What plan, CPU, or RAM do I need for X players or a heavy modpack?
Sizing your server comes down to three things: how many players, what software, and how heavy your mods or plugins are. There's no single magic number, but here's a sensible frame to pick a starting tier — and you can always adjust later.
What drives sizing
Player count sets a baseline, software determines efficiency (Paper scales well on modest RAM), and heavy mods or redstone lean hard on single-thread CPU rather than raw RAM.
Choosing a plan
- Vanilla/Paper, a small SMP (a few friends): 4GB; 10–30 players want 6–10GB. Start at 4GB and add RAM as the group grows.
- Plugin servers with lots of plugins and 30–60 players: 12GB+, and prefer our Supreme/Ultimate (Ryzen) tiers for better single-thread CPU.
- Modpacks: size by mod count: ~50 mods 6GB, 50–100 mods 8–10GB, 100–150+ mods 10–12GB, 150–300+ mods 12–16GB or more. Fast CPU helps a lot.
- When unsure: start with a bit more RAM and downgrade later with Change plan if you're comfortably under your limits.
These numbers are for modern Minecraft (1.21+), which uses far more memory than older versions; 1.12 and older need much less.
Tip: For modpacks and redstone- or entity-heavy servers, CPU single-thread speed matters more than raw RAM — our Supreme/Ultimate (Ryzen) tiers help most.
Frequently asked questions
What exact plan fits my case? Tell us your software, player count, and modpack in Discord and we'll advise. Standard tiers go up to 20 GB, with custom RAM sizes above that available on request.
Is there a precise players-per-GB number? No fixed rule — it depends heavily on your mods and plugins.
More in Server Performance
- Why is my server slow to load or stuck loading (server list, world gen)?
- Why is my server overloaded, and how do I fix it (CPU, RAM, RAM Buffer)?
- Players get kicked, lag, or stall when many join at once — why?
- How does chunk loading work, and how do I avoid world corruption?
- Does my plan include CPU optimization or higher clock speeds?