Does Stationeers have a native Linux dedicated server?

Yes. Unlike most survival sims, Stationeers ships a genuine native Linux dedicated server, installed with SteamCMD as app 600760 (separate from the game, app 544550). No Wine needed. The catch in 2026 is that it expects a recent OS - Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is the recommended baseline - because of the networking rewrite.

Why did my old Stationeers server guide stop working in 2026?

Stationeers moved to an optimized new RakNet networking layer. Guides written before that change, including popular 2022-era ones, can leave you with a server that installs but won't accept connections, often because the OS is too old or ports/config keys have shifted. Use a current OS and the current config keys.

How many players can a Stationeers server hold?

ServerMaxPlayers accepts 1 to 30. In practice the atmospheric and pressure simulation is the limiter long before the slot cap - a heavily built base with complex piping and gas networks taxes a single core hard, so most groups run well under 30.

What hardware does a Stationeers server need?

It is CPU-bound, not RAM-bound. The atmospheric simulation is largely single-threaded, so a high single-core clock matters more than core count or huge RAM. 8GB is comfortable for a small group; the thing that degrades a Stationeers server is simulation load from a large, pipe-heavy base, not player count.

Why are there so few Stationeers hosting guides?

It is a deliberately niche hardcore sim with a small, loyal playerbase (a few hundred concurrent), so the big hosts and content farms largely skipped it. That is good for self-hosters: the official-ish community wiki is the main reference, and most of what exists is outdated. A current, accurate guide fills a real gap.

server setup

Stationeers Dedicated Server Setup 2026: The RakNet + Ubuntu Linux Guide

Stationeers is one of the few hardcore sims that ships a real native Linux dedicated server - no Wine required. The problem in 2026 is that a networking rewrite and a sensitivity to your OS version quietly break most of the guides you'll find. Here's a current, accurate setup.

Published 2026-06-21 · Updated 2026-06-21

Why this guide exists (old guides break)

Stationeers is a deliberately hardcore base-building sim - you manage atmospheres, pressure, gas mixing, power, and temperature, and a mistake vents your crew into vacuum. It has a small, loyal playerbase (a few hundred concurrent, with all-time peaks around two thousand), which is exactly why the big hosts and content farms largely ignored it. The main reference is the community wiki, and a lot of the rest is years out of date.

Two things changed that quietly invalidate older guides:

The networking rewrite. As of early 2026 Stationeers uses an optimized new RakNet layer. Guides written against the old networking can leave you with a server that installs fine but refuses connections.
OS-version sensitivity. The current server expects a reasonably modern Linux. The developers point at Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as a known-good baseline. Try to run it on an old distro and you hit missing library and glibc problems.

So the first rule is simple: use a current OS and the current server build, and ignore any walkthrough that predates the networking change.

Installing the server with SteamCMD

Unlike most survival sims, Stationeers gives you a genuine native Linux server binary - so you do not fight Wine. The dedicated server is a separate Steam app from the game:

Game (client): app 544550
Dedicated server: app 600760 - this is what you install on the box

The flow on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server:

Install SteamCMD and its dependencies.
Create a server directory and run SteamCMD with +login anonymous +app_update 600760 validate +quit to pull the dedicated server.
Launch the server once to generate its configuration, then stop it to edit settings.
Open the firewall for the server's UDP game port and forward it on your router.

The community-maintained Stationeers Dedicated Server Guide is the most current public reference and worth cross-checking against, since the official docs are thin.

Config, ports, and players

Stationeers exposes the settings you actually need: server name, max players, an optional join password, and an admin/RCON password. The one to understand is the player cap:

ServerMaxPlayers accepts 1 to 30. Do not assume you can push it higher - 30 is the ceiling.
Set a password if the server is private; an open Stationeers server invites griefing in a game where one person can depressurize a whole base.
Configure the admin password so you can run admin commands and recover from sabotage.

Because the game has no large public-server scene, most setups are small private worlds for a handful of friends - which keeps both the config and the hardware bill modest.

The atmospheric-sim hardware reality

Here is the part the slot count hides: Stationeers is CPU-bound, not RAM-bound, and the load comes from simulation, not players. Every pipe, valve, gas network, and atmosphere is simulated, and that work is largely single-threaded.

Resource	Small group (2-6)	What actually matters
CPU	High single-core clock	The atmospheric tick is the bottleneck. A fast core beats many slow cores.
RAM	8GB	Comfortable for most bases; RAM is rarely the limiter.
Storage	10-20GB SSD	Install plus saves and backups. SSD keeps autosaves smooth.
OS	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS	Non-negotiable in 2026 - older distros break the current build.

The thing that will eventually degrade your server is not a full lobby - it is a sprawling, pipe-heavy late-game base hammering one core. Pick a host with a strong single-thread CPU, as covered in why single-thread CPU performance dominates game servers, and a 30-slot cap will never be your problem.

Self-host vs rent

Stationeers is a strong self-host candidate precisely because it is native Linux and CPU-light for a small group - a cheap VPS or a spare box with a fast core handles it. Renting only makes sense if you want hands-off uptime and backups without managing a Linux box yourself.

Self-host on Linux. The intended path. Native binary, SteamCMD, Ubuntu 24.04, done. Most control, lowest cost.
Managed hosts. Coverage is thin because the game is niche - a handful of specialist providers list it, and quality varies. Verify they are on a current OS and build before you trust them with your save.

For the broader decision, see dedicated box vs VPS vs cloud game servers. And if you are weighing Stationeers against other sim/survival servers, our game server sizing guide puts the per-game numbers side by side.

FAQ

Does Stationeers have a native Linux dedicated server?: Yes. Unlike most survival sims it ships a genuine native Linux server, installed with SteamCMD as app 600760 (separate from the game, app 544550). No Wine needed. The 2026 catch is that it expects a recent OS - Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is the recommended baseline.
Why did my old Stationeers server guide stop working in 2026?: Stationeers moved to an optimized new RakNet networking layer. Pre-change guides, including 2022-era ones, can leave you with a server that installs but won't accept connections, often because the OS is too old or config keys shifted. Use a current OS and current config.
How many players can a Stationeers server hold?: ServerMaxPlayers accepts 1 to 30. In practice the atmospheric and pressure simulation is the limiter well before the slot cap, so most groups run far under 30.
What hardware does a Stationeers server need?: It is CPU-bound, not RAM-bound. The atmospheric simulation is largely single-threaded, so single-core clock matters more than core count or huge RAM. 8GB is comfortable for a small group.
Why are there so few Stationeers hosting guides?: It is a niche hardcore sim with a small, loyal playerbase, so big hosts and content farms skipped it. The community wiki is the main reference and most else is outdated - so a current, accurate guide fills a real gap.