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MemoryHow much RAM for a Minecraft server
The figures first, the reasons next. And one idea to rule out right away: it is not the number of players that fills up the memory.
A vanilla server played with friends fits in 3 GB. With Paper and plugins, count on 6 GB. A small modpack needs 10 GB, a large modpack 20 GB. To visit a map with one friend over a weekend, 2 GB will do.
These are starting points, not thresholds. With the same memory, two servers do not behave the same way: it all depends on the render distance, the areas open at the same time and what the mods keep in reserve. The processor, for its part, does not change from one plan to the next: they all run on the same machines, with up to 4 cores per server, 6 cores as an option.
| USAGE | MEMORY | PLAN | PRICE / MONTH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visiting a map, trying things out | 2 GB | Steve | free |
| Vanilla with friends | 3 GB | Walker | 3,99 € |
| Paper with plugins | 6 GB | Creeper | 6,99 € |
| Small modpack | 10 GB | Dragon | 9,99 € |
| Large modpack, public modded server | 20 GB | Wither | 19,99 € |
What really fills the memory
It does not fill up with players, but with loaded terrain and with whatever the code keeps open alongside.
Render distance
Two lines decide almost everything: view-distance, what the server sends to players, and simulation-distance, what it keeps alive. The loaded area grows with the square of the distance: dropping one notch frees far more than it seems.
Terrain kept in memory
A player who wanders off opens up new world, which the server keeps for a while after they leave. A team scattered across the overworld, the Nether and the End keeps three maps working at once; gathered together, it only occupies one.
What is never freed
A plugin keeps its data open at all times: protected regions, economy, permissions, block history. A modpack loads its blocks, items and recipes before the first player connects. This is the item that takes you from 6 GB to 20 GB, not the player count.
The number of players comes a long way behind. A full server where everyone stays in the same base weighs less than a handful of explorers each heading off on their own. Slots are unlimited on every plan anyway: a seat counter says nothing about the real load.
Short on memory or short on CPU?
The two look alike in game and are not fixed the same way. The rhythm tells them apart.
Regular stutters
The world freezes for a moment, everything resumes, and it happens again. That is Java's garbage collector: when the heap is full, room has to be made, and the server stops during that clean-up. The more terrain is loaded, the longer the pause.
Slowness that never lets up
Nothing freezes, but everything drags, all the time: mobs glide, broken blocks come back, chests take a while to open. Adding memory will not change a thing. Look at mob farms, piled-up entities and an overly chatty plugin.
Both can be read in the figures the server publishes: TPS and MSPT, defined in our glossary. A TPS that drops in bursts points to memory; a permanently high MSPT points to computation, so the CPU and what you give it to do. The hardware is detailed on our machines.
Counter-intuitive but useful: adding memory to a server that is not short of it does not speed it up, and may slow it down. The bigger the heap, the longer the clean-up when it comes. Size for the real need.
Move up or down without losing your world
Switching from one plan to another takes a few minutes to prepare.
- Take a manual backup
Automatic backups are already running, but you want a copy of the exact state before the change. It is triggered from the panel: see backups.
- Stop the server cleanly
From the console, waiting for the confirmation. A world copied while it is being written may come back with pieces missing.
- Check the disk, not just the memory
Both go up together: 1 GB of disk on Steve, 2 GB on Walker, 5 GB on Creeper, 15 GB on Dragon, 30 GB on Wither. If you move down a plan, your world and your backups must fit on the destination disk.
- Restart, then leave everything alone
Let a full evening of play go by before judging. If you were planning to change engine or version, do it afterwards: otherwise you will not know which of the two caused what. See versions and modpacks.
The only number that matters is yours
Ten days of free trial, no bank card required, on the same hardware as the paid plans: enough to measure what your server really uses.