Limit Java Heap Space for play framework globaly

I have a very old linux system and installed java and play framework. When I run java I get:

java -version
Error occurred during initialization of VM
Could not reserve enough space for object heap
Could not create the Java virtual machine.

So I limited the java heap space in application.conf:

jvm.memory=-Xmx256M -Xms256M

With that setting I can run play test, play run etc....

But I cannot run:

play dependencies 
~        _            _ 
~  _ __ | | __ _ _  _| |
~ | '_ \| |/ _' | || |_|
~ |  __/|_|\____|\__ (_)
~ |_|            |__/   
~
~ play! 1.2.1, http://www.playframework.org
~
Error occurred during initialization of VM
Could not reserve enough space for object heap
Could not create the Java virtual machine.

Is there a global configuration file or environment variable where I can limit java heap space globaly for play framework?

Update: Also the following is not working:

play dependencies -Xmx256M -Xms256M
~        _            _ 
~  _ __ | | __ _ _  _| |
~ | '_ \| |/ _' | || |_|
~ |  __/|_|\____|\__ (_)
~ |_|            |__/   
~
~ play! 1.2.1, http://www.playframework.org
~
Error occurred during initialization of VM
Could not reserve enough space for object heap
Could not create the Java virtual machine.

Update 2:

Memory:

ulimit -a
core file size          (blocks, -c) 0
data seg size           (kbytes, -d) unlimited
file size               (blocks, -f) unlimited
pending signals                 (-i) 1024
max locked memory       (kbytes, -l) 32
max memory size         (kbytes, -m) unlimited
open files                      (-n) 1024
pipe size            (512 bytes, -p) 8
POSIX message queues     (bytes, -q) 819200
stack size              (kbytes, -s) 10240
cpu time               (seconds, -t) unlimited
max user processes              (-u) 38912
virtual m