Reducing lag on your Minecraft server

Lag comes in two flavours, and the fix is different for each. Server-side lag (low TPS) is the server struggling to keep up — everything stutters for everyone. Client-side lag (low FPS) is your own computer or connection. This guide is about server-side lag, worked in the order you should actually try things.

First, measure — don't guess

Type /tps in the console. 20 TPS is perfect; anything consistently below ~18 means the server is overloaded. If TPS is fine but you lag, the problem is your PC or network, not the server.

1. Lower the view distance

This is the single biggest win on most servers. Each extra chunk of view distance is exponentially more work. In server.properties (edit via File Manager):

view-distance=8
simulation-distance=6

8 is plenty for survival; drop to 6 on a busy or modded server. Restart to apply.

2. Give it enough RAM — but not too much

Too little RAM causes constant garbage-collection stalls. Check your plan covers your use:

• Vanilla / Paper survival: 2–4 GB
• Plugin-heavy Paper: 4–6 GB
• Modpacks: 6–8 GB+

Counter-intuitively, more RAM isn't always better — oversized heaps cause longer GC pauses. Match RAM to your actual needs; if you're maxed out, upgrade your plan.

3. Find the real cause with spark

Guessing wastes time — profile it. Install the spark plugin/mod, then run:

/spark profiler --timeout 60

It gives you a shareable link showing exactly which plugin, mod, or task is eating your tick time. This turns "my server lags" into "this one plugin is using 40% of the tick" — which you can actually act on.

4. Pre-generate your world

Most lag spikes happen when players explore into new, ungenerated chunks. Pre-generating the world ahead of time removes those spikes. Use Chunky:

/chunky radius 5000
/chunky start

Let it finish (it runs in the background), then exploration is smooth because the chunks already exist.

5. Trim heavy plugins and mods

• Redstone / mob farms are common TPS killers — spark will point you at them.
• Entity limits: cap mobs per chunk in Paper's paper-world-defaults.yml.
• Remove what you don't use. Every plugin costs something; disable ones you're not actually using.

6. Use optimised software

If you're on vanilla or Spigot, switch to Paper (or Purpur) — they include huge performance improvements and sensible defaults for free. For modded, performance mods like Lithium (Fabric) help a lot — but keep them updated (outdated perf mods can cause crashes, see the modpack won't start guide).

Still laggy?

Open a support ticket with your /spark profiler link and /tps reading. That data lets us pinpoint the cause far faster than a description alone.