How much RAM does a Arma 3 server need?
Arma memory use is driven by AI, not by players, which makes it behave unlike anything else on this list.
Recommendation
You need a server with at least
8GB
- Engine / Base OS:
- 4 GB
- Player Overhead:
- +4.0 GB
- Estimated Raw Usage:
- 8 GB
- Suggested cores:
- 4
- Disk to allow:
- 40 GB+
AI pathfinding is the bottleneck and is largely single-threaded. Player count barely matters by comparison.
View 8GB PlansWhat actually drives Arma 3 memory use
A mission with a hundred players and no AI is cheap. A mission with ten players and several hundred AI units, each running its own pathfinding and behaviour, is not. Large dynamic campaigns are the extreme case: they simulate an entire theatre continuously, and their cost keeps climbing as the campaign state grows.
The mistake to avoid
Sizing by slot count. Look at the missions you actually intend to run — a persistent dynamic campaign needs several times what a scenario-based server with the same player count does, and mod lists add to both.