Subnautica Server Hosting for Nitrox Multiplayer

Does Subnautica have multiplayer, and what does a Nitrox server do?

Subnautica has no official multiplayer; playing together means using Nitrox, an open-source mod built by the community. Nitrox adds a synchronization layer to the game and relies on a separate server application that stores player positions, inventories, base pieces, vehicles and story progress.

The Nitrox 1.8 series supports the current release of Subnautica, and older game versions are no longer targeted. The mod covers the original Subnautica only; there is no Nitrox build for Below Zero. Nitrox is still in alpha, so the occasional desync is part of the experience, which is exactly why regular backups matter.

When you host Nitrox on your own PC, the world goes offline the moment you close the game. On a hosted server the world lives in İstanbul around the clock: one friend can scout the Aurora at midnight and you continue from the same state the next afternoon.

How much RAM does a Nitrox server need?

8 GB is a comfortable starting point for a small crew, because Nitrox load depends more on explored area and entity count than on raw player numbers. Every time someone enters a new biome, the server starts tracking the creatures, resources and wreck pieces there. Sprawling bases, packed storage lockers and several Cyclops subs push memory and disk use higher.

Nitrox technically allows up to 100 connections, but its developers recommend around five players for smooth play. A realistic breakdown: Gold 8GB handles a 2–5 player crew, while groups of 6–10 who build heavily get more headroom from Platinum 10GB or Diamond 12GB. Emerald and Xtreme only make sense for experimental crowded sessions or if you enable CreateFullEntityCache to pre-cache entities for the whole map.

On the CPU side, single-core speed directly affects save and sync steps, and NVMe storage prevents the brief freezes frequent autosaves can cause on slower disks.

Which server.cfg settings should you change first?

Almost everything about a Nitrox server is defined in server.cfg. Open it through the file manager or SFTP and edit it while the server is stopped.

The lines you will touch most are GameMode (SURVIVAL, FREEDOM, HARDCORE or CREATIVE), ServerPassword for joining and AdminPassword for admin rights. Nitrox generates a random AdminPassword on first launch, so replace it with a strong one you choose.

SaveInterval sets the autosave interval in milliseconds and defaults to two minutes. MaxBackups controls how many Nitrox backups are kept, and DisableAutoBackup switches them off entirely. KeepInventoryOnDeath stops items from dropping on death, PvPEnabled decides whether players can hurt each other, and DefaultPlayerPerm sets the permission level new arrivals receive. A blank Seed means players get a random starting position.

Restart from the panel after saving the file. Before making big changes to an existing world, take a backup so you can experiment without risking your progress.

Running, backing up and updating a Nitrox world

Most day-to-day administration happens in the panel console. save writes the world immediately, backup creates a separate copy, op and deop grant and revoke admin rights, kick removes a troublemaker, and list shows who is connected. Commands such as keepinventory and pvp let you adjust some rules without a restart.

The golden rule for updates is version matching: the server and every player must run the same Nitrox version. When Subnautica receives a large patch, you may need to wait for Nitrox to catch up, so resist updating the game and mod in a hurry and back up the world first.

You have two backup layers. Nitrox's own rolling backups are ideal for quick rollbacks, while TheCrewHost panel backups, both manual and automatic, are stored independently of Nitrox and give you a safer restore point before a version jump. You can also pull the world folder to your PC over SFTP whenever you want an offline copy.

How do friends join your Subnautica server?

Each player needs their own copy of Subnautica (Steam, Epic Games or Microsoft Store) plus the Nitrox Launcher on the same version as the server. After starting the game in multiplayer mode through the launcher, they open the Multiplayer section of the main menu, add a new server and enter the IP address and port shown in your panel. Nitrox defaults to UDP port 11000; if your server was assigned a different port, simply use the one displayed in the panel.

If you set ServerPassword, players are asked for it on connect. The first join can take a while because the server streams the current world state to that player, and big bases make the wait noticeably longer. InitialSyncTimeout controls how long that first sync is allowed to run.

Hosting in İstanbul means low latency for crews in Türkiye, so movement stays smooth when one person pilots the Cyclops while others walk around inside it.