How Often Should You Restart a Game Server? (By Game, 2026)

Most game servers run best with a restart once every 24 hours, done at a quiet time with a warning to players and a save first. Heavy games like Rust, ARK, Palworld and modded Minecraft benefit most from a daily restart. Light games like Terraria, Factorio and vanilla Valheim can run for several days without one.

A restart clears memory that builds up over long sessions, applies updates and config changes, and gives the server a clean start. Done badly, it kicks players mid fight or loses progress. Here is how often to restart each game, why it helps, and how to do it without anyone losing their work.

Why do game servers need restarting?

Game servers slow down over time because memory fills up with things that are never fully cleared: dropped items, creatures, loaded areas, plugin data and small leaks in the game itself. A restart throws all of that away and loads only the saved world, which brings memory use and tick time back down.

Common signs a server is overdue for a restart:

• RAM use creeps up hour after hour, even with the same players online.
• Rubber banding or delayed actions that get worse the longer the server runs.
• Console warnings like Minecraft's "Can't keep up!" that were not there after the last restart.
• Saves taking longer, causing short freezes every few minutes.

If memory goes straight back to full within an hour of a restart, restarting more often will not help. The server simply needs more RAM. Our RAM guide shows what each game needs.

How often should you restart each game?

Restart heavy, entity rich games daily and light games every few days. These are good starting points, based on how each game uses memory over long sessions:

DayZ is the one game where frequent restarts are part of how the game is designed. Its central economy uses restarts to refresh loot and vehicles, and many community servers run on a fixed restart cycle that players plan around. See how to edit loot on a DayZ server for how the economy works.

How do you restart a game server safely?

A safe restart warns players, saves the world, stops the server cleanly and starts it again. Skipping the save or killing the process can lose minutes of progress or, in rare cases, corrupt a save.

1. Warn players. Send a message 10 minutes, 5 minutes and 1 minute before. Most games have a broadcast command, like say in Minecraft and Terraria or broadcast in Palworld's RCON.
2. Save the world. Run the game's save command, for example save-all in Minecraft, save in Rust and Terraria or Save in Palworld's RCON.
3. Stop the server cleanly. Use the game's stop command or the panel's Stop button, not a hard kill, so it finishes writing files.
4. Start it again and watch the console until it says the world is loaded.
5. Check you can join before telling everyone it is back.

Palworld's Broadcast command does not handle spaces well over RCON, which is why underscores are used above. More commands for each game are in our Rust console commands, Palworld admin commands and Valheim admin commands guides.

When is the best time to restart?

Restart when the fewest players are online, which for most friend groups is early morning in their time zone. For public servers, pick the same time every day and announce it, so players learn not to start a big raid or boss fight just before.

Avoid restarting:

• During events, such as a 7 Days to Die Blood Moon, a Rust raid or an ARK boss fight.
• While a big save is running, on games that save on a timer.
• Right after an update, before checking the server started cleanly. Look at the console first.

Should you back up before restarting?

You do not need a backup before every routine restart, since the save step protects progress. Do take a backup before restarts that change something: game updates, new mods or plugins, config edits and version switches. Those are the restarts that can go wrong. Our backup guide covers how to back up any game.

Can restarting fix lag?

Restarting fixes lag that builds up over time, but not lag that starts right after a restart. If a fresh server is already laggy, the cause is something constant, such as too little RAM, too many mods, a huge base with thousands of entities, or a player far from the server. Our game server lag guide walks through each cause.

Restarting a GamezServers server

Every GamezServers panel has Start, Stop, Restart and Backup buttons. Stop saves the world before shutting down, and Restart brings it back in seconds. You can also add your own console command buttons, up to 12 per server, for broadcasts and saves you send often, like a "restart in 5 minutes" warning. Servers also sleep after 4 days with nobody online, and anyone with access can start them again from the dashboard, which gives quiet servers a fresh start on their own. See the control panel docs.

FAQ

Is it bad to restart a game server every day?

No. A daily restart is normal and healthy for most games, as long as you save first and warn players. It keeps memory use and tick time steady.

Does restarting a server delete the world?

No. A restart reloads the last saved world. Only progress made after the last save is lost, which is why you save before stopping.

Why does my server use more RAM the longer it runs?

Games keep items, creatures, loaded areas and plugin data in memory, and not all of it is released. A restart clears it, while a server that fills up again quickly needs more RAM.

How often should I restart a modded Minecraft server?

Every 12 to 24 hours for big modpacks. Mods add entities and background tasks that build up, so modded servers drift faster than vanilla ones.

Should I restart my server after changing settings?

Yes. Most games only read config files on startup, so changes to files like server.properties or PalWorldSettings.ini take effect after a restart.