How Much RAM Do I Need For My Minecraft Server
Minecraft servers require different amounts of RAM based on factors that define a server's purpose and configuration. Running a Minecraft server with less RAM than it needs will likely cause performance issues, so it's important to understand how much RAM your server will need.
As a general rule of thumb, the more addons and players a server supports, the more RAM it will need.
1.17+
The 1.17 update caused Minecraft servers to use significantly more RAM than previous versions to startup and maintain background tasks. As such, Minecraft servers with less than 3GB of RAM do not perform as well, but using PaperMC and configuring your server to reduce lag will improve performance.
We recommend at least 5GB of RAM for any modded server. Modded servers are very resource-intensive and use large amounts of RAM. If you plan on installing many mods or large modpacks, you may need to add even more RAM to your server to prevent lag.
1.16.5 and Below
Vanilla / Spigot / PaperMC
Bungeecord
BungeeCord simply forwards the traffic from players to one of the servers in your network, so BungeeCord typically won't use a large amount of RAM. As such, we recommend a 1GB plan for BungeeCord.
You shouldn't need more than this unless you're hosting 300-500+ players at one time in your BungeeCord network. However, if you are running plugins on your BungeeCord instance, you may need a larger plan to support all of the plugins.
Below are our recommended sizes for BungeeCord based on the number of plugins:
Modded Servers
We recommend at least 3GB of RAM for any modded server. Modded servers are very resource-intensive and use large amounts of RAM. If you plan on installing many mods or large modpacks, you may need to add even more RAM to your server to prevent lag.
Modded server RAM requirements aren't dependent on the number of mods installed, but on the type of mods installed. For example, most modpacks have many library mods, which are requirements for other mods to work. These library mods have almost no impact on RAM requirements. Mods that load additional chunks, many particles, or add new dimensions require the most RAM.
Minecraft: Bedrock Edition / Pocket Edition (MCPE)
Our Vanilla / Craftbukkit / Spigot plan above is most relevant for Bedrock servers. However, in the case of Bedrock, you may be able to squeeze 1-5 extra players per GB of RAM.
We allow you to upgrade or downgrade at any time, so if you find you don't have enough RAM or have too much RAM, you can adjust your plan by paying only the prorated amount (the difference between the packages). We can also give you a prorated refund for the difference if you downgrade!
Servers