Minecraft is a popular gaming franchise these days. The number of players contributing to its revenue is enormous, which calls for all the matters related to the game worth addressing. It is distinguished for its multiplayer option, demanding a stable server connection round the clock. Minecraft’s servers are massive and frequently, during the daytime, draw the maximum number of players. So, to tackle this server issue of Minecraft you can find the solution to fix server lag in Minecraft.
Why do users face Server Lag issues in Minecraft?
However, as per the reports and feedback by users all across the globe. The servers are full of lags very often if you set them up any differently. The scenario is disappointing as the whole fun of the gameplay goes away with those frustrating waiting periods. If you are a first-time server owner, the problem is even worse. Also, if you happen to be a player with scarce technical expertise, you are doomed as well. So far, we have talked about the grave pictures. Now it is time to bring in some good news.
Today, in this article, you are yet to find some easy fixes and effective methods to get rid of the server lag issues of Minecraft. We will discuss how we can significantly improve the server performances.
This article will be your guide to implementing those fine-tuned optimization techniques along with the assurance to make the server lag nightmare a thing of your past.
Point To Keep In Mind Before Fix Server Lag in Minecraft Issue
Here is one point you should note, and that is first, you should check the specification of your system. If your system meets the minimum configuration requirements mandated by Minecraft, you are good to proceed next. If otherwise, you have to make sure to get a system meeting the said requirements as this is the foremost reason you have been experiencing the issues in the first place.
Points We Cover in Ways to Solve Server Lag In Minecraft
We know you are in a hurry to run towards your other commitments. Here is a list of things we will discuss today to fix server lag in Minecraft. You can head to the one you feel you have to hit first. Run through the content, and if you are satisfied, don’t forget to write to us, which will motivate us further to bring in more topics like this.
- Possible reasons for Minecraft Server Lag
- Kinds of Lag come across in Minecraft Game
- Types Of Lags In Minecraft & Ways to Fix it
Possible Reasons For Minecraft Server Lag
Although the server lag in Minecraft can happen for various reasons. We found out that the most common reasons are as follows.
- RAM Management while managing the server.
- Too many plugins.
- You are playing from a remote location.
- Your world is too cluttered with items and MODs you are using.
- You might not have updated the Minecraft version.
- Your consoles may not be cooperating with you.
RAM Management While Managing The Server
If you are facing server lag in Minecraft then managing RAM is necessary for you. To tackle the lag issues you need to figure out the error in your RAM first.
RAM is your system’s instant source of memory or, as they say, the Random Access Memory. Therefore, the RAM of your system is the lifeline of the game. As soon as the servers feed data (the player ID data, MODs, entity data), that data gets stacked inside the RAM allocation. Now, this works in alternate ways. If the RAM is not capable enough to bear the burden, the server’s Java Virtual Memory or JVM bears the brunt, making the experience sluggish overall.
There is no way inside to check the RAM usage of the game so, you can install plugins that can do the job for you. All you have to do is enter the command “/memory”, and you are all in to check the RAM usage. The output will show the available memory in your system, the maximum memory you can use, the used memory, and how long the operation is going on.
Note if your available memory is lower than 100MB, lags are likely to show up.
Too Many Plugins is a Major Issue of Facing Lag In Minecraft
Often you come up with the thought to use some mods and plugins to bring in new features. All these mods and plugins eat up resources. Be it your system resources or the server ones. Another thing to be wary of is that even if you don’t use the mods and plugins, they don’t remain shy of cluttering the memory.
Connection Lag Due to Remote Playing Minecraft
This one is directly related to the connection lag, which depends on the ping output. Ping is the network latency between you and the server of Minecraft, or in other words, it shows how much time the data will take to process and travel to establish the connection. The lower the ping is, the better is the gameplay smoothness. If your physical location is far away from the game servers, chances are you will witness a higher latency affecting the gameplay experience. Issues like server time out happen for the above reason. A point to note is that the higher network latency is the reason for lag, not the other way around. Also, if you experience this in a row, the server may crash due to the unstable attempts of network establishment.
Our advice is to check the Minecraft server ping before jumping into the gameplay by hovering over to the server green connection bar on the right side. You can readily see the ping numbers there.
World Cluttered With Items and Entities You Are Using
This one is one of the probable causes of the lag you have been witnessing thus far. No matter which server you are using, entities and items always contribute to the lag.
