Overview
Lag usually comes from one (or more) of these:
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Too many chunks being loaded (view distance)
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Too much simulation happening at once (simulation distance)
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Too many entities (mobs, item drops, villagers, minecarts, farms)
This guide shows the safest, fastest changes you can make to improve performance without ruining gameplay.
Before you change anything
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Make a quick backup (or at least note your current settings).
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Make one change at a time, then test.
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Restart the server after major config changes.
Step 1: Lower view-distance (biggest quick win)
What it does: Controls how many chunks players can see.
Where to change it
Open File Manager > server.properties and find:
view-distance=
Recommended values
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68: Best for performance (most servers)
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810: Balanced (looks nicer, costs more CPU/RAM)
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12+: Usually heavy unless the server is very overpowered
Tip
If your server has lots of players online at once, lowering view-distance helps a lot.
Step 2: Lower simulation-distance (huge for farms and mob activity)
What it does: Controls how far away the server actively simulates blocks, mobs, redstone, crops, etc.
Where to change it
In server.properties, find:
simulation-distance=
Recommended values
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4: Strong performance boost (great for survival servers)
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6: Balanced
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8+: Can get heavy fast
What players may notice
Farms/redstone may stop working if they walk too far away from them which is normal.
Step 3: Reduce entity load (mobs, items, villagers)
Entities are one of the most common causes of Cant keep up! spikes.
Quick fixes that help immediately
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Clear item drops (too many dropped items = lag)
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Limit mob grinders (especially if theyre always running)
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Reduce villager counts (villagers are expensive)
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Avoid huge animal pens (hundreds of animals = constant tick load)
If you run Paper (recommended)
Paper has extra settings that can reduce entity impact without changing your world.
Common improvements include:
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Lowering how far away mobs tick
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Reducing hopper checks
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Limiting how many entities can collide
If you want, tell us your Minecraft version and we can recommend safe Paper settings for your server type.
Step 4: Check for chunk-loading problems
Some common lag sources:
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Players flying fast with elytra (loads tons of chunks)
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Chunk loaders (modded servers) keeping areas active 24/7
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Huge bases with tons of redstone running constantly
What to do
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Encourage players to avoid leaving massive farms running.
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Consider setting a reasonable world border.
Step 5: Restart on a schedule (simple stability win)
Even well-tuned servers can benefit from a regular restart schedule.
Recommended:
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Once daily for small servers
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Every 612 hours for busy servers with lots of plugins
Quick recommended starting settings (most servers)
In server.properties:
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view-distance=6 -
simulation-distance=4
Then test gameplay and adjust upward if you have performance headroom.
Troubleshooting
Server still lags after lowering distances
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You may be hitting a plugin/mod issue, or a heavy farm.
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Check console for repeated errors.
Players complain things dont work far away
Thats expected with lower simulation distance. The fix is to build farms closer to where players spend time, or slightly raise simulation-distance.
Need help tuning it?
Send us:
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Your server type (Vanilla/Paper/Fabric/Forge)
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Your Minecraft version
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How many players are online during lag
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A screenshot/copy of the console when it happens
Well help you dial in settings that keep gameplay smooth.