Disable or remove: the difference
They're two different things, and it's the source of half the confusion.
- Disable: many apps have a switch to turn a server off temporarily. Handy if you think you'll reuse it, but watch out: in several assistants a disabled server keeps loading its descriptions into the context, so it still weighs and counts toward the tool limit.
- Remove: you delete the server's block from the configuration file. It disappears completely: it no longer takes up tools, doesn't weigh on the context, doesn't connect anymore.
If you just need a break, disable. If you've decided you no longer need it, remove.
How to do it
It applies to any assistant that uses a configuration file.
- Open the configuration file from the app (developer/integrations section) or directly.
- Delete the block of the server you want to remove. The working syntax: from a configuration with two servers, to remove "memory" you delete its block and the comma that links it:
{
"mcpServers": {
"documents": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/yourname/Documents"]
}
}
}
(Here only "documents" is left. Watch the commas: the last block must not have a comma after the brace.)
- Save and restart the assistant completely, so it re-reads the configuration without the removed server.
- Verify. Ask the AI "what tools do you have now?": the removed server must no longer appear.
A concrete example
Sara had connected five servers to try them out, and now the assistant is slow and sometimes doesn't find the right tools. She decides to keep only the two she actually uses. She opens the configuration file and deletes the blocks of the three useless servers, paying attention to the commas between the remaining blocks.
Before saving, she copies the file into a chat and asks "is this JSON valid?", just to be safe: the AI confirms. She saves, restarts, and asks which tools are active: only the two she wanted remain. The assistant becomes fast again and picks the right tool better, because it no longer has to choose among thirty functions of which it used five. She didn't uninstall anything from the computer: removing three blocks of text was enough.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If you disabled it but it still weighs
If you used the app's "disable" switch but the tool still takes up space or the limit is always full, it's because disabling doesn't always actually remove the server from the context. To free it completely, remove it from the configuration file instead of just turning it off.
If the server comes back after the restart
If you removed it but it reappears, it probably comes from another point: some servers are installed together with a package or "plugin" that re-inserts them. Check if there's a plugin that includes it and disable or remove that one, not just the single entry.
If you broke the file by removing a block
It happens to leave an extra comma or an unbalanced brace, and then no server loads anymore. Paste the file into an AI chat and ask it to fix the JSON. That's why it's worth making a copy of the file before modifying it.
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Before deleting blocks, save a copy of the configuration file. Removing a server is trivial until you get a comma wrong and find yourself with no tools active at all. With the copy you go back in ten seconds; without it, you rebuild everything by hand. It's the same precaution as when you modify any important file.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to uninstall something from the computer?
No, if you used servers started with npx: they aren't installed as programs, they're downloaded on the fly and kept in a cache. Removing the block from the configuration is enough. At most, the npx cache empties on its own or with a cleanup command, but it's not necessary to "uninstall" the server.
Does disabling a server save resources?
Partly: a disabled server usually no longer runs as a process, so it doesn't consume processor. But in several assistants it keeps loading its tools' descriptions into the context, so it doesn't free that space. To free everything, remove it.
If I remove a server do I lose the data it had created?
It depends on the server. A filesystem server doesn't create data of its own: by removing it, your files stay where they are. A memory server, on the other hand, keeps a file of its own with the memories: removing the server from the configuration doesn't delete that file, which stays on the disk and you can recover or reconnect later on.