How to Make Your Minecraft Server Run Faster - 15 Performance Tips
Why Your Minecraft Server Might Be Slow
Minecraft server lag usually comes from one of three sources: hardware limitations (not enough RAM or CPU), software configuration (wrong server software or settings), or gameplay factors (too many entities, redstone clocks, or chunk loaders). This guide covers fixes for all three categories so you can achieve smooth 20 TPS gameplay.
1. Use the Right Server Software
Switch from vanilla or CraftBukkit to Paper or Purpur. Paper can handle 50-100% more players than Spigot on the same hardware. The performance gains come from optimized chunk loading, smarter entity activation, and improved redstone tick management. Switching from Spigot to Paper is a drop-in replacement - your worlds and plugins will be preserved. On CyberNex servers, you can switch software from the Startup tab in your control panel.
2. Optimize Java Arguments
Use the Aikar flags for modern Minecraft versions: -Xms2G -Xmx2G -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=8M -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4 -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 -XX:G1RSetUpdatingPauseTimePercent=5 -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 -XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1 -Dusing.aikars.flags=https://mcflags.emc.gs -Daikars.new.flags=true. Set -Xms and -Xmx to the same value to prevent heap resizing. CyberNex servers have these flags pre-configured.
3. Tune Paper Configuration
In your paper-global.yml file, adjust these key settings: reduce max-entity-collisions from 2 to 1, set despawn-ranges.soft to 32 and hard to 128, enable per-player-mob-spawns, enable anti-xray (enabled mode 1 or 2), and set delay-chunk-unloads-by to 10 seconds. In paper-world-defaults.yml, set max-entity-search-range to 32, armor-stands.tick to false, and set experience-merge.max-value to 1000. These changes significantly reduce server load without affecting gameplay.
4. Limit Redstone and Farms
Redstone is the #1 cause of server lag on survival servers. Use the following Paper settings: set redstone-implementation to EIGENSPACE (it's 3x faster than vanilla), enable lag-compensating for redstone repeaters and comparators, and set max-tnt-per-tick to 50. Place hopper speed limiter at 2 (1 hopper transfer per tick). Encourage players to use observer-based clocks instead of redstone repeaters. Disable chunk loaders if they're causing TPS drops. Consider using the HopperOptimizations plugin for large farm servers.
5. Entity and Mob Management
Too many entities is a common cause of lag. Set spawn-limits appropriately: monsters to 40, animals to 8, water to 5, and ambient to 1 for a standard server. Enable per-player-mob-spawns so each player gets their own mob cap rather than sharing one global cap. Set tick-inactive-villagers to false in Paper config. Use the ClearLag plugin (or similar) to automatically remove excess entities every 30 minutes. Keep your player's render distance at 8 or less in server.properties.
6. Monitor TPS and Performance
Run /mspt to check your server's milliseconds per tick. Values under 50ms mean 20 TPS (good). Values above 50ms indicate lag. Use /timings paste to generate a detailed performance report and analyze it at https://timings.aikar.co. This will show you exactly which plugins, entities, or chunks are causing lag. On CyberNex servers, you can view real-time CPU, RAM, and TPS graphs in your control panel dashboard.
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