Fits your load
VPS Starter
3 vCPU, 6 GB DDR5, 60 GB NVMe, 4 TB traffic
₹2,670$27.99/mo
Deploy StarterAbout StarterGarry's Mod server requirements
What a Garry's Mod server needs in CPU, memory, disk and bandwidth, by player count. Change the numbers for your own server; the sources are listed below.
What it needs
- CPU
- 2 coresSingle-thread heavy: clock speed matters more than core count.
- Memory
- 4.5 GB
- NVMe storage
- 25 GB
- Traffic per month
- 272 GB
- Busiest upload
- 2.4 Mbit/s
On Clouduxe
Room to grow
VDS MicroCore
2 dedicated cores, 8 GB DDR5, 100 GB NVMe, 8 TB traffic
₹4,970$52.49/mo
- 2 dedicated cores instead of 3 shared vCPU: the game's main thread gets cores no other customer uses.
- 2 GB more memory, 40 GB more NVMe.
- Headroom for busy evenings, more players, and the mods and updates you add later.
By player count. Without workshop addons and gamemode content (darkrp, ttt, etc.); each step up in the calculator adds memory, disk and sometimes a core.
| Players | CPU | Memory | NVMe | Traffic a month | Fits your load | Room to grow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2 cores | 3 GB | 25 GB | 91 GB | VPS Mini | VDS MicroCore |
| 16 | 2 cores | 4 GB | 25 GB | 181 GB | VPS Mini | VDS MicroCore |
| 24 | 2 cores | 4.5 GB | 25 GB | 272 GB | VPS Starter | VDS MicroCore |
| 32 | 2 cores | 5.5 GB | 25 GB | 363 GB | VPS Starter | VDS MicroCore |
| 48 | 3 cores | 7 GB | 25 GB | 544 GB | VPS Growth | VDS FusionCore |
| 64 | 3 cores | 8.5 GB | 25 GB | 726 GB | VPS Pro | VDS FusionCore |
| 100 | 5 cores | 12 GB | 25 GB | 1.1 TB | VDS OmniCore | VDS PrimeCore |
| 128 | 5 cores | 14.5 GB | 25 GB | 1.5 TB | VDS OmniCore | VDS PrimeCore |
Traffic assumes 35% of the player cap online on average across the month; change it under Assumptions in the calculator.
Where the numbers come from. Published figures first, then how the calculator turns them into a model.
Published requirements
Minimum: OS: Windows 10; Processor: 2 GHz Processor or better; Memory: 4 GB RAM; Network: Broadband Internet connection; Storage: 10 GB available space
Recommended: Processor: 2.5 GHz Processor or better; Memory: 8 GB RAM; Storage: 25 GB available space
-tickrate <value>: Sets the target tick rate for the server (Dedicated and listen server/singleplayer alike). Recommended value range is 30-128. Default is 66.6666.
hostport : 27015 : Host game server port
How the model is built
- Memory
- 2 GB plus 100 MB per player. Facepunch's official wiki and Valve/Facepunch's own Steam store listing do not publish a dedicated-server-specific RAM figure. The Steam client system requirements (the closest official developer figure available) list 4GB minimum / 8GB recommended, but that covers the full graphical client. baseGB=2 plus 100MB/player is calibrated so the model lands near 4GB around 16-20 players and near 8GB around 60 players, on the reasoning that a dedicated server (no rendering, no sound) needs less than the client floor at the same player count. Treat as an estimate, not an official figure.
- CPU
- 2 cores, one more for every 32 players. Garry's Mod runs on the Source engine, whose server simulation runs on one main tick thread; the wiki documents the server tick rate directly (-tickrate, default 66.6666, recommended range 30-128) as the main lever on CPU cost, not core count. Steam's client spec lists CPU by clock speed (2 GHz minimum, 2.5 GHz recommended) rather than core count, consistent with this. baseCores=2 plus 1 core per 32 players gives modest headroom for OS/addons/voice at higher player counts rather than assuming the engine itself scales across many cores.
- Disk
- 10 GB for the server plus 15 GB for saves and backups. No official figure exists for the dedicated server specifically. installGB uses the Steam client's minimum listed storage (10GB) as the base game content footprint; growthGB covers Workshop addons, custom maps, and mounted content from other Source games (the wiki has dedicated pages for downloading/mounting extra game content and Workshop addons for a dedicated server), which push a well-populated server toward and past the client's 25GB recommended figure. SSD is not documented as required.