Items or entities are of two types. One is Tile entities or ‘Block’, another is regular entities or simply ‘Entities’. If we cut things short, Block entities are the ones that store an extra amount of data for the inventories, etc. whereas, regular entities are like the mobs and item drops in your game. Block entities cause less lag than regular ones. The reason being the block is not responsive to your interaction and other parameters like gravity. It means if you push a block entity, it won’t move, and nor will it react to gravity all the time.
You Might Not Updated The Minecraft Version
People have seen the error message “outdated server” occasionally. It doesn’t always necessarily mean that your version needs the latest update. It all depends on the server you are trying to reach. Maybe the case that the server is running a different version of Minecraft. It may be a newer one or an outdated one. Consequently, the player comes across the information that the server will not support the game client version for the time being.
In order to figure out the list of versions that a particular server supports, you put the server details to the server list. Following that, you click the refresh button, and you are good to go. You will find out the supported versions in the displayed box right there.
Issue in Your Console Cause Lag in Server Of Minecraft
Although it happens rarely, it is a probable phenomenon that your console fails to cooperate at times. You happen to see such issues during your gameplay. Sometimes an outdated console version affects the gameplay, so players better ensure that their consoles are all up to date. Players who got stuck on a red screen with PS4 reported that they had to restart the console to resolve the issue.
Kinds of Server Lag In Minecraft
- Server-side lag or TPS lag
- Client-side lag or FPS lag
- Connection lag or high latency lag or ping lag
Server-Side Lag or TPS Lag In Minecraft
TPS lag, or in other words, Ticks Per Second, is the measurement of the overall health of the server you are using. The server runs at the fixed rate of 20 ticks per second, indicating 0.05 seconds for one tick. Ticks are the movement of the various aspects of the game. Like the mobs, vegetation, objects, behavior, and interactions, they all depend on the ticks. Your server is functional depending on its TPS. So whenever there is even minimal drop, players start noticing lags in the gameplay. The optimal gameplay is there at 20 TPS.
While the TPS observed is a result of the hardware configuration of your system, it is not the only determiner. Besides the speed and capabilities of the hardware, effective management of the server also guarantees a good TPS. If one of the above is falling behind, the experience will start deteriorating.
Often players think that the number of players on the same server contributes to the degrading performance of the server. But what actually causes the above are the objects and entities inside your game world as you keep adding new mods and plugins. So next time you think of adding mods and plugins, consider the probable effects on your gameplay.
The mods and the associated block you add are there to perform certain functions prompting the server to designate resources to carry it out.
Minecraft Client-Side Lag or FPS Lag
We all know what FPS stands for, don’t we? Well, it is time to finally throw some light on issues that emanate from your hardware shortcomings. The low FPS or frame rate per second can cause sluggish gameplay, making it look like a slideshow of static images. We are sure that we don’t want such pathetic situations to develop. The low frame rate doesn’t indicate the server failing to manage it, but your hardware system is the one behind the problem. Not to mention if this is a consistent and continual state of affairs, you might want to upgrade the configuration with a more powerful graphic card, more RAM storage, and a higher efficiency CPU than the current one.
Those who may not know what separates a server lag from a low FPS problem should note that both can pop up simultaneously. The inference that the FPS drop is happening due to the server mismanagement is absolutely flawed. A low frame rate points out the lack of improved hardware in your computer.
Later in this article, we will discuss ways to address this problem with a proper fix.
Connection Lag or High Latency Lag or Ping Lag Of Minecraft
High latency or high ping translates to more time for data to travel and process, resulting in significant lag and an awful gameplay experience. Putting it more simply, the ping you are getting determines the gameplay experience. The ping relies on the network latency of your server. Suppose your current physical location is far away from the game server. In that case, there will be a high network latency and a higher ping than what you witness usually. As a result, you will experience choppy gameplay, and none of us really appreciate it much. So, your goal is to ensure a low ping which will make your gameplay smooth and meet your expectations. The immediate solution to minimize the ping is to find a location closer to the game server or connect to the server near your physical location. If the ping is too high, servers often disconnect the client. In a similar manner, client software also prompts a disconnection mandate for high ping output. Consequences are there for high ping. For example, it may ensure a server crash situation if the condition persists.
