Systems and methods for allocating file system metadata to storage nodes of a distributed file system. An example method may include: defining, by a processing device, a plurality of tokens, wherein each token comprises a sequence of bits; associating each token of the plurality of tokens with a metadata node of a cluster of metadata nodes; receiving a request to create a directory; selecting, among the plurality of tokens, a token associated with the directory; generating a directory identifier comprising the selected token; and creating, on a metadata node associated with the selected token, a directory record comprising the directory identifier.