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Minecraft server RAM calculator

Pick what your server runs, how many people play at once, how many plugins or mods it has and its view distance. You get a RAM size to aim for, the least it will start on, and the math behind both.

Paper, or its drop-in replacement Purpur, with plugins in the plugins folder.

The busiest moment you expect, not everyone who has ever joined.

Count the files in the plugins folder.

The view-distance line in server.properties. The default is 10, and the game accepts 3 to 32.

Recommended RAM

Rounded up to a size hosts sell.

Minimum to start

1.5 GB

Enough to boot and let a player or two on. Expect lag as it fills up.

On RAM alone, this fits the free plan, which has up to 6 GB. Check that your server has at least 3 GB.

Where the number comes from

Part RAM
Baseline (Paper or Purpur, 1 player online) 1 GB
9 more players +0.9 GB
View distance 10 (441 chunks per player) 0 GB
10 plugins +0.3 GB
Headroom (20%) +0.44 GB
Estimate 2.64 GB
Rounded up to a plan size 3 GB
  • Paper's documentation recommends at least 6 to 10 GB no matter how few players you have, or as much as you can give if that is out of reach. This estimate is the smaller amount a server like yours should get by on.

This is a rule of thumb of our own, not a measurement of your server. See how the estimate works.

How much RAM a Minecraft server needs

As a rule of thumb, a vanilla or Paper server for a few friends needs 2 to 4 GB, a modest mod list 4 to 6 GB, and a large modpack 8 GB or more. This is what the Minecraft server RAM calculator above returns for some common setups at the default view distance of 10.

Setup Recommended Minimum to start
Vanilla, 5 players 2 GB 1 GB
Paper, 10 players, 10 plugins 3 GB 1.5 GB
Paper, 20 players, 30 plugins 5 GB 2 GB
Fabric, Forge or NeoForge, 5 players, 50 mods 4 GB 2.5 GB
Fabric, Forge or NeoForge, 10 players, 150 mods 6 GB 3.5 GB
Large modpack, 5 players 10 GB 6 GB
Bedrock Dedicated Server, 10 players 4 GB 4 GB

How the estimate works

The model is a rule of thumb of our own. Nobody can read the right number off a formula, because worlds, plugins and mods differ too much. What it does is add up the parts that matter, in a way you can check:

  1. Baseline. The server itself with one player online at view distance 10.
  2. Players. Each extra player keeps more of the world loaded.
  3. View distance. The server loads a square of chunks around every player, (2 × distance + 1)² of them: 441 at a distance of 10, 169 at 6 and 1,089 at 16. The memory counted for players scales with that number.
  4. Plugins or mods. A flat amount each. Real ones range from tiny to huge, so read it as an average.
  5. Headroom. A share on top, so Java has room to clean up memory and the world has room to grow.

The total is then rounded up to a plan size hosts sell. These are the numbers behind each option:

Server Baseline Each extra player Each plugin or mod Headroom Where the baseline comes from
Vanilla Java Edition 1 GB 0.1 GB Not counted 20% Minecraft Wiki: 1 GB for 1 to 4 players, 2 GB for 5 to 10, 4 GB above 10
Paper or Purpur with plugins 1 GB 0.1 GB 0.03 GB 20% Ours: the vanilla figure, because Paper runs the same game. Paper's own docs recommend 6 to 10 GB
Fabric, Forge or NeoForge with mods 2 GB 0.15 GB 0.01 GB 20% Ours, set so a few hundred mods land in the 4 to 6 GB FTB quotes for most of its packs
Large modpack (hundreds of mods) 6 GB 0.5 GB Not counted 20% All the Mods: at least 6 GB for a server. GregTech: New Horizons: 6 GB plus 0.5 GB per extra player in the early game
Bedrock Dedicated Server 4 GB, covers 10 players 0.1 GB Not counted None Minecraft Wiki: 4 GB minimum, possibly more above 10 players

The per-player, per-plugin and per-mod amounts and the headroom are ours, except the large modpack's 0.5 GB per player, which is the GregTech: New Horizons figure for the early game (that wiki asks for 1 GB per extra player later on). The baselines lean on published figures, checked as of October 2026: the Minecraft Wiki's server requirements, which assume default settings and a view distance no higher than 10; the Paper documentation; the All the Mods server guide; the GregTech: New Horizons wiki; and the FTB server guide, which says most FTB packs recommend at least 4 to 6 GB.