Coming to the possible reasons for the ordeal, we can say that your ISP sometimes puts you in trouble with poor internet speed. That can indeed contribute to the high latency issue. Sometimes the servers of Minecraft get all haywire, and you have to stay prepared for such situations. Next comes the firewall settings of your system, which can cause such inconveniences without prior notice. You can deal with this by checking the firewall configuration and modifying it accordingly. Last but the most frequently reported reason is location issues. Your location and its distance from the server can compromise your gameplay significantly due to high latency.
Now, you can keep it on your tab to check the ping of your server by two methods. You can head directly to the Minecraft client and check the ‘ms’ number, which is nothing but your ping. Another way is to open the command prompt of your system. Then you enter “ping <ServerIP>” without the arrows. After a certain waiting period, you will see the ping on display.
Minecraft Server Lags and Their Fixes:
As we already discussed the lags and their probable reasons, it is time to understand how to fix Server Lag in Minecraft once and for all.
Ways To Fix Server lag In Minecraft
Here are the quick bullet points for your perusal.
- Stay close to servers.
- Automatic restart scheduling.
- Update to the latest version.
- Get your hands on Spigot.
- Get rid of the unnecessary mods and plugins.
- Clearlag plugin can help a lot.
Stay Close To Servers to Fix Lag in Minecraft
First, you note down what View Distance is. It is the determiner of the amount of world data reaching clients from the server end. Chunk is the unit of measurement of the data, and you measure it in radius. That is how you calculate the server-side viewing distance.
By default, the Minecraft server works at 10-chunks of view distance. The degradation in server performance starts with higher values. Our suggestion is to reduce the view distance within the range of 6-8 to ensure consistent server performance.
Let’s understand it more with the help of the corresponding values so that you get a fair idea about the issues.
The ‘Normal’ view distance means the value is 8 with 289 chunks.
The ‘Far’ view distance indicates the value is 16-chunks or sending a total of 1089 chunks, and a ‘good’ view distance will be when the value is less than 8.
Now that we know what view distance stands for, we can jump into the fixes.
If we configure the view distance, we determine the number of chunks surrounding the player. We can configure it in the root directory of the players’ Minecraft server. The root directory is inside the main folder of the server. There you will find one “server. properties” file.
It is up to players to modify the client’s render distance. But View Distance is a totally different option, capable of limiting the data quantity the server is sending to players.
Here are the steps to modify your server’s view distance.
You can go to the ‘Files’ section and hit the ‘Config Files’, where you will find the Server Settings option.
Once you select the option, search for the View Distance option, and there you have to enter the value. The minimum value you can input is 3, and the highest they will take is 32. Our suggestion is to opt for a small numerical value in case you are experiencing server lag issues. Remember the default entry there will be 10, so try for a smaller number and check for improvements. After changing the View Distance value, scroll to the bottom and press the save button to save the changes. Next, there will be a prompt to restart the server so that the changes can take effect.
Fix Lag in Minecraft Via Automatic Restart Scheduling
Your server takes up RAM upon prolonged usage. It is vital to give it a break and free up the RAM allocation now and then. Every 12-24 hours, one should restart the server for the same reason. We understand that you may not always remember to do it in time, so we advise you to set up an automatic restart schedule that can do the job for you.
Restarting the server routinely helps significantly to reduce stacked old data that is no longer necessary and improves the server performance.
Still, have questions on how to do that? We are here to help you out with our step-by-step guide in the following section.
The Multicraft Panel will show the option called “Advanced”.
Head to that and find “Scheduled Tasks” next.
From the “Scheduled Tasks” page, you have to choose “New Task”.
As you click the New Task option, you fill up the details like the time of restarts. You can also rename the task as you like.
Note that the server timezone will determine the time you entered there. You can’t expect things to happen according to your local time zone.
As you mentioned the interval and time of the restarts, you head to the Command section, and from the dropdown list there, you select “Restart”. This last step is the most pivotal step to make sure the task is restarting.
Next, you can skip the part that says “Arguments”.
In the “Run for” section, you choose your server from the dropdown list.
The action is almost complete until you press the “Create” button below to save the preference.
Update To The Latest Version Of Minecraft to Fix Lag
Often we get stuck with the outdated version of the game, plugins, or mods. We should update them to the latest versions that include bug fixes and feature improvements. Doing that will make the overall gaming experience smoother and lag-free. Not just games and mods, let us note that the hardware we use also gets updated with time. The manufacturers keep working on new updates of the hardware to fit the new system. Using old drivers and hardware components winds up jamming the gameplay, affecting the system.
