How Much RAM Does a Minecraft Server Need? (1–100 Players Guide)

Minecraft servers have a broad range when it comes to RAM requirements, from as little as 512MB to as much as 24GB at least, if not more.

RAM, abbreviation of Random Access Memory, can be considered as a workspace for the CPU. It is short-term storage that is written to for storing temporary files: JSON strings, configuration backups, etc.

This post will inform you on how to choose the amount of RAM your Minecraft server needs.

What actually uses RAM in a Minecraft server?

Common knowledge is that the amount of players directly influences the RAM usage. Although true, it depends on many other factors:

• Mods/plugins
• Minecraft server version
• Minecraft server software (Paper, Spigot, Vanilla, etc.)
• Minecraft world size
• Loaded chunks

Vanilla Minecraft servers

Servers that fall into this category usually need less RAM than any modded servers. This is because on Vanilla software, being Minecraft’s official server software, doesn’t support plugins and mods, lowering the RAM requirements. However, as listed above, the Minecraft world size can increase if there are more chunks that have been loaded, which could require more RAM as a consequence.

RAM Required	Players	World Size
3GB	<10	Up to 20GB
4GB	<15	20-30GB
6GB	<30	>50GB
8GB	<40	>50GB
10GB or more	>40	>50GB

Minecraft mod/plugin servers (Paper, Spigot, Forge, Fabric, etc.)

On the other hand, running modded Minecraft servers will, without a doubt, increase your RAM usage, mainly if you plan to use modpacks. If you pair this with big worlds or heavy plugins, the RAM requirements will notably increase.

RAM Required	Players	World Size	Mod/plugin count
3GB	10 or less	15GB or less	10 or less
4GB	15 or less	20GB or less	20 or less
6GB	30 or less	25GB or less	30 or less
8GB	40 or less	30GB or more	40 or less
10GB or more	40 or more	35GB or more	50 or less

Proxy servers (Waterfall, Velocity, Bungeecord, etc)

Proxy servers are useful if you want to let the player join one server, where you can redirect them to different other servers through the same proxy. Here’s a clear, comprehensible schematic of how it works:

Having said this, proxy servers are much lighter than modded servers and Vanilla servers. This is because they don’t load what Vanilla and modded servers load: players, entities, and worlds. All they do is redirect the player to the specified server.

RAM Required	Players	Plugin count
512MB	10 or less	10 or less
1GB	20 or less	10 or less
2GB	30 or less	20 or less
3GB	40 or more	30 or less

Common mistakes

Allocating too much RAM

Allocating too much RAM, believe it or not, can actually hurt performance more than it helps. It can lead to:

• Lazy Garbage Collection: allocating too much RAM to your Minecraft server allows for more unused objects to accumulate, which can cause severe stuttering when the garbage gets cleared rather than minor, unnoticable pauses.
• System Resource Contention: excessive RAM allocation can cause the Operating System to not have enough RAM, causing disk swapping and massive lag spikes.

Using outdated server software

If you’re still on Spigot, or you’re using Vanilla Minecraft, you’ll most likely benefit from switching to Paper.

PaperMC is a fork of Spigot developed specifically for performance, efficiency and customisation. You might notice your RAM usage significantly decrease as soon as you make the switch, especially when using several plugins.

Learn more on this article about Spigot vs Paper vs Purpur.

How to calculate the needed RAM for your Minecraft server

Not sure how much RAM your server needs? Use our Minecraft server RAM calculator to get an instant estimate based on player count, mods, and server type. This is the quickest and most accurate way of understanding how much RAM you need.

How do I get a server without spending a fortune if my RAM requirements are sky-high?

Don’t worry—SodiumNodes has got you covered. We offer high performance, DDoS-protected servers for low prices. You can even get a Minecraft server with 12GB RAM for €11 (or $11, depending on your currency), which is very rare in today’s world. Start using SodiumNodes today and join thousands of satisfied customers!

How much RAM does a modded Minecraft server need?

RAM requirements for Modded Minecraft servers can be between 6GB to over 16 GB of RAM.

How much RAM does a Minecraft server need for 100 players?

Minecraft servers with 100 players or more might require 12-16 or more GB of RAM, depending on the setup. Heavily modded Minecraft servers may require over 16GB of RAM, while more optimised servers can require around 10GB.

What’s the recommended RAM for a Minecraft Server?

The minimum recommended RAM for a Minecraft server is 2GB for a few players, while an entry-level sits around 4GB or 6GB.