So, you have decided you want to host a Minecraft server, but now you need to decide on the ram. Usually, this happens after you’ve kind of determined which of our 3 tiers of Minecraft hosting you’re interested in. If you have not make that decision yet then head to the article by clicking on “3 tiers of Minecraft hosting” to get a detailed comparison of our 3 tiers of Minecraft server hosting at ElixirNode. Ram is really important and the more you have the more you will be able to do with your server in terms of plugins/players. In this article, we will give you some general recommendations for what each amount of ram entails and some info on how to be more precise with your own server. Do keep in mind, with ElixirNode you can upgrade/downgrade your server’s ram at any time and instantly without any hassle or losing anything, you can see how to do this near the end of the article. We also provide unlimited players/plugins/mods on all ElixirNode Minecraft hosting packages, so your only looking to calculate ram you will need to determine hosting package.
Calculating Ram
When it comes to calculating the amount of ram you need for your Minecraft server, what is perhaps now one of the most important factors is the version that your Minecraft server is going to run on. More later versions of Minecraft are much more ram-intensive and this is outlined in the below charts we have created for you. Keep in mind, mods are usually more resource-intensive than plugins and you should therefore account for more ram. Regardless of version, modded servers should not run below 3-5 GB of ram and at least 9-10 GB of ram for 1.18 modded servers or versions closer to the latest versions of Minecraft Java.
Furthermore, for Minecraft Bedrock Edition, please utilize the “Java Minecraft Versions 1.13 and ABOVE” chart below.
Java Minecraft Versions 1.12 and BELOW:
| RAM | Players | Plugins/Mods |
| 1 GB | Up to 10 | Up to 10 |
| 3 GB | Up to 20 | Up to 30 |
| 5 GB | Up to 30 | Up to 60 |
| 8 GB | Up to 40 | Up to 100 |
| 10 GB | Up to 60 | Up to 120 |
| 12 GB | Up to 100 | Up to 150+ |
| 16 GB | Up to 150 | Up to 150+ |
| 24 GB | Up to 200+ | Up to 150+ |
| 32 GB | Up to 400+ | Up to 150+ |
Especially for versions such as 1.8, a server can go a long way when it comes to plugins/players for the amount of ram. Any version that is 1.12 and below will be very ram efficient, which is the complete opposite of 1.13+. We recommend that for 1.12 and below, you should also consider 1 GB of ram for every 5 GB of world storage.
Java Minecraft Versions 1.13 and ABOVE:
| RAM | Players | Plugins/Mods |
| 1 GB | Up to 3 | 0 |
| 3 GB | Up to 5 | Up to 2 |
| 5 GB | Up to 10 | Up to 20 |
| 8 GB | Up to 20 | Up to 40 |
| 10 GB | Up to 35 | Up to 50 |
| 12 GB | Up to 40 | Up to 70 |
| 16 GB | Up to 50 | Up to 100 |
| 24 GB | Up to 100 | Up to 125+ |
| 32 GB | Up to 200+ | Up to 125+ |
You will notice that the amount of players/plugins/mods has now decreased for our ram usages, this is because later versions of Minecraft are unfortunately much more ram intensive. We also would like you to know that we have some specific latest version recommendations:
– For 1.15-1.17 you should have a minimum of 5 GB of ram.
– For 1.18+ you should have a minimum of 8 GB of ram.
Not following these recommendations could put you at risk of experiencing some lag and resources being fully taken up. There are some servers that will run just fine below these but this is the general requirement and you should not think that your server will be fine. You should also consider 1 GB of ram for every 2 GB of world storage.
Other
We will go over some general recommendations for BungeeCord as well as upgrading/downgrading ram!
BungeeCord:
| RAM | Players | Plugins |
| 0.5 – 1 GB | Up to 300+ | Up to 10 |
| 2 GB | Up to 500+ | Up to 20 |
| 3+ GB | Up to 500+ | Up to 30 |
BungeeCord is a proxy system, which means it simply routes players into the appropriate servers connected to it. Unless you are running a network of over 400 players, up to 1 GB of ram is enough for BungeeCord. Then, you should account for plugins, if you’re using lots of BungeeCord plugins then a little more ram won’t hurt.
Bedrock:
For Minecraft Bedrock Edition, follow the “Java Minecraft Versions 1.13 and ABOVE” chart that is above will work. You can squeeze in some more plugins/players though per ram plans.
UPGRADING/DOWNGRADING:
Please click here and follow the article to upgrade/downgrade your service. As stated before, you can upgrade/downgrade instantly and our system will calculate the difference. You will also not lose any data/files and all that is needed is a restart after upgrading/downgrading your Minecraft hosting package.
Ram is not the only element to take into account when it comes to running your Minecraft server efficiently. Apart from our 3 tier comparison that we mentioned briefly above, which provides hardware upgrades as you go higher in tiers, you need also take into account factors such as the reputability of the public plugins you use and the well coded custom plugins you may use. Thankfully, we also have a recommended Minecraft server plugins article and our free & premium top 25 plugin articles. Use those and other resources online to ensure you only use reputable and good plugins/mods for your server. If you are overwhelmed and have no clue where to start but want to run a Minecraft server check out our how to start a successful Minecraft server article or contact us!
If you have any further questions/concerns, contact us.