Satisfactory Multiplayer Setup and Connection Guide

Satisfactory is at its best when you are building a planet-scale factory with friends. This guide covers everything you need to know about multiplayer on a LOW.MS dedicated server — sharing your server, managing sessions, and diagnosing the connection issues that come up most often.

How multiplayer works on a dedicated server

When you host a Satisfactory server on LOW.MS, the server runs independently around the clock. Unlike peer-to-peer co-op (where one player hosts and the game stops when they disconnect), a dedicated server means:

• The factory continues running even when no players are connected.
• Any authorised player can join at any time without the "host" being present.
• Multiple players can join and leave independently.
• Server performance is consistent because it runs on dedicated hardware in a datacentre rather than on a player's gaming PC.

Sharing your server with friends

What your friends need

1. A copy of Satisfactory. The game supports cross-store multiplayer — Steam and Epic players can both connect to the same dedicated server without issue.
2. Your server IP and port — found in the LOW.MS panel under your server's Connection Info field.
3. The player password (if you set one) — share it with the people you want to allow access.

How friends connect

Each friend follows the same steps:

1. Launch Satisfactory and go to the main menu.
2. Open the Server Manager. (Not "Join Game" — dedicated servers must be added through Server Manager.)
3. Click Add Server.
4. Enter the IP address and port you provided.
5. Click Confirm — the server should appear in their list.
6. Select the server and click Join.
7. If a player password is set, they will be prompted to enter it.

If this is the first time anyone is connecting to a freshly provisioned server, it will need to be claimed first — see the getting started guide for the initial claim process.

Port configuration on LOW.MS

One of the practical advantages of LOW.MS is that ports are pre-configured for you — no port forwarding, no firewall rules, no NAT configuration.

Update 1.1 simplified Satisfactory's port requirements significantly. The current dedicated server only needs two ports:

The old beacon (15000) and query (15777) ports from before Update 1.1 are no longer used. If you are following an older guide that mentions them, ignore that section.

Your LOW.MS server may use a custom port assignment (shown in the panel as Connection Info) rather than the defaults above. Always use the port displayed in the panel when sharing connection details with friends.

Important: Players connecting to your server do not need to set up port forwarding on their own routers. Port forwarding is only relevant for the server side, and LOW.MS handles that automatically.

Session management

Understanding sessions

A "session" in Satisfactory is an active game world running on the server. When you create a game or load a save, you are starting a session. Three things are worth knowing:

• Session Name — the display name visible to players in the Server Manager. You can change it at any time through the Server Manager settings.
• Session ID — a unique identifier generated automatically. You generally do not need to interact with it directly.
• Save Files — each session has autosaves and any manual saves you have triggered, persisting the world state across restarts.

Managing sessions via the Server Manager

To manage your server's session in-game:

1. Open the Server Manager and select your server.
2. Authenticate as admin if prompted, using the admin password set during claiming.
3. Open the Status tab to see the current session.
4. From here you can:
   • Create a new game — start a fresh world with a new starting location.
   • Load a save — switch to a different save file or load a backup.
   • Save the game — trigger a manual save at any time.

Switching between saves

If your group wants to try a different starting location or maintain multiple worlds, the LOW.MS panel sidebar also has a Switching Saves entry that exposes the equivalent on the server side. The flow is:

1. Save your current session manually first.
2. In the in-game Server Manager, choose Load Game and pick a different save (or use Switching Saves in the panel).
3. The server will restart with the new save loaded.
4. All connected players will need to reconnect after the save switch.

For detailed save file management — uploads, downloads, and backups — see the upload/download save guide and locate your local save guide.

Optimising network settings for multiplayer

The single most important setting for a smooth multiplayer experience is Network Quality. It must be configured on both the server and every connecting player's game client. Setting it correctly is the fix for most "lag" complaints — possibly the highest-leverage single change you can make to a Satisfactory multiplayer server.

Set Network Quality to Ultra

The Network Quality setting controls how much state the server pushes to clients per tick. When it is set to Low (which is often the server-side default), the game severely restricts data flow and players see rubber-banding and desync even on fast internet connections. On Ultra, the server sends the full picture and everything snaps into place. The bandwidth cost is irrelevant on any modern connection.

On the server, the simplest way to set Network Quality is from the in-game Server Manager under Server Settings — select Ultra and apply. The Server Manager writes the setting to the right file for you.

On each player's game client:

1. Open Options from the main menu or pause menu.
2. Go to the Gameplay tab.
3. Set Network Quality to Ultra.
4. Apply the changes.

If even one player is still on Low, they personally will see rubber-banding even if everyone else is fine. Both ends matter.

A note on LOW.MS-shipped configuration

LOW.MS ships some additional Game.ini tuning by default to head off the most common Satisfactory multiplayer performance issues. You should not need to touch the config to get a smooth experience — leave the LOW.MS defaults alone unless you have a specific reason and know what you are doing.

