Fix Minecraft Server Lag and Low TPS
Find out why your Minecraft server is lagging and fix it: measure TPS, use spark, lower the view distance and pre-generate your world step by step.
Minecraft lag on a server usually comes from low TPS (the server cannot keep up), too little memory, heavy plugins or mods, or a view distance that is too high. To fix it, measure your TPS in the panel, find what is eating time with the built-in profiler, and then lower the distances, pre-generate the world, remove the heavy parts or move to a bigger plan.
What TPS and MSPT mean
- TPS (ticks per second) is how many times per second the server updates the world. 20 is perfect. Below 18, players notice lag.
- MSPT (milliseconds per tick) is how long each update takes. Under 50 ms everything is fine. Above that the server falls behind and TPS drops.
Not every complaint is server lag. If TPS is a steady 20 but one player complains, the problem is probably that player's connection or computer. If the whole world stutters, blocks come back after breaking them or mobs freeze, it is the server.
Step 1: measure your TPS
- Open dashboard.solumecore.com, go to Game servers and open your server. The server must be on.
- Open the Console tab and go to Performance & crashes. The Performance view opens first.
- Press Measure now. The panel shows the TPS and MSPT and a verdict: Running smoothly, A bit of lag or Heavy lag.
- To build a history, turn on Log TPS every … minutes. Drops in the chart line up with lag spikes, so compare them with the times players were online.
If the panel says the server has no command to measure TPS, switch to Paper in Settings → Version & installer, or install spark on Fabric. Vanilla does not have one.
Step 2: find what is causing it
In the same view, the card What's causing lag? (spark) watches the server for 60 seconds and builds a report with the heaviest plugins, mods and areas.
- If spark is not installed, press Install spark and restart.
- Play or have players on the server, then press Analyze 60 seconds.
- When it finishes, press View the report. It opens on spark.lucko.me and you can share it with whoever helps you.
Read the top entries: a single plugin, a mod or a chunk area (a big farm, many animals or hoppers) usually takes most of the time.
Step 3: check the memory
The Memory (RAM) card compares your plan with what the server needs and what it is using now. It estimates from your plugins or mods, the world size and your usual players, and tells you Needs more, Fine or Plenty left. If it says Needs more, the server will lag and may crash with out-of-memory errors. Use Upgrade plan or see upgrade your game server plan.
Step 4: apply the fixes
Lower the view distance
In World → Game settings, open the Performance group of settings:
- View distance is how many chunks are sent to each player. It uses the most RAM and CPU: 8 to 10 is a good balance.
- Simulation distance is how far mobs move and crops grow. Lowering it is one of the biggest wins.
Save and restart the server. These correspond to view-distance and simulation-distance in server.properties.
Pre-generate the world
Minecraft creates the world piece by piece as players explore, and that causes lag. Pre-generating does the work once. Open World → Worlds & map, go to World tools, press Pre-generate… and install Chunky if asked. Choose the Radius (2,000 blocks is a good start for survival), the shape and the dimension. Do it with few players online. You can pause and continue later.
You can also set a World border in the same place so the world, and your disk, do not grow forever.
Use a faster server type
Paper is much faster than Vanilla and compatible with Spigot plugins. Purpur and Pufferfish are Paper-based options. Change it in Settings → Version & installer and make a backup first. See change your Minecraft server version or type.
Use the recommended Java profile
Open Settings → Startup. In Java performance choose the profile marked Recommended and save. A good profile avoids the half-second freezes that happen when Java cleans up memory. Restart the server to apply it.
Remove or replace heavy plugins and mods
Use the spark report to find the biggest ones. Remove what you do not need, update the rest and avoid plugins that run on every tick. Disable a suspicious plugin by renaming it in Files or use Disable that file from the Crashes view.
Restart on a schedule
A daily restart with a warning frees memory. Create it in the Automation tab. See schedule tasks on your game server.
Troubleshooting
- TPS is 20 but players say it lags. Check their internet or distance to the server. A server closer to your players has lower ping.
- It lags only at certain times. Compare the TPS history with the hours players are online, or with the moment a farm or large redstone machine is running.
- It lagged after adding a plugin or mod. Disable it and measure again.
- It lags right after starting. The first minutes load chunks and plugins. Wait a few minutes and measure again.
FAQ
How do I check the TPS of my Minecraft server?
Open Console → Performance & crashes and press Measure now. Anything near 20 is perfect. Below 18 players notice lag.
Why is my Minecraft server lagging with few players?
Often a plugin, a mod or a large farm is using the tick time, or the view distance is too high for the memory you have. Run the spark analysis to see which.
How much RAM does my Minecraft server need?
It depends on the type, plugins or mods, world size and players. The Memory (RAM) card estimates it for you and suggests if you need more.
Will upgrading my plan fix lag?
If the cause is memory or CPU, yes. If a plugin or a setting is the cause, fix that first, because a bigger plan will only hide it for a while.
Related articles
- Minecraft server won't start
- Set Minecraft RAM and Java flags
- Edit server.properties on a Minecraft server
- Upgrade your game server plan
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