When there’s lag on a Space Engineers server there are three likely reasons as to why its happening:

A map issue
A mod issue
An issue with configuration or in-game script.

The most likely reason is that the server is experiencing map issues which can be resolved by following this article.


At the bottom of this article there is a list of found causes of lag from things built within the world, this may help you finding the cause within your world.

How to perform a map clean-up:

Use SE Toolbox!

Available here: https://github.com/mmusu3/SEToolbox/releases

This tool makes a return and is the single best method for clearing your world of junk and grids you won't even know exist. Install the tool, load your world and remove the junk. Then save it and re-upload to your server.

Using Space Master

To use Space Master, load into your server and hit ALT + F10. You must have admin privileges to open the admin menu and once opened it should look like this:



Once opened, open the dropdown and select Trash Removal this is where you'll set parameters for what should be removed during trash removal.




Now, you have another way to clean using Space Master if you'd wish for a more immediate trash clean-up and that's using the entity list and removing those grids or floating objects yourself. In the drop down list, click Entity List and in there should be a list. The default should be for Grids however you can select what you'd like in the Select drop down.


Let's imagine that when I select the Homing Beacon and we figure out it's the culprit, we can click Remove and it'll be deleted. For grids you're not sure about, you can teleport to the said grid by pressing the teleport button and then saving a blueprint of it, deleting it and re-pasting it back if it doesn't solve the problem.

You can also view any floating objects and see how many are stacked or around and delete accordingly if nobody is near them or going to pick them up!

Using Torch and the Profiler Plugin

Torch comes with many utilities such as the ability to perform clean-ups. To use torches clean-up commands, you can run them in-game using the following commands:

To enable torch, head into your servers control panel, server settings and then you should see Torch, turn this on.

!cleanup delete notype beacon This will run a cleanup for grids with no beacon
!cleanup delete floatingobjects This will delete floating objects loose in the world
!cleanup delete blocksgreaterthan (Number) This will delete blocks higher than the count given
!cleanup delete blockslessthan (Number) This will delete blocks lower than the count given

Using the Profiler plugin

The Torch Profiler plugin can seem a bit daunting at first, but what it does is allow you to check how many ticks a blocktype takes for it to be profiled. Typically, the lower the better means that entity or grid is running fine.

Here's an example:

Let's say someone built a huge platform - Filled with turrets, assemblers and refineries all powered on and in action. (The supplied images are currently just for effect.)




Now in this image, everything is currently turned off. But it already takes 15 seconds for it to be profiled when the profiler goes through. 74704 took 117.2 updates compared to 4.4 updates. When a grid is powered on and in use, this number can be much higher. You can profile grids or players to see where the issue stands and try and test to see if removing it would fix it.


Once you've identified the grid causing the issues you can remove it using Space Master. However, you should save a blueprint of the build to keep it saved. Deleting in Space Master is permanent and can't be reversed!

Here are the profilers commands:

How to fix an in-game script issue which may be causing lag

Go to your server dashboard (Control panel) and click game configurations. Now stop your server by hovering over quick actions and clicking Stop Server.





Navigate to the game play tab and disable in-game scripts.



Now restart the server and if the problem is no longer happening, then you have confirmed that it must be an in-game script issue. This type of issue comes from a script someone has made in-game using a programmable block or a mod. If it is an issue with a programmable block then either remove or disable blocks until you find the one causing the script problem.

Otherwise it must be an issue with a mod which can be solved using the following section.

How to fix a mod issue which may be causing lag

Go to your server dashboard (Control panel) and click game configurations. Now stop your server by hovering over quick actions and clicking Stop Server.




To test if it is a mod causing the lag we will remove all the mods and check if the problem has been resolved. If the problem is gone then we know it must be a mod. You then need to re-add mods one by one until the problem starts again. At this point remove the problem mod and notify the mod developer of the issue.

Found causes of lag within the world

Vehicle wheels stuck in the ground
Landing gear AND connector used to secure one grid to another at the same time. Only one or the other should be used.

Updated on: 30/08/2021