Minecraft RAM sizing is not an exact science: it scales with your players, mods, world age, play style, Minecraft version, and server software. Here is how to get close.
Quick answer
- Vanilla or Paper, a few friends: 6GB.
- Plugins or a small-to-medium community: 6 to 10GB.
- Modpacks (Forge, Fabric, NeoForge): 8 to 12GB or more. Big kitchen-sink packs like All the Mods want 10GB and up.
Not sure? The Help me choose option on the Minecraft order page sizes it from a few quick questions, and you can upgrade or downgrade anytime as your server grows.
What drives RAM usage
- Minecraft version: newer versions use more, though memory management improved after 1.18. Older versions run leaner.
- Server software: Paper, Purpur, and Fabric with optimization mods (Lithium, Starlight) run lighter than Vanilla or Forge.
- Mods and plugins: each one loads into RAM at startup and holds its working data there. More of them, and more complex ones, use more.
- World age: older worlds accumulate chests, hoppers, farms, and persistent mobs, so chunks cost more to load.
- Play style: redstone and farm-heavy technical play uses more than casual survival.
- Player count: adds roughly linearly on top of the base usage. It matters most past about 10 players.
Why your server always shows max RAM
Your server runs on Java, and the Java runtime (the JVM) needs working memory of its own on top of the game. Size a plan with a little headroom rather than to the game alone.
Java also uses all the RAM you give it, freeing memory only when it needs the space (“empty RAM is wasted RAM”). Seeing your server sit near max is normal, not a leak.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Player slots can be configured to any number via the server's configuration files. The exact files depend on the game. For Minecraft servers, we recommend optimizing your server for the number of players you expect to have online.