Conan Exiles Dedicated Server System Requirements
Conan Exiles hosting scales nonlinearly with player count and mod complexity, so hardware planning should include overhead for purge events and peak-time AI load.
You do not need a GPU. The Conan Exiles dedicated server is a headless build with no renderer in it. Checked against the server we ship, the 193 MB ConanSandboxServer-Linux-Shipping binary links no Vulkan, OpenGL, X11 or DRM library at all, and no rendering module ships beside it. Any graphics driver you see in a hosting spec sheet is there for the machine, not for this process. Spend the budget on single-thread CPU speed and RAM instead.
Update 2.2.0 changed the sizing maths
On 15 September 2026 Conan Exiles Enhanced moved to Unreal Engine 5.8.2 and replaced the old UE4 networking model with Iris, Epic's replication system. Funcom describe the change in terms that matter directly to anyone sizing a box: instead of repeatedly processing every replicated actor for each client, Iris sends updates only when needed, which reduces the server cost of managing large numbers of players and placeables. They call it the biggest server performance improvement they have made so far.
Two caveats, both theirs and worth repeating. Iris does not remove server performance limits, because players can still build at whatever scale they like, so a heavily built world is still the thing that hurts. And the update introduced crashes serious enough to need a hotfix on 17 September, which specifically lists server crash fixes. If you are sizing a server this week, be on that hotfix before you conclude your hardware is the problem.
Verified on 17 September 2026 against the Conan Exiles dedicated server we run, Steam buildid 25299935, synced 16 September. That build carries 2.2.0 and predates the 17 September hotfix.
The numbers below were written for the Enhanced era and remain the safe starting point. Treat them as a floor rather than a ceiling: Iris should give you headroom at the top of each band rather than permission to drop a tier.
Minimum Specs (Small Group / 10 Players)
- CPU: 4 Cores @ 3.0+ GHz
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 50 GB SSD
Recommended Specs (40-70 Players)
- CPU: 6-8 Cores (High Single Thread Performance)
- RAM: 16-32 GB
- Storage: NVMe SSD (Crucial for loading massive bases)
Network
Upload speed is critical. Expect ~50KB/s per player. For 70 players, you need a stable 100Mbps upload connection.
Why a 10-slot managed server may already feel laggy (refreshed 2026-05-21)
A recurring community complaint: a player rents a 10-slot managed plan, builds a small castle with 30 thralls, no lighting yet, and the server already lags. The thinking is "we have 7 free slots, surely we have headroom." Slot count and resource provisioning are not the same thing on most hosts.
What actually consumes server-side resources on Conan Exiles:
| Entity type | Approximate per-unit cost |
|---|---|
| Connected player | Moderate. Player input + their loaded radius. |
| Placed thrall (combat) | High. Each runs an AI tick, animation state, perception checks. |
| Placed thrall (crafter, idle) | Moderate. Simpler AI but still ticks. |
| Placed pet / mount | High. Same AI cost as a thrall. |
| Building piece | Low individually, very high in aggregate. Each piece is checked for stability, decay, and integrity on every save. |
| Storage container with items | Low. Item count matters more than container count. |
| Light source (torch, brazier) | Low for the entity, moderate for the rendering load it imposes on nearby clients. |
30 placed thralls is the equivalent CPU load of roughly 6-8 additional connected players. A small castle (~1,000 building pieces) adds CPU pressure to every save and every player nearby. The 10-slot host plan may have been provisioned for "10 players moving through a default-density world," not "2 players plus 30 thralls and a fortress."
Enhanced (UE5) hardware inflation
Conan Exiles Enhanced (May 2026) shipped on Unreal Engine 5. The dedicated server's RAM and CPU footprint went up roughly 30-50% compared to the UE4 build. Pre-Enhanced sizing guides are now under-spec'd. Adjust upward:
| Group size | Pre-Enhanced spec | Enhanced spec |
|---|---|---|
| 2-4 players | 4GB RAM, 2 cores | 6-8GB RAM, 3-4 cores |
| 5-10 players | 8GB RAM, 4 cores | 12-16GB RAM, 4-6 cores |
| 10-20 players | 12GB RAM, 6 cores | 16-24GB RAM, 6-8 cores |
| 20-40 players | 16GB RAM, 6-8 cores | 24-32GB RAM, 8 cores |
| 40-70 players | 32GB RAM, 8 cores | 48GB+ RAM, 10+ cores |
If you've been on a host since before the Enhanced launch and your server now lags where it didn't before, this is the cause. Upgrade the plan or migrate to a host whose Enhanced sizing is current.
Per-player RAM rule of thumb (Enhanced)
- Idle: 2GB base + ~300MB per player
- Active: 2GB base + ~600MB per player + ~50MB per placed thrall/pet
- Peak (raid/purge): 2GB base + ~1GB per player + ~80MB per placed thrall/pet
For 8 active players with 50 placed followers across the group: 2 + 8×0.6 + 50×0.05 = ~9.3 GB active, headroom to 16 GB for peak. This is the math behind why "8GB for 10 players" no longer works in Enhanced.
Capacity Planning Model
Plan resources around worst-case scenarios, not idle averages. Conan servers that run smoothly at low population can degrade sharply during raid windows when NPC AI, structures, and player activity align on one shard region.
- CPU priority: Favor high single-core performance for combat-heavy servers.
- RAM headroom: Leave margin for modded object growth and long uptime.
- Network quality: Stable low-jitter routing matters more than headline bandwidth alone.
Operational Checklist
Treat this topic as a repeatable server operation, not a one-time change. Schedule changes during lower traffic, announce maintenance windows, and keep a rollback snapshot before each update. If your server is modded, validate changes on a staging copy first so startup logs, world loading, and player joins are confirmed before production rollout.
Validation Steps
- Capture baseline metrics: Record CPU, RAM, and average player ping before changes.
- Apply one change at a time: Avoid batch edits that make root-cause analysis difficult.
- Review logs after restart: Check for version mismatch and dependency warnings immediately.
- Run a real join test: Confirm fresh clients can connect and complete core gameplay actions.
- Observe for at least 24 hours: Validate behavior under peak load, not only right after reboot.
Performance and Stability Notes
Most hosting incidents come from resource spikes combined with configuration drift. Keep restart cadence predictable, review world/save growth weekly, and cap optional systems that generate extreme entity counts. When performance drops, compare with your last known-good baseline and revert recent high-risk changes quickly to reduce downtime.
Backup and Rollback Policy
Use automated daily backups plus pre-change snapshots for risky operations. Keep at least one off-node copy and test restore procedures routinely. A practical retention strategy is 7 daily, 4 weekly, and 2 monthly restore points. If a change causes instability, roll back first, stabilize service, and then reattempt with a narrower test scope.
Game-Specific Hosting Notes
- Mod and DLC compatibility: Revalidate after each patch to avoid startup or save load failures.
- Purge and thrall load: High base density and AI activity can increase server frame time.
- RCon/admin control: Keep audited admin commands and restart messaging to reduce disruption.
Skip the hardware sizing math. Rent a Conan Exiles Enhanced server with Supercraft, plans from $9.99/mo, hardware sized for 20-70 player Conan Exiles Enhanced (UE5) servers out of the box.