Is 4 GB enough for a modded Minecraft server?
No, 4 GB is not enough for a modded Minecraft server. A Forge or Fabric server needs about 5 GB before the first player joins, so a 4 GB plan is too small before anyone plays. For a modded server, start at 8 GB. The player numbers above are based on the rule we use for every recommendation on this site.
Which 4 GB Minecraft server plan should you choose?
Choose a 4 GB plan on the Performance line: at Astroworld Hosting and Lodehost it costs the same as the 4 GB plan on the standard line, as the table at the top of this page shows. Lodehost Mini on the Performance line runs on reserved Ryzen 9 threads with Enterprise NVMe storage for €7.95 a month, exactly the same as the standard plan. There is no reason to choose the slower one. The only thing to check is the location, because the Performance line runs in Germany and Poland.
The cheapest 4 GB plan is CheapestMinecraftHosting Starter at €3.20, on a shared Ryzen 9 7950X in Poland. It includes one backup per server, and automatic daily backups cost EUR 1.99 a month.
For 2 to 5 players with vanilla Minecraft on Java in Poland (Warsaw), the finder recommends Lodehost Mini: 4 GB, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5, for €7.95 a month when you pay monthly. As a new customer you pay €3.18 for the first month, 60% off. The best plans at the other two hosts are Astroworld Mini Performance at €7.95 and CheapestMinecraftHosting Starter at €3.20.
How many players fit on a 4 GB Minecraft server?
A 4 GB Minecraft server holds about 6 players online on vanilla and 4 with plugins. It is not enough for a modded server or a large modpack. The table shows how many players fit on 4 GB of RAM for each kind of server, by the same rule the finder uses. Mods need more: a modded server uses about 5 GB before the first player joins.
| Setup | Players online on 4 GB | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Vanilla | About 6 | The vanilla server or Paper without plugins |
| Plugins | About 4 | Paper or Purpur with a few plugins |
| Modded | Not enough | Fabric, Forge or NeoForge with mods you pick yourself |
| Modpack | Not enough | A large modpack with around 300 mods |
4 GB Minecraft servers for Bedrock and crossplay
The Bedrock server software is lighter than the Java server, so a 4 GB Bedrock server holds a few more players than the table shows. At Astroworld Hosting the 4 GB Bedrock plan is Astroworld Pocket, at €7.95 a month in Germany. Cheapest Minecraft Hosting charges the same €3.20 for 4 GB on Java, Bedrock or Crossplay. If your group mixes Java and Bedrock players, a Crossplay plan runs Geyser so everyone joins the same world; see Minecraft crossplay hosting.
When is 4 GB no longer enough for a Minecraft server?
A 4 GB Minecraft server is no longer enough when your group grows or starts exploring more. You will notice it: the server freezes for a moment and then catches up, or the console shows out of memory errors. That is the point to move to an 8 GB server, which holds about 12 players with plugins. If the server lags while memory is fine, the processor is the limit, and that is where the reserved Ryzen 9 threads of the Performance line help.