June 26, 2026

How much RAM does a Minecraft server need?

RAM is the most common question before renting a server. Too much is a waste of money, too little means lag. Here’s how to hit the right amount.

Vanilla and small servers (1–10 players)

For pure vanilla survival or a small server with a few friends, 2–4 GB of RAM is plenty. Anything more won’t make a visible difference if you have no plugins or mods.

Plugin servers (Paper / Purpur)

As soon as you add plugins (economy, land protection, minigames), RAM demand goes up. For 10–25 players with plugins, count on 6–8 GB. Paper and Purpur are optimized and get the most out of every gigabyte.

Modpacks (Forge / Fabric)

Modpacks are the hungriest. Lighter packs need 6–8 GB, while heavy ones like RLCraft or All the Mods easily eat 10–16 GB. Rule of thumb: the more mods and chunks, the more RAM.

• Vanilla / small server: 2–4 GB
• Plugin server (Paper): 6–8 GB
• Lighter modpack: 6–8 GB
• Heavy modpack: 10–16 GB+