If you do have a reason to bump the connection timeouts in Engine.ini — for example, players on flakey connections getting dropped during first-time syncs — the safe block looks like this:

[/Script/OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver]
NetServerMaxTickRate=30
LanServerMaxTickRate=30
InitialConnectTimeout=60.0
ConnectionTimeout=60.0

[/Script/SocketSubsystemEpic.EpicNetDriver]
NetServerMaxTickRate=30
LanServerMaxTickRate=30

The 60-second timeouts are a conservative bump from the 30-second defaults. NetServerMaxTickRate=30 matches Satisfactory's 30 TPS simulation target. The full settings reference is in the server settings guide.

Recommended internet conditions

For a smooth experience, each player should ideally have:

• A reasonably stable broadband connection with consistent upload as well as download.
• A wired Ethernet connection where possible — Wi-Fi works, but is more prone to packet loss and latency spikes that show up in-game.
• An understanding that larger factories generate significantly more network traffic than fresh saves.

Troubleshooting connection issues

"Server not found" or "Cannot connect"

1. Verify the server is running in the LOW.MS panel. The service overview's STATUS field should read Running; if it shows Stopped, click START and wait one to two minutes for it to fully initialise.
2. Double-check IP and port — copy and paste from the Connection Info field in the panel where possible to avoid typos.
3. Game version mismatch — all players and the server must be on the same Satisfactory version. After a Steam/Epic update, restart your server from the panel so it picks up the latest build (or use Switch to/Update Latest Release in the sidebar to force the matching build).
4. Try removing and re-adding the server — in Server Manager, remove the server entry and add it again with the correct details.
5. Check your local firewall. While LOW.MS handles the server side, your local firewall or antivirus could be blocking outgoing connections. Temporarily disable them to test, or try a different network.

Stuck on the loading screen

This is one of the most common multiplayer issues, and it usually comes down to one of these:

• Network Quality is not set to Ultra. This is the number one cause. Check both the server setting and the connecting player's in-game setting.
• Large save file. Late-game factories can take real time to sync to a fresh client on first connect. Wait two or three minutes before assuming it is hung.
• Mod version mismatch. If the server runs mods, the player's mod set must match the server's exactly, including versions. See the mods guide.
• Server needs a restart. Try restarting from the LOW.MS panel.
• Corrupted save. If the issue persists, try loading a different save or restoring from a backup via Cloud Restore in the panel sidebar.

Frequent disconnections

• Network Quality — Ultra on server and client. Both ends.
• Server RAM usage — check the live meters on the service overview, or Current Activity & Stats for trends. Late-game factories with lots of production can use significant memory. Consistently above 80% is a sign you should upgrade or schedule restarts. The performance tuning guide covers this in depth.
• Unstable internet — Wi-Fi or high-loss connections will drop. A wired connection resolves this in most cases.
• Autosave hitching — the server briefly pauses during autosaves, which can disconnect players with marginal connections. If this is happening, increase the autosave interval. The server settings guide shows how.

Desync and rubber-banding

Same root cause as above: Network Quality. Set it to Ultra on every client and the server. If it is already set correctly and you are still seeing it, the next most likely cause is the server running out of RAM and being forced to swap — symptoms identical to a network issue, but a memory problem in disguise. Check the common issues guide and the performance tuning guide.

One player cannot connect while others can

• Verify they are using the correct IP address and port.
• Have them verify game files through Steam (right-click → Properties → Installed Files → Verify) or the Epic Games Store.
• Check their local firewall and antivirus.
• Cross-store play is fully supported, so Steam and Epic players can both connect to the same server. If only one player is failing, the issue is on their end, not the server's.

Player limits and performance

Satisfactory officially defaults to 4 players because that is the player count Coffee Stain optimises around. In practice, many groups successfully run more — somewhere between 4 and 8 is comfortable on a healthy server, and beyond that the simulation is single-threaded enough that extra players translate into rapidly diminishing returns.

The number that actually limits you is not "how many players" but how complex the factory is when those players are doing things at the same time. Coordinated mass-building from multiple players is the most stressful scenario for the server, far more than the same number of players quietly running their existing factory.

If you plan to run sessions with more than 4 players or have an extremely large factory, monitor your server's resource usage in the panel and review the performance tuning guide for what to upgrade and when.

Security and access control

• Use a player password if you do not want unknown players connecting. Set it through the in-game Server Manager under server settings.
• Keep your admin password private — only share it with people you trust to manage server settings. The admin password grants full control, including the ability to load or delete saves, change settings, and shut down the server.
• Review connected players periodically through the in-game Server Manager to ensure only authorised players are on the server.
• You can change passwords at any time through the Server Manager settings without needing to reclaim the server.

Related guides

• Getting started with your Satisfactory server on LOW.MS — first-time setup walkthrough.
• Server settings guide — detailed server configuration.
• Common issues and fixes for Satisfactory dedicated servers — broader troubleshooting.
• How to upload or download a save from your Satisfactory server — transferring save files.