How much RAM does a Minecraft server need for 20 players?
Twenty players on a Paper server with plugins need about 12 GB by our rule: 2 GB for the server, plus 1 GB for every two players. That is too much for 8 GB, so a 12 GB plan is the right size, and with many plugins or a web map 16 GB gives your world room to grow. A vanilla server with twenty players needs about 8.7 GB, so it needs 12 GB as well, and many servers of this size use plugins for land claims, ranks and an economy anyway.
| Players online | Vanilla | Plugins | Modded | Modpack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 to 20 | 9 GB | 12 GB | 15 GB | 28 GB |
Mods make a big difference at this size. Twenty players on a modded server need about 15 GB, so a 16 GB plan. A large modpack with twenty players online needs a 32 GB server, and at that point it is worth checking whether all twenty are online at the same time.
Best Minecraft server plans for 20 players
The best Minecraft server plan for 20 players with plugins has 12 GB of RAM, and for this group the finder picks reserved threads:
For 11 to 20 players with a few plugins on Java in Poland (Warsaw), the finder recommends Lodehost Standard: 12 GB, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5, for €23.95 a month when you pay monthly. As a new customer you pay €9.58 for the first month, 60% off. The best plans at the other two hosts are Astroworld Standard Performance at €23.95 and CheapestMinecraftHosting Builder at €9.60.
| If you want | Host and plan | Memory | Processor | Location | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | CheapestMinecraftHosting Builder | 12 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €9.60 |
| Balanced | Lodehost Standard | 12 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €23.95 (€20.95 on 24 mo) New customers: €9.58 for the first month, 60% off |
| More performance | Astroworld Standard Performance | 12 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €23.95 (€20.95 on 24 mo) New customers: €9.58 a month for the first 3 months, 60% off |
Size your Minecraft server for players online, not the whitelist
Choose your plan for the busiest hour, not for everyone who has ever joined. A community of sixty players with twenty online on a Saturday evening needs a server for twenty players. If more players are online at your busiest time, use the arrows next to the player counts in the finder, which go up to more than 500.
Why the CPU matters more on a 20 player Minecraft server
The CPU matters more on a 20 player Minecraft server because with twenty people online there is always a farm running, a redstone door opening or villagers trading somewhere. All of that runs on the server's main thread, and once a tick takes longer than 50 milliseconds, every player notices the lag. That is a CPU problem, not a RAM problem. That is why both Balanced and More performance in the finder choose a Performance plan with reserved threads on a Ryzen 9, such as Astroworld Standard Performance for €23.95 a month.
Best plugins for a Minecraft server with 20 players
On a Minecraft server with twenty players, a handful of plugins does most of the work of running the server:
- LuckPerms for ranks and permissions, so moderators can mute, kick and ban without full operator rights.
- GriefPrevention or another claim plugin, so players protect their own builds.
- CoreProtect to see who broke or took what, and to roll it back.
- EssentialsX for homes, warps, teleport requests and kits.
- Spark to find out what is using tick time when the server starts to lag.
Each of these needs little memory on its own. Twenty or thirty well-made plugins add one or two gigabytes by our rule, so with a full set of plugins, 16 GB gives twenty players more room than 12 GB. What you need to watch is a plugin that runs heavy work on the main thread, and Spark shows you which one that is. Our guide to Minecraft plugin server hosting explains how plugins affect the RAM you need.
When a 20 player Minecraft server needs more than 12 GB
A 20 player Minecraft server needs more than 12 GB when it freezes for a second and then catches up, or when the console shows out of memory errors. Then it needs more RAM, and a 16 GB server is the next step. Keep an eye on the tick rate as well as the memory: if memory looks fine but /tps on Paper shows less than 20 ticks per second, more RAM will not help. Then the processor is the limit, and a Performance plan or fewer entities will make the difference. All three hosts let you upgrade without moving your world; the server only restarts once.