How to Host a Factorio Server – Step-by-Step Guide for Engineers & Automation Enthusiasts

If you're ready to build massive factories, automate entire supply chains, fight off alien biters, and collaborate on megabase projects, hosting your own Factorio server is the best way to take control of your world. Customize map generation, mods, difficulty, progression rules, and create a persistent environment for your friends or growing community.

This guide explains how to host your own Factorio server and why Citadel Servers is an excellent partner for powering large factories and multiplayer automation.

Step 1: Choose a Reliable Hosting Provider

Factorio may look lightweight, but large multiplayer factories can grow highly demanding. Big bases, high UPS loads, complex train networks, and heavy mod packs all require strong hardware and stable networking.

Performance: High-frequency CPUs are essential for Factorio. UPS (updates per second) determines how smoothly your factory runs—so strong single-thread performance and NVMe SSDs ensure stable UPS even as your base grows.

Network Quality: Low-latency connections keep multiplayer synchronization smooth, reduce desyncs, and ensure responsive building, combat, and logistics automation.

Ease of Management: A clean control panel makes it simple to configure map settings, install mods, manage saves, adjust permissions, and control advanced server settings.

Support Availability: 24/7 support ensures you’re never stuck—especially helpful for modded servers or large megabase projects.

Citadel Servers provides all of this, delivering the performance and stability needed for long-running, modded, or high-player-count Factorio worlds.

Step 2: Order Your Hosting Plan

Setting up your Factorio server is fast and straightforward:

1. Go to the Factorio hosting page.

2. Choose how many player slots you want.

3. Pick your server location closest to your player base for the best ping.

4. Select any extras, like process priority, premium support, etc.

5. Proceed to checkout — once payment is confirmed, your server deploys automatically.

You’ll receive an email with your control panel login details and connection info within minutes.

Step 3: Configure Your Server

Once deployed, it’s time to customize your world and gameplay:

- Follow our Quick Start Guide

Then adjust your Factorio settings:

Set your server name, tags, description, and password.

Select your map generation settings:

Resource richness

Terrain frequency

Water levels

Enemy bases and expansion

Starting area size

Configure difficulty and gameplay options:

Pollution behavior

Technology cost multiplier

Enemy aggression

Recipes and progression

Install mods from the Mod Portal or upload them manually via FTP/SFTP.

Upload or manage save files—start fresh or import your existing megabase.

Configure auto-save intervals, auto-purge, and backup schedules.

Edit advanced settings such as server-settings.json, map-gen-settings.json, and map-settings.json through the control panel.

Citadel’s control panel makes configuration simple, whether you’re running a vanilla world or a massive modded factory.

Step 4: Launch and Play

Once your setup is ready, start your server with one click.

Players can join via the in-game server browser or by entering your server IP and password.

From the Citadel Control Panel, you can monitor players, adjust settings, review logs, manage saves, restart the server, or apply new changes whenever needed.

Why Host with Citadel Servers

Hosting your Factorio server with Citadel Servers gives you the power, stability, and flexibility needed for long-term automation projects, mod-heavy builds, and multiplayer megabases.

What Makes Us Stand Out

Instant Setup: Your Factorio server deploys immediately—start building within minutes.

High-Performance Hardware: Strong CPUs and NVMe SSD storage ensure stable UPS even with huge factories and heavy modpacks.

Global Data Centers: Choose from worldwide locations for the lowest possible ping and smooth multiplayer performance.

Full Access & Mod Freedom: Install any mod, upload custom configs, import saves, and configure world generation with zero restrictions.

One-Click Mod Manager: Easily install, update, and manage mods from the Factorio Mod Portal.

Automated Backups & Scheduled Restarts: Protect your factory and keep long-running worlds stable with automated maintenance tools.

24/7 Expert Support: Our technical team is always available to help with mod issues, performance optimization, setup, and troubleshooting.

Your automation empire deserves a stable foundation—and Citadel Servers delivers everything needed for smooth, high-performance Factorio gameplay.

Order Your Factorio Server Now