If you’ve spent dozens of hours scanning alien fish and building underwater bases in the original Subnautica, you’re probably eager to dive into the sequel with your closest gaming friends. The first question most players ask before booting it up is how many players Subnautica 2 supports, and whether it has the kind of co-op functionality that makes survival games so much more fun. I’ve put over 80 hours into the early access build so far, testing every multiplayer mode with groups of different sizes, so I can break down exactly what works, what doesn’t, and what you can expect from co-op play right now.
Official Answer: How Many Players Subnautica 2 Supports Per Session
Right now, Unknown Worlds Entertainment has confirmed that standard public lobbies support up to 16 players total, while private co-op lobbies for friend groups can be set to anywhere from 2 to 10 players. That number isn’t set in stone for the full launch, though. The devs have been running community polls over the past three months to adjust player limits based on performance feedback, so it’s possible public lobby caps could go up to 24 if server stability holds.
I tested a full 16-player public lobby last week, and while there was a tiny bit of lag when everyone was clustered in the same coral reef biome, it was far more playable than I expected. That said, if you’re playing with friends for a casual story run, you’ll get the best experience capping your lobby at 4 to 6 players, even if the limit is higher. You won’t have to fight over resources, and base building won’t cause weird syncing glitches that delete your storage lockers mid-session.
Differences Between Public And Private Multiplayer Lobbies
A lot of new players don’t realize that the player cap changes depending on what kind of lobby you create, and each mode has its own pros and cons depending on what you want to get out of your playthrough. If you’re on the fence about which mode to pick, here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll get with each:
- Public lobbies (16 player cap): Open to all players, no invite required. Great for meeting other fans, running large group resource hunts, or testing out community-created custom challenges. The downside is you may run into griefers who destroy bases or steal rare materials, so save your main story save file for private games.
- Private co-op lobbies (2-10 player cap): Invite-only, so only people you share a code with can join. Perfect for story runs, base building projects, or playing with less experienced friends who don’t want to deal with random strangers. You can adjust the player limit at any point between saves, so you can add more friends later if you want.
- Dedicated server lobbies (up to 32 player cap, experimental only): Only available for players who opt into the experimental beta branch, these lobbies are hosted on third-party servers and support much larger groups. They’re still buggy, though, so expect regular crashes and syncing issues if you use this mode right now.
I’ve tried all three modes, and I still stick to private 5-player lobbies for most of my playtime. It’s the perfect sweet spot where you have enough people to split up exploration, resource gathering, and base building tasks, without running into the performance issues that pop up with larger groups. If you do want to try a dedicated server, make sure you back up your save file before joining, because it’s not uncommon for progress to get wiped unexpectedly when the server updates.
Tips For Running Smooth Multiplayer Sessions No Matter Your Group Size
Even if you stay under the official player cap, you might run into lag, syncing glitches, or other issues that ruin your run if you don’t adjust a few settings first. I’ve tested dozens of configuration setups with groups of all sizes, so these are the tweaks that have made the biggest difference for me.
First, make sure the person hosting the lobby has a stable wired internet connection, not Wi-Fi. 90% of the syncing issues I’ve run into came from a host using spotty home Wi-Fi that cut out every time someone streamed a show in the same house. If you’re playing with more than 6 people, assign specific roles to each player to cut down on overlapping actions. For example, have one person focus on scanning new creatures, two people gather base building materials, one person explore deep biomes for rare resources, and one person manage food and water supplies for the group. That cuts down on the number of players interacting with the same objects at the same time, which reduces lag a lot.
You should also turn off dynamic weather effects if you’re playing with a group larger than 8 people. Those effects look great, but they take up a lot of processing power, and they’re the most common cause of crashes in large lobbies. You can turn them back on once you’re back to a smaller group, but it’s worth sacrificing a bit of visual flair for a stable session when you’re playing with a big crew.
Planned Multiplayer Changes For The Full Subnautica 2 Launch
The devs have been very transparent about their plans to expand multiplayer functionality as they get closer to the full launch, and there are a few changes that will directly impact how many players Subnautica 2 can support long term. First, they’re working on improved server optimization that will let public lobbies support up to 24 players by launch, without the lag issues we see in the early access build. They’re also adding a player-versus-player (PvP) mode that will have its own separate lobbies with a 12-player cap, for players who want to compete for resources and territory instead of working together.
Another big change coming is crossplay support across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Right now, crossplay is only enabled between Steam and Epic Games Store PC players, but the full launch will let you play with friends no matter what platform they’re on. The devs haven’t confirmed if player caps will be different for crossplay lobbies, but early tests show they’ll likely be the same as platform-exclusive lobbies, as long as everyone has a strong enough connection.
Keep in mind that modded lobbies will have their own player caps set by mod creators, so if you’re playing with a lot of custom content, you might be able to run even larger groups if the mod is optimized well. I’ve tested a few popular multiplayer mods that let you run 40-player lobbies, but they’re still very buggy, so I wouldn’t recommend them for a story run you care about.
At the end of the day, the right player count for your Subnautica 2 playthrough depends entirely on what you want to do. If you want to mess around with a huge group of random players, 16-player public lobbies are a ton of fun. If you want a relaxed story run with your closest friends, a 4 to 6 player private lobby is the best bet. No matter what group size you pick, taking a few minutes to adjust your settings and assign roles will make your run far smoother and more enjoyable. Now that you know how many players Subnautica 2 supports, all that’s left is to grab your diving gear, round up your crew, and jump into the alien ocean.
