How to Enable Aikar's Flags on Your Minecraft Server
Learn how to enable Aikar's Flags for optimized JVM performance on your Minecraft server.
Aikar's Flags are a set of optimized Java Virtual Machine (JVM) startup arguments designed specifically for Minecraft servers. They improve garbage collection, reduce lag spikes, and make better use of your server's available memory. Enabling them is one of the easiest performance wins you can get.
Enabling Aikar's Flags
Access the panel
Go to the XGamingServer panel and select your Minecraft server.
Open Startup settings
In the sidebar, go to Startup.
Enable the flags
Find the Aikar's Flags toggle and turn it on.
Restart your server
Restart your server to apply the flags.
That's it — no manual configuration needed. The XGamingServer panel applies the flags automatically.
What Do Aikar's Flags Actually Do?
Aikar's Flags optimize how Java manages memory (garbage collection) for Minecraft servers. Without them, Java's default settings can cause periodic lag spikes when the garbage collector pauses the server to clean up unused memory. Aikar's Flags tune this process to be smoother and more frequent, resulting in:
- Fewer lag spikes — Garbage collection runs more efficiently in the background
- Better memory utilization — Your server makes better use of its available RAM
- More consistent TPS — Ticks Per Second stays closer to the ideal 20 TPS
💡 Tip: Aikar's Flags are especially effective on older Minecraft versions and servers with many players. For more performance improvements, check our Performance Guide.
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