Question 1

Why does Space Engineers Sim Speed drop on multiplayer servers?

Accepted Answer

Space Engineers simulates physics, voxel deformation, grid connectivity, and piston/rotor mechanics primarily on a single CPU thread - when the server cannot complete all simulation work within one tick interval, Sim Speed drops below 1.0 and the game world slows relative to real time. Common causes include large grids with complex sub-grids, piston-rotor contraptions, large asteroid drilling operations, and many active programmable blocks running scripts simultaneously. Our AMD Ryzen 9 7950X delivers the highest single-core clock performance available in our hosting class, allowing the simulation thread to sustain more grid complexity before Sim Speed degrades. For UK co-op groups building large stations or capital ships, hosting locally through AS212868 also eliminates the lockstep latency overhead that amplifies Sim Speed issues on overseas servers.

Question 2

What storage type matters most for Space Engineers server performance?

Accepted Answer

Space Engineers performs frequent world saves - by default every five minutes - and these saves involve serialising the entire voxel state, all grid positions, and player inventory to disk. On servers with spinning disk or slow SSD storage, world saves can cause a brief server stall as the I/O operation competes with the simulation thread. NVMe Gen4 storage at 3,500 MB/s read and write speeds completes world saves in milliseconds rather than seconds, eliminating the save-stall that players notice as a periodic freeze. Large modded worlds with substantial asteroid deformation or many active grids produce larger save files, making fast storage even more impactful as the game world ages.

Question 3

Can I install Steam Workshop mods on a Space Engineers dedicated server?

Accepted Answer

Yes - Space Engineers dedicated servers load Workshop mods through the SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg file, where you list Workshop content IDs to download and activate on startup. The server downloads mods from Steam on each restart if updates are available, so your server automatically stays in sync with Workshop mod releases. Full SSH and SFTP access allows you to edit the configuration file directly and manage the Workshop mod list without restrictions. For large mod packs used by UK community servers - such as those combining Warfare systems, industrial overhauls, and scripted scenarios - our NVMe Gen4 storage ensures the mod download and extraction phase on startup completes quickly, minimising downtime after a mod update.

Space Engineers Server Hosting in the UK