The player limit decides how many people can be on your server at the same time. Our plans are sized by RAM, not sold per slot, so the number is yours to set. For many games you change it in the panel with two clicks. For the rest it is one line in the game's own config file. Either way, the new limit applies after a restart.
What you need before you start
- Your server in the game panel
- For the quick route below, the server running
The quick way: the player count in the panel
When your server is running, the top of the server page shows how many players are online next to the limit, for example 3 / 20, with a people icon. On games that support it, that count is a button.
- Open your server in the game panel and make sure it is running
- Click the player count at the top of the page. When you hover over it, it reads Change max players
- The Max players dialog opens with the current value in the Slots field
- Enter the new number
- Click Save & restart to apply it right away, or Save to apply it at the next restart
The dialog reminds you that the server needs a restart for the change to take effect, and it means it: until then, the running server keeps the old limit.
On Minecraft, the Active players card on the Overview tab has the same clickable count, so you can change it from there too.
Games with the player count button
| Game | Notes |
|---|---|
| Minecraft (Java) | Writes max-players in server.properties |
| Minecraft Bedrock | Writes max-players in server.properties |
| Satisfactory | |
| Enshrouded | |
| Rust | See the note below |
| ARK: Survival Evolved | |
| DayZ | |
| Arma 3 | |
| Arma Reforger | Up to 256 |
| Vintage Story | Up to 256 |
| Avorion | Up to 64 |
| Sons Of The Forest | Up to 8, the game's own limit |
Where the table shows an upper limit, the dialog will not accept a higher number, because the server would refuse it anyway.
Rust: if you have typed +server.maxplayers into the Additional Arguments field on the Startup tab yourself, that value wins over the dialog. Remove it there if the limit does not change after a restart.
Every other game: the setting in the game's files
If the player count is not a button on your server, the limit lives somewhere else. Two places to check:
The Startup tab. Many games have a max players field among their startup settings. Open the Startup tab and look for it. Changes there also apply at the next restart.
The game's config file. Otherwise the limit is a line in the game's own configuration, which you edit from the Files tab. Stop the server first, edit, save, then start it, because many games write their config back to disk when they shut down and would overwrite your edit. For example:
| Game | File | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| Minecraft | server.properties |
max-players=20 |
| Hytale | config.json in the root folder |
"MaxPlayers": 100 |
On Minecraft you would normally use the button above, but editing server.properties does exactly the same thing.
When the panel writes the setting for you
Some games get their player limit from the Startup tab every time they boot. Enshrouded is one of them: its enshrouded_server.json has a slotCount line, but the panel overwrites it with the value from the Startup tab on every start. FiveM works the same way: the panel writes sv_maxclients in server.cfg from the Max Players field on the Startup tab, which goes up to 48. If you change a number in a file and it keeps jumping back after a restart, this is almost always why. Change it in the panel instead.
Some games have a fixed limit
Not every game lets you go as high as you like. Sons Of The Forest stops at 8 players, and Valheim is built for 10 players per server. Numbers above a game's own limit are either refused or simply ignored.
More players need more RAM
Every player on the server loads part of the world, and the server has to keep all of it in memory at once. Doubling your player limit on a busy server will often need more RAM than the plan you started with. Signs that you have outgrown it: lag spikes when many people are online, rubber banding, or the server crashing when the last few players join.
If that sounds familiar, you can add RAM with Upgrade Server under Server Details on the Overview tab. You pay only the difference for the rest of the current period. More guides on sizing and upgrades are in the help center.
Troubleshooting
The count is not a button. Either the server is stopped, or your game is not on the list above. Start the server, or use the Startup tab or the config file.
I saved, but the limit did not change. The server has not restarted since. Restart it and check again.
"Couldn't read the current value." The dialog could not load the setting. Wait a moment and open it again. If it keeps happening, change the value from the Startup tab or the config file instead.
The number jumps back after a restart. The panel writes this setting from the Startup tab on every boot. See above.
Players are still told the server is full. Check that the server was restarted after the change. On Rust, check the Additional Arguments field on the Startup tab.
Can't find the setting for your game? Open a ticket from the support page with your server name, and we will point you to it.