Minecraft Server Performance Optimization Guide

Use the Right Server Software

Paper is recommended for most servers — it includes significant performance patches over Vanilla and Spigot.

Apply Aikar's JVM Flags

These optimize Java's garbage collection for Minecraft. See JVM Flags Guide.

Reduce View & Simulation Distance

The biggest performance lever:

view-distance=8
simulation-distance=6

See View Distance Guide for recommendations by player count.

Don't Over-Allocate RAM

More RAM is NOT always better. Over-allocation causes longer GC pauses.

Pre-Generate Chunks

Chunk generation is the most CPU-intensive task. Pre-generate your world using the Chunky plugin:

/chunky radius 5000
/chunky start

This generates all chunks within 5000 blocks of spawn. See Pre-Generate Chunks.

Paper-Specific Optimizations

If using Paper, edit config/paper-world-defaults.yml:

chunks:
  max-auto-save-chunks-per-tick: 8
  prevent-moving-into-unloaded-chunks: true
spawn:
  keep-spawn-area-loaded: false
entity-per-chunk-save-limit:
  experience_orb: 16
  arrow: 16

Also in config/paper-global.yml:

chunk-system:
  gen-parallelism: default
  worker-threads: -1

Spigot/Bukkit Optimizations

In spigot.yml:

world-settings:
  default:
    mob-spawn-range: 6
    entity-activation-range:
      animals: 16
      monsters: 24
      misc: 8
    merge-radius:
      exp: 6.0
      item: 4.0

Anti-Lag Plugins

Monitor with Spark

Install Spark and run:

/spark tps
/spark profiler start

This shows exactly what's consuming your server's tick time.