How much RAM does a Hytale server need?

Hytale plans start at 8GB, which suits a small group. View distance, how spread out players are and your mod list decide when you need more.

4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

Hytale plans on GuavaHost start at 8GB of RAM, which is comfortable for a small group of friends. How far you need to go beyond that depends less on the raw player count and more on your view distance, how spread out your players are and how many mods you run. This guide gives rough numbers, explains what actually uses the memory and shows the cheapest fixes to try first.

Rough guidance

RAM is the short-term memory your server uses while it runs: loaded terrain, players, creatures and mods all live there. As a starting point:

Treat these as estimates rather than promises. Hytale is in Early Access, its performance changes from update to update, and two servers with the same player count can behave very differently. Start sensibly, watch how your server actually runs, and adjust.

What actually uses the memory

View distance. This is the big one. Every player keeps the area around them loaded, and the server's maximum view distance decides how big that area can be. It is set by MaxViewRadius in config.json, measured in chunks (square sections of the world). Because the loaded area grows with the square of the radius, a small increase in view distance costs a lot more memory than it sounds like.

How spread out players are. Ten players building in one town share most of their loaded area. Ten players exploring in ten different directions each load their own. Busy exploring sessions use far more memory than the same group at home.

Brand new terrain. Generating land nobody has visited yet is heavier than loading land that already exists, so the first weeks of a new world are usually the most demanding.

Mods and plugins. Each plugin and asset pack adds its own overhead. A few small ones barely register. A large pack of content can add up quickly.

Turn view distance down first

Before paying for more RAM, try lowering the view distance. It is free and often makes the biggest difference.

1. On the Backups tab, create a backup.
2. Stop the server from the Console tab.
3. On the Files tab, open config.json in the server's main folder.
4. Find MaxViewRadius and lower the number. Many server owners settle around 12, and values above 16 get expensive quickly. Change only the number and keep the rest of the file as it is.
5. Save the file and start the server.

Players can still pick a shorter view distance in their own settings, but the server's value is the ceiling. For more on this trade-off, see View distance vs simulation distance, which explains the idea using Minecraft but applies just the same here.

How your RAM is used on GuavaHost

Hytale runs on Java, and Java has to be told the most memory it may use. Your server's startup sets that limit from your plan's RAM automatically, so there are no memory flags to edit. When you add RAM, restart the server and it uses the new amount straight away.

When you watch the memory graph in the panel, keep in mind that Java tends to hold on to memory it has already reserved. A server sitting near its limit is not necessarily in trouble. What matters is whether it stays smooth.

Signs you need more

• The console shows OutOfMemoryError, or the server crashes when several players are online.
• The server restarts or freezes when players explore new areas.
• Lag spikes that go away when fewer people are online, and do not improve after lowering the view distance.

If lowering the view distance did not help, adding RAM is the next step.

When more RAM will not help

More memory does not fix everything. If your server has plenty of memory to spare but still stutters when things get busy, the limit is usually processing power (CPU) rather than memory. The fixes then are a lower view distance and fewer heavy plugins, not a bigger plan. CPU vs RAM explains the difference.

Changing your RAM

You can raise or lower your RAM any time from guavahost.com/account. Open your Hytale service, choose the upgrade or downgrade option and pick the new amount. Billing is prorated, so you only pay the difference for the time left in your billing period, and your world and files stay exactly where they are. Changing your server RAM walks through each step. Hytale plans cannot go below 8GB.

If you are not sure what your server needs, ask us and we will look at it with you honestly. There is no point paying for memory that sits unused.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

• hytale
• ram
• memory
• performance
• view-distance

Host a Hytale server From $11.99/mo, with instant setup and DDoS protection.

Still need help? Our team is online 24/7 to answer questions.

Contact support