Bedrock Dedicated Server is handled differently. The 4 GB is a figure for the whole machine, so no headroom goes on top. View distance is left out because the Bedrock setting works differently: view-distance is only a cap (32 by default), and how far the world keeps running around players is set by tick-distance (4 by default), according to Microsoft's reference.

How to use the result on a real server

  1. Pick a plan at or above the recommended size. The minimum is a floor, not a target: the server starts, then stutters once the world is busy.
  2. On a Java server, set the heap below the plan size. The -Xms and -Xmx flags set how much memory Java may use for the game. Paper's documentation says to keep the two equal and not to hand Java everything your host gives you: its example is 6500 MB on an 8 GB plan. If your host's panel sets the memory for you, leave it alone. Otherwise the start script generator builds the command.
  3. On Bedrock, there is nothing to set. Bedrock Dedicated Server is not a Java program and has no memory flag.
  4. Judge by how it runs. If the server crashes with java.lang.OutOfMemoryError, or freezes for seconds at a time as more people join, go up a size. If it stays smooth with everyone online, you have enough.

New to this? The setup guides walk through creating a server step by step, and the other tools cover the files you will edit along the way.

Common mistakes

  • Buying RAM to fix lag. If the game runs slowly while memory is not full, the processor is the limit. The Minecraft Wiki asks for a CPU with good single-core performance, and Paper's documentation says more memory does not mean better performance above a certain point.
  • Counting everyone who has ever joined. Only players who are online keep chunks loaded. A server with 40 members and 6 online at its busiest is a 6-player server.
  • Raising view distance without paying for it. A distance of 16 loads about two and a half times as many chunks per player as 10. If memory is tight, lower it first: it is one line in the file the server.properties generator writes.
  • Treating every plugin or mod as equal. One that keeps a lot of data in memory can outweigh many small ones. If your result sits right on the edge of a plan size, take the next one up.
  • Ignoring the pack author. For a published modpack, the figure on the pack's own page beats any calculator, including this one.

Sources

The data and rules in this tool were last checked on against:

Frequently asked questions

How much RAM does a Minecraft server need?

For a vanilla or Paper server with a few friends, 2 to 4 GB. The Minecraft Wiki lists 1 GB as the minimum for 1 to 4 players, 2 GB for 5 to 10 and 4 GB for more than 10, on default settings. Mods change the picture: plan on 4 to 6 GB for a modest mod list and 8 GB or more for a large modpack.

Is 2 GB of RAM enough for a Minecraft server?

Yes, for a small one. By our estimate 2 GB covers a vanilla server with up to 7 players at the default view distance of 10, or a Paper server with 5 players and 5 plugins. It is not enough for a modded server: our model starts a mod loader at 2 GB before any mods or extra players, and the authors of large packs such as All the Mods ask for at least 6 GB.

How much RAM does a modded Minecraft server need?

It depends on the pack, so start with what its author says. As of October 2026, the All the Mods guides ask for at least 6 GB on a server for most of their packs, FTB says most of its packs recommend at least 4 to 6 GB, and the GregTech: New Horizons wiki suggests 6 GB plus 0.5 GB for each extra player in the early game. This calculator starts a large modpack at 6 GB and adds 0.5 GB per extra player.

Can a Minecraft server have too much RAM?

Yes, in the sense that it stops helping. Paper's documentation says more memory does not mean better performance above a certain point, and that buying 32 GB for one server wastes money. If the server lags while memory is not full, look at the processor instead: the Minecraft Wiki's server requirements call for a CPU with good single-core performance.

Should -Xms and -Xmx be the same?

On a plan or machine that only runs the Minecraft server, yes. Paper's documentation recommends keeping -Xms and -Xmx equal, and setting both below the memory your host gives you so the server does not run out: its example is 6500 MB on an 8 GB plan. The start script generator builds the full command.

Does view distance affect how much RAM a server uses?

Yes. The server keeps a square of chunks loaded around every player, so view-distance=10 (the default) means about 441 chunks per player and view-distance=6 about 169. Lowering it is the first thing to try when a busy server runs short of memory. It is a line in server.properties, which the server.properties generator can write for you.

Will my server fit on a free plan?

Free servers on Severoo get up to 6 GB of RAM. The calculator compares its result with that figure and tells you whether your setup fits, would only start, or needs more than the free plan has.

Put it to work on a free server

Create a server, paste in what you just made, and invite your friends.

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