We will now see how to update the drivers of our system in both manual and automated methods.
To do it manually, users need to head to the manufacturer’s website first. Next, they enter the serial number of their system. They search for the specific drivers to download them individually.
For automatic driver downloads, users may take the help of third-party software like Driver Easy. Driver Easy is one of the software that detects your system and figures out the necessary updates. This way, even if you are new to this whole process, you can easily update the requisite drivers for your system without any sweat.
The next part is about updating your game for various platforms.
You should know that the game updates by itself while connected to the internet. Still, if circumstances change and you are to update it manually, here is the guide for you.
Android or iOS users should open their Play Store or App Store, where they will see the update button if there is any available update.
PC users can head to the Minecraft launcher and click the latest release to find new updates for the particular platform.
PS4 users will find it like a piece of cake as they merely need to click the Options button and check for updates there.
Xbox One users will check the My Apps & Games section where Minecraft will show up. Next, choose “more options”. A list will pop up, and from there, they can find “Manage game & add-ons” and, after that, “Updates”.
Get Your Hands On Spigot to Solve Server Lag In Minecraft
As we already talked about the Minecraft servers, you have a clear view of their enormity. There are thousands of them out there, and you can build your own, too, without much hassle. We said that, keeping in mind the existence of Spigot. So what is Spigot, and how does it work is some clear and valid question.
Spigot is an AOSP java project, that empowers users to run their servers and facilitates the addition of plugins to bring in some new features. Spigot is a reliable, stable server out there, as big as holding more than 100,000 servers.
To know more about how to configure Spigot, you can refer to the Spigot Wiki page, and once you finish setting it up, you can explore the opportunities of using Spigot.
A rich API that helps support writing plugins and add-ons, and for starters, one can get one’s hands on the Resource Manager of Spigot, where one will find all user-submitted plugins.
Get Rid of the Unnecessary Mods and Plugins
There are two ways you can disable or remove the said tools in an effective manner. Useful mods and plugins that you use regularly are okay, but what about those you no longer use or totally forgot?
All those forsaken and forgotten add-ons and plugins eat up your resources and affect the gameplay with a significant lag.
Even the mods and plugins you are not planning on using right now or are keeping for future use need disabling to free your resources.
First, we will see how to disable the tools we are planning to use in the future.
It all remains in renaming as you add “.disable.” to the end of the name of the plugin ‘.jar’ file. The plugin will be disabled, and once you remove the same, it will show up again.
Now, let’s learn how to remove the plugins you no longer need or use once and for all. You reach for those particular server plugins, look for “manage the plugins”, select the plugins you want to remove and click the remove option to confirm the remove operation.
ClearLagg Plugin Can Help a Lot:
ClearLagg plugin helps in removing entities that have been causing issues on your servers. Items like the dropped entities that are plenty enough do affect the smooth gameplay you expect.
Coming to the requirements, you would need a Paper or Spigot jar to utilize ClearLagg on your server.
The installation process is indeed easy as you try more than one method.
If you install through the panel, you hover to the game panel and look for the plugins list to find ClearLagg to download.
Don’t forget to check the version you are downloading to confirm it is the latest. You then restart the server for the installation to complete.
There are various commands which you will find online suitable for a plethora of operations. But the best among them would be reducing the lag in the server.
Use Best VPN To Reduce Server Lag Issue Of Minecraft
If you are facing server lag in Minecraft than you can use VPN services of avoid it. Sometimes due to country server users face this kind of issue while playing games. So by using a VPN services you can make your on
Doesn’t matter in which devie you are playing. You can use VPN in Androids, Windows, iOS, & macbook too to play s n a k e Google Game without any lag restriction.
The only thing you need to do is to choose the best VPN services provider that make your online gameplay smooth:-
- ExpressVPN
- NordVPN
- SurfShark
- IPVanish
ConClusion – Fix Server Lag In Minecraft
We didn’t mention the basic fixes like adding RAM or video tweaks because there is nothing new about it that our readers don’t know. We touched upon all the handy solutions that are a bit tricky yet effective in the long run. Apart from all the methods mentioned, users can take the help of a good VPN, and it is entirely their choice. We said that because a good VPN service comes with a hefty cost. However, it is our firm belief that our guide contributed to at least some of the relief you were expecting. Still, if the problem persists, let us know, and we will get back to you with a more specific solution according to your circumstances.