- Bandwidth
- 100 kbit/s of upload per player. No official or hosting-guide bandwidth figure was found for Garry's Mod specifically; Steam's spec only says 'Broadband Internet connection.' 100 kbps/player upload is an engineering estimate based on the Source engine's snapshot-based netcode being historically light on bandwidth compared to modern engines, not a sourced number. Treat this as low confidence and verify against real usage.
- Workshop addons and gamemode content (DarkRP, TTT, etc.)
- Memory times 1.2 for some and 1.6 for heavy; a heavy load also adds a core.
Facepunch's official wiki documents dedicated-server setup, ports, tick rate, and the mandatory GSLT requirement in detail, but neither it nor the Steam store page publishes CPU/RAM/disk/bandwidth figures for the dedicated server itself. The numeric model here leans on the Steam client's own system requirements as the nearest official proxy, adjusted down for a headless dedicated server, plus well-established Source-engine characteristics (single-thread bound, tick-rate-driven cost). Addon/gamemode multipliers, the bandwidth figure, and maxPlayers are reasoned estimates without a specific cited source and should be treated as lower confidence than the other games in this set; real GMod servers vary enormously by gamemode and addon list.
Before you set it up. The ports it listens on and what the guides say drives its load.
Ports
| Port | Protocol | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 27015 | UDP | game (default hostport) |
Game server hosting: every game we size, the protection each one gets, and the plan for it.
DDoS protection is on every Clouduxe plan. How Prism protects Garry's Mod servers.
What drives the load
- The Source engine's server simulation is single-thread bound, so CPU clock speed matters more than core count.
- Server tick rate (default 66.67, adjustable 30-128 with -tickrate) trades CPU load against simulation smoothness; a higher tick rate costs more CPU per player.
- RAM and CPU load scale more with prop/entity count, Workshop addon load, and gamemode (DarkRP, TTT, sandbox building) than with player count alone.
- A Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT) is mandatory for a persistent public server; without it your server's matchmaking ranking is penalized.
Garry's Mod server questions
How much RAM does a Garry's Mod server need?
About 3 GB for 8 players and 14.5 GB for 128, before workshop addons and gamemode content (darkrp, ttt, etc.). Facepunch's official wiki and Valve/Facepunch's own Steam store listing do not publish a dedicated-server-specific RAM figure. The Steam client system requirements (the closest official developer figure available) list 4GB minimum / 8GB recommended, but that covers the full graphical client. baseGB=2 plus 100MB/player is calibrated so the model lands near 4GB around 16-20 players and near 8GB around 60 players, on the reasoning that a dedicated server (no rendering, no sound) needs less than the client floor at the same player count. Treat as an estimate, not an official figure.
How many CPU cores does a Garry's Mod server need?
2 for 8 players, 5 for 128. The server is single-thread heavy, so the clock speed of one core matters more than how many cores it has. Garry's Mod runs on the Source engine, whose server simulation runs on one main tick thread; the wiki documents the server tick rate directly (-tickrate, default 66.6666, recommended range 30-128) as the main lever on CPU cost, not core count. Steam's client spec lists CPU by clock speed (2 GHz minimum, 2.5 GHz recommended) rather than core count, consistent with this. baseCores=2 plus 1 core per 32 players gives modest headroom for OS/addons/voice at higher player counts rather than assuming the engine itself scales across many cores.
How much bandwidth does a Garry's Mod server use?
About 100 kbit/s of upload per connected player, so 2.4 Mbit/s with 24 players online and about 272 GB a month if 35% of that cap is online on average. No official or hosting-guide bandwidth figure was found for Garry's Mod specifically; Steam's spec only says 'Broadband Internet connection.' 100 kbps/player upload is an engineering estimate based on the Source engine's snapshot-based netcode being historically light on bandwidth compared to modern engines, not a sourced number. Treat this as low confidence and verify against real usage.
Which Clouduxe plan should I pick for Garry's Mod?
For 24 players, VPS Starter fits the load and VDS MicroCore leaves room to grow. Every plan includes DDoS protection: 17 Tbps of upstream mitigation plus Clouduxe Prism on the server.
Other games. The same calculator, sized from each game's own documentation.
All calculatorsHost Garry's Mod on VPS Starter.
Sized for 24 players, with DDoS protection included. Or talk to us about a bigger server.