How much RAM does my Minecraft server need?

RAM holds everything your server keeps live: the chunks loaded around each player, player data and every mod or plugin. Too little brings lag spikes and crashes, and too much only adds to the bill. Your server software and mods set a floor before anyone joins, and the players you expect set the rest.

How many players per GB of RAM?

On Vanilla or Paper, plan on up to five players per GB, so a 4 GB server holds up to 20. Mods cost more per player, so with mods or a modpack N GB holds N to 2N players (4 to 8 on 4 GB). Our plan cards quote the same rule, and here it is for every plan:

Read those as the most a plan holds with the default view distance. A big modpack can use most of a plan before anyone joins, so check its own size first (below), and players who spread out across the map cost more than players who build together. What each size costs is on Minecraft server hosting.

How much RAM per player?

Most of the memory goes on what the server needs before anyone joins: under 1 GB for Vanilla or Paper (our Vanilla test server used about 740 MB after boot), and more once mods load, about 1.5 GB to budget for Fabric and 2 GB for Forge or NeoForge. Mods add to that base, around 20 MB each on Fabric and 50 MB each on Forge or NeoForge, so a large modpack with 2 players can need more RAM than a plain server with 20.

On top of the base, each player's own data costs only 50 to 75 MB, but the chunks they load cost far more (see view distance, below). That is why the calculator on this page uses the five-players-per-GB rule on Vanilla or Paper, from 1 GB up. With mods it budgets whichever is larger: the base plus each player and mod with 25% headroom, or two players per GB. It then rounds up to the next 0.5 GB.

How much RAM for 10 players?

For 10 players, the calculator recommends 2 GB on Vanilla or on Paper before plugins and 5 GB on a Fabric pack, while Forge and NeoForge packs start at 7.5 GB. The full set:

Plugins aren't counted, so leave some room above the Paper row if you run a long plugin list.

The calculator counts any pack over 150 mods as about 175, so a bigger pack needs more than it shows. If your pack is one of the one-click modpacks on the modded Minecraft server hosting page, start from the RAM shown on its card, which is set for that pack's own mods.

What we measured on our own servers

We booted each setup on our servers on 14 October 2026 (Minecraft 1.21.1, nobody online) and read the RAM Usage card once the console printed Done:

These are floors, not budgets: every player brings chunks, mobs and their own data, and Java needs room to clear out old objects, which is what the figures further up allow for. The two Cobblemon rows show the other half of it: the same pack in the same state used more on the bigger plan, because Java grows into the memory it's given rather than holding to what it strictly needs. That is also why a server rarely looks like it's using all its RAM (see below).

Work it out for your exact setup

Set the Player count, the Server software and, for Fabric, Forge or NeoForge, the Mod load:

The calculator checks CPU as well as RAM, so a busy modded server can be matched to a bigger plan than its RAM figure alone suggests. The same tool has its own page, the Minecraft server RAM calculator, with a players-per-GB table.

Is 4 GB enough?

For up to 20 players without mods, yes: 4 GB holds 20 on Vanilla or on Paper before plugins. A Fabric pack of 20 to 40 mods fits about 8 players on RAM alone, but the calculator also counts the CPU those mods use, and from 2 players that points to a bigger plan than 4 GB. Forge and NeoForge packs of 40 or more mods need more than 4 GB even with nobody online.

Why view distance matters more than player count

Each player keeps the chunks around them loaded, and a loaded chunk costs memory whether one player is standing in it or five. The number of chunks per player is roughly (2 x view distance + 1) squared:

Ten players spread across the map at view distance 10 hold over 4,000 chunks in memory; the same ten at view distance 8 hold under 3,000. That is the single biggest lever you have, and it costs nothing:

1. Open the Config Editor tab and find Performance (or edit server.properties in the File Manager).
2. Set View distance (chunks) (view-distance) to 8 for a busy survival server, or 6 if it still struggles. Players can't see further than the server sends, so their own render distance only matters below this cap.
3. On Minecraft 1.18 or newer, set Simulation distance (chunks) (simulation-distance) to 5 or 6 as well. Simulation distance is how far crops grow and mobs move; it is usually the part players notice least and the part that costs the most CPU.
4. Select Save changes, then restart the server. When the Console shows Done (...s)!, the new distances are live.

A group in one town shares chunks, while ten explorers each load their own set.

Other things that change the number

• Plugins and mods that add world generation (biomes, dimensions) make every chunk heavier.
• Entities: mob farms, item frames and dropped items pile up. Paper's spigot.yml and paper-world-defaults.yml limits are worth setting on a public server.
• Pre-generating the world with a plugin such as Chunky trades a one-off CPU cost for far smoother chunk loading later. It does not reduce memory use, but it removes the lag spike of generating chunks while people play.

Signs your server needs more RAM

• The console prints Can't keep up! Is the server overloaded? during normal play, not just on boot, while the RAM Usage card on the Console tab sits near its limit.
• The RAM Usage card stays above 85% for long stretches with the view distance already lowered.
• Players see block lag, such as broken blocks reappearing, even with good ping.
• The server crashes with java.lang.OutOfMemoryError in the console or a crash report.
• The console shows Your server crashed with no Java error before it. If the red It ran out of memory line follows it, the server went over its plan's memory limit.

If you see any of these, move to a bigger plan (the calculator above suggests a size) and check whether they stop.

My server is not using all its RAM

The RAM Usage card on the Console tab often sits well below the plan's total. That's normal, for two reasons:

• Java starts small and grows. Each start reserves only part of the maximum heap (Java's working memory), at least 512 MB, and Java claims more as players load chunks.
• Part of the plan is held back on purpose. Java also uses memory outside its heap, so the heap is capped below the plan size: 10% of the plan stays free, at least 512 MB and at most 1.5 GB. On a 4 GB plan, that leaves a maximum heap of 3.5 GB. Without that gap, the server could be stopped for going over its memory limit.

To see the figures for your plan, open the JAR Manager tab (in the More group of the left rail) and expand Performance - auto-tuned. It lists the maximum heap (Xmx), the starting heap (Xms) and the headroom. The card is locked because the values are worked out from your plan every time the server starts.

How to allocate more RAM to your server

1. Open Billing (/dashboard/billing). The Plan and game card in the server's Settings tab opens the same window.
2. On the server's subscription, choose Actions, then Change plan.
3. Pick a bigger plan, or add memory to your current plan with Additional RAM. Additional RAM doesn't add CPU, so if the calculator picked a bigger plan for CPU, choose that plan instead.
4. Select Continue. The Review step shows today's charge, prorated for the days left in the billing period. Enter your account password and select Switch to followed by the plan's name.
5. Select Restart now, or restart later. The new RAM takes effect when the server starts, and the RAM Usage card on the Console tab then shows the new total.

A cheaper plan starts at your next renewal, and nothing is charged today.