How much RAM does a Minecraft server need for 50 players?
Fifty players with plugins need about 27 GB: 2 GB for the server and 1 GB more for every two players. The plan that fits is 32 GB, or 48 GB at the hosts without a 32 GB plan. On vanilla, fifty players need about 18.7 GB, so a 24 GB plan. But a public server without plugins will not stay public for long: you need anti-cheat, land claims, ranks and a way to roll back griefing.
| Players online | Vanilla | Plugins | Modded | Modpack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 to 30 | 12 GB | 17 GB | 20 GB | 38 GB |
| 31 to 50 | 19 GB | 27 GB | 30 GB | 58 GB |
Best Minecraft server plans for 50 players
The best Minecraft server plan for 50 players with plugins has 32 GB of RAM, or 48 GB at the hosts without a 32 GB plan.
For 31 to 50 players with a few plugins on Java in Poland (Warsaw), the finder recommends Lodehost Ultimate: 48 GB, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5, for €93.95 a month when you pay monthly. As a new customer you pay €37.58 for the first month, 60% off. The best plans at the other two hosts are Astroworld Ultimate Performance at €93.95 and CheapestMinecraftHosting Guild at €25.60.
| If you want | Host and plan | Memory | Processor | Location | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | CheapestMinecraftHosting Guild | 32 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €25.60 |
| Balanced | Lodehost Ultimate | 48 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €93.95 (€83.95 on 24 mo) New customers: €37.58 for the first month, 60% off |
| More performance | Astroworld Ultimate Performance | 48 GB | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, DDR5 | Poland (Warsaw) | €93.95 (€83.95 on 24 mo) New customers: €37.58 a month for the first 3 months, 60% off |
At this size the price per gigabyte starts to matter. CheapestMinecraftHosting Guild is the only 32 GB Java plan on our list, for €25.60 a month in Poland. At Lodehost and Astroworld Hosting the next size is 48 GB: Lodehost Ultimate costs €46.95 when you pay monthly, about one euro per gigabyte, with daily backups. For a vanilla server of this size, Lodehost Premium gives you 24 GB for €23.95.
Why RAM is not the bottleneck on a 50 player Minecraft server
RAM is not the bottleneck on a 50 player Minecraft server, because the main thread runs out first. Give a server for fifty players 48 GB instead of 32 GB and it will not run any smoother. Fifty players means fifty areas of loaded chunks, lots of entities and constant chunk generation at the edges of the map. Pre-generate your world with a plugin such as Chunky before you open the server, set the view distance to around 8 and keep an eye on entity counts. Then choose the fastest processor you can afford, which is what More performance in the finder does.
When one Minecraft server is not enough
One Minecraft server is not enough once you go past about a hundred players online. At that size most networks split up into a lobby, a survival server and a minigame server, connected through a proxy such as Velocity. Each server gets its own RAM and its own main thread, and you can restart one without kicking players from the others.
How to protect a public Minecraft server
Protect a public Minecraft server with an anti-cheat, land claims, moderator ranks, DDoS protection and backups, because a server with fifty players attracts griefers, cheaters and, once your address is on server lists, the occasional DDoS attack. Plan for all of it before you advertise:
- An anti-cheat such as Grim catches fly, speed and combat hacks.
- Land claims and CoreProtect stop most griefing and undo the rest.
- Moderator ranks in LuckPerms instead of operator rights, so a moderator can ban a player but cannot change the server.
- DDoS protection, which Astroworld Hosting includes on every plan. With any host, check what is included before you post your address anywhere.
- Backups. Daily backups are included at Astroworld Hosting and Lodehost. Download a copy now and then as well, so you always have one outside the server.
A public server also needs a place where new players find the address, the rules and the Discord before they join. Every plan of this size at Astroworld Hosting and Lodehost comes with a free Minecraft server website that shows your server status by itself, and our guide on how to make a Minecraft server website explains what to put on it.
Where to host a Minecraft server for 50 players
Host a Minecraft server for 50 players in the region where most of them live, and accept a higher ping for the rest, because fifty players rarely live in one country. For players across Europe, Poland is our first choice, because the ping to Warsaw stays under 100 ms from across the continent, and Germany is the safe middle for a community further west. For North America, choose US Central or US East, depending on where your community is. Astroworld Hosting has the most choice, with 27 locations from the US to Japan and Sydney. Our pages on Minecraft hosting in Europe and Minecraft hosting in the USA compare the prices in each region.