| 16 | Communities, public servers | Requires strong single-core CPU + ample RAM |
| Up to 127 | Experimental only | Wiki: “theoretically possible, but not practically” |
How much RAM do you need for more players?
The official wiki lists 8 GB as the minimum RAM for a dedicated server and notes that “16GB RAM may be recommended for larger saves or to host more than 4 players.” So as soon as you push past the default cap, plan on 16 GB as your baseline.
There’s an important nuance: Satisfactory server load is driven more by your factory size and save complexity than by raw head-count. A 16-player server on a fresh save can run lighter than a 4-player server with a sprawling, 40-hour mega-factory. The wiki also stresses that the server “heavily favors high single-core performance” (it recommends a single-thread rating of 2000+), so CPU clock speed matters as much as memory. If players report stutter after you raise the cap, see our guide on fixing Satisfactory multiplayer lag, and review the full dedicated server RAM and port requirements before committing to a player count.
A practical rule of thumb: start at 8 players on 16 GB, monitor performance through your mid-game, and only push to 16 if your hardware and save complexity comfortably allow it.
Frequently asked questions
Can you have more than 4 players in Satisfactory?
Yes. Four is the default and officially supported cap, but on a dedicated server you can raise MaxPlayers to 8, 16, or higher. The engine theoretically allows up to 127, though the wiki notes that isn’t practical. Performance, not the software, is the real limiter.
Why did my MaxPlayers change reset itself?
Almost always because you edited Game.ini while the server was running. The server writes its ini files on graceful shutdown and overwrites in-progress edits. Stop the server first, make the edit, save, then restart — or use the startup-parameter method instead.
Does raising the player limit hurt performance?
It can. The wiki explicitly warns that increasing the limit “may have negative effects on server stability, performance, and resource usage.” The bigger factor is usually factory/save size combined with single-core CPU speed and RAM, so make sure your host is sized for the player count you choose.
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