The server ran out of memory when the game asked for more than your plan gives it. The game then stops. The fix has two parts: turn off a mod you do not need, or give the server more memory.
How the panel tells you
Open Crashes. Each start of the server is in the list on the left. A start that ended for memory shows Crashed, with Out of memory reading Yes, under What the panel can tell. Two findings can appear:
- The server ran out of memory. The panel found it in the game’s own log, by words such as “out of memory”. It adds: “Big factories and big mods need more. Remove a mod you do not need, or raise the server’s memory.”
- The server used all its memory and was stopped. The server reached its plan’s memory and the machine ended it, so it could not save or write why. Its own log usually has no line about it.
A start with no finding shows “None of the known causes are in this start’s log.” Read the last lines under it.
You can also watch it happen. On the Console, Memory Load in the strip near the top climbs towards its limit before the server stops. The panel shows memory a little higher than the plan’s size, so a figure like 4.29 GB on a 4 GB plan is normal. Each reading links to a history chart: open the Memory Load chart to see whether it was at its limit just before the stop.
Fix 1: turn off a mod you do not need
Mods are the part you control most.
- Open the Mods page.
- Find a mod you can do without. Each installed row has a switch, Turn (name) off. Its menu More for (name) holds Remove.
- Turn the mod off to keep it on the server but skip it, or choose Remove to delete it. If you remove one, the box lists any mods that need it. A tick lets you also remove the mods only it brought.
- A save that used the mod may lose what the mod added. Choose Save a copy now on the World page first.
- Restart the server. Turning a mod off or removing it applies at the next start. A restart drops everyone who is on, so warn them first with Message everyone on the Players page.
Wube’s own mods are not removed. Space Age and the other three official mods are turned on or off under Wube’s own. Space Age needs the other three, so turning one of them off turns Space Age off.
Players need the same mods as the server. Tell them when you change one. See also removing a mod.
Fix 2: more memory
If memory still runs out without the mods you can spare, the server needs a bigger plan. Read how much memory you have now beside Memory Load on the Console. Restart the server afterwards so that it starts with the new memory.
After the crash
A start that ran out of memory did not stop in a calm way. The server runs the save named under World, and the game writes autosaves as separate files while it runs. That save is written when the server stops and on Save now and Save a copy now, so after a crash it can be older than the newest autosave. Open the World page and compare the times under Saves. To run a newer autosave, open the row menu More for (name) on it and choose Run this from the next start. See also the server crashed.
If it does not work
- It happens again straight after a start. A mod set that big may not fit the plan at all. Turn off the largest mods first, then add them back one at a time.
- Memory Load is low and the server still stops. The cause is not memory. The Crashes page shows another finding, or none. See the server crashed.
- No finding, and Memory Load was at its limit just before. The server was probably ended for memory. This is not checked on a real kill.
Not checked on 2.1.24 as of 13 November 2026: a real memory crash on a Loafhosts Factorio server. The finding texts above are the panel’s own.
More about the game: Factorio servers.
Sources: wiki.factorio.com: Multiplayer