You're standing in the dimly lit shop between rounds in R.E.P.O., staring at the terminal. Your budget is tight. You see it: the Map Player Count Upgrade. It costs a staggering $12,000. For a split second, you think, "Finally, I can get my fifth and sixth friends into this lobby!"
Stop. Don't buy it—at least, not for that reason.
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There is a massive amount of confusion floating around the R.E.P.O. community regarding what this specific item actually does. Because of the name, players constantly mistake it for a lobby size increaser. It isn't. If you want more than six players in a game, you’re looking for the MorePlayers mod on Thunderstore, not an in-game shop item. The Map Player Count Upgrade is a tactical tool, not a server setting. It's expensive, rare, and honestly, a bit of a gamble if you don't know the mechanics.
What the Map Player Count Upgrade actually does
Basically, this upgrade modifies your physical map device. It doesn't change the game's code or how many people can join the server. Instead, it adds a digital counter to the bottom of your map interface that tracks how many players are currently alive.
It sounds simple. Maybe even a little too simple for ten grand. But in the late-game chaos of R.E.P.O., information is literally the only thing keeping you from a total party wipe.
When you're deep in a level, the silence is terrifying. You haven't heard from Blue in five minutes. Is he hiding? Is he looting? Or is his head currently rolling down a hallway near a Floating Head? Without this upgrade, you're playing a guessing game. With it, you look at your map, see the number "3" instead of "4," and you realize instantly that someone just got snatched.
The hidden "Phase 2" of the upgrade
There's a bit of nuance here that most wikis miss. While the first purchase usually just gives you the "Alive" counter, some players report that stacking a second Map Player Count Upgrade (if you're lucky enough to find another) actually begins to show player positions on the radar.
Honestly, the "tracker" aspect is where the real value lies.
Knowing exactly where a teammate died is the difference between a successful rescue and a suicide mission. If you can see their last known position or their "corpse" icon on the map, you can plan a route to retrieve their head for revival. Without it, you’re just wandering into the dark, hoping you stumble across them before the monsters find you.
Why it's the most controversial item in the shop
If you check the R.E.P.O. subreddit, you'll see people arguing about the price daily. $8,000 to $12,000 is a lot of salvage. To put that in perspective, you could buy several Strength or Health upgrades for the same price.
- The "Solo" Problem: This upgrade is currently player-specific. If you buy it, only you see the player count on your map. Your teammates are still flying blind.
- The Risk Factor: If the player carrying the upgrade dies and isn't revived, that $12,000 investment is effectively gone for the rest of the run.
- The Level Gate: You won't even see this item in the shop until you hit at least Level 3. It’s a mid-to-late game luxury.
Some players, like those in the R.E.P.O. modding Discord, have suggested it should be a "Team Upgrade." There’s even a mod by BULLETBOT called MoreUpgrades that attempts to balance this by making certain map features shared or cheaper. But in the vanilla game? It’s a selfish purchase that requires a lot of communication to benefit the group.
Is it actually worth the money?
Look, if you're playing with a group of four to six people, communication is usually a mess. Someone is always screaming, someone is always silent, and someone is definitely lost.
In that specific scenario, the Map Player Count Upgrade is a godsend.
It allows one person to act as the "Mission Control." Usually, this should be your most cautious player—the one who stays a bit further back or manages the heavy lifting near the extraction zone. If they have the map data, they can coordinate the team. "Hey, the counter just dropped, who's down?" is a much better way to start a rescue than finding out ten minutes later that half the team is dead.
However, if you're playing solo or in a duo, stay away from this. Your money is much better spent on Sprint Speed or Carry Weight. In small groups, you generally know when your buddy dies because the screaming stops.
How to actually increase your lobby size
If you're here because you wanted to play with 10 friends, you don't want the shop upgrade. You need the MorePlayers mod.
You'll need to install BepInEx first, then drop the mod files into your game folder. Once you launch the game, it generates a config file where you can manually set the "MaxPlayers" value to whatever you want. Just be careful: setting that number to 100 will absolutely melt your CPU and likely crash the instance the second everyone spawns in. The game is balanced for 6, and pushing it to 8 or 10 is usually the "sweet spot" before the lag becomes unplayable.
Practical Steps for Your Next Run
If you decide to pull the trigger on the in-game upgrade, follow these steps to make sure you don't waste the cash:
- Designate a Navigator: Don't let your "brave" friend who dies first buy this. Give the money to the person who actually uses their map and survives.
- Check the Tab Map: The counter usually appears at the bottom. It's easy to miss if you're looking for big glowing dots on the radar.
- Combine with Revives: This upgrade is useless if you don't have the gear to bring people back. Use the map info to locate heads, but make sure you have an extractor or a plan to get to the truck.
- Watch for "Dead Heads": Red dots on the map usually indicate enemies or dead heads, depending on your other upgrades. If you have the Map Player Count Upgrade, use the "alive" number to verify if those red dots are your friends or the things that killed them.
The Map Player Count Upgrade isn't a "must-buy" every time it appears. It's a strategic choice. In a game where every dollar of salvage counts, spending $12,000 on a UI element feels bad—until it’s the only thing that tells you to run for the exit because everyone else is already gone.