Servers are one of the most common ways players can enjoy Minecraft multiplayer, with the biggest servers boasting massive player counts during peak hours of the day.
However, one of the biggest problems with Minecraft servers is that they are extremely subject to delays, especially if they are not set up correctly. This can be a big hurdle for novice server owners and less technical players.
The good news is that there are many easy and effective ways to significantly improve a server's performance. This guide will explain the most effective tried and tested optimization that players can employ on their own servers to make the nasty game-destroying lag a thing of the past.
Why does a Minecraft server lag?
The first thing players should note is that there are different types of lag when playing on a Minecraft server – network lag and TPS.
Network lag can be easily identified in the form of high pings from players. The ping can be checked easily by holding the tab key to check the game's player list. If players see a connection meter with only a few bars, this is likely the source of the lag experienced.
If a player has a full connection meter but still has server lag, it is likely due to the loss of TPS (ticks per second) on the server side.
TPS on Minecraft servers can (for simplicity's sake) refer to how often a server is updated. A server with no lag will be at 20 TPS, which means it refreshes 20 times in 1 second.
Players running spigot or bukkit as a Minecraft server jar can easily check their TPS using the /TPS command in the game. Anything below 17 TPS is not good and is probably the reason why the lag is being felt.
How can players fix lag on a Minecraft server?
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to fix network lag. The problem may be on the server end or on the internet of the connected player. However, if other players don't experience network lag when connecting to the same server (full connection meters), it's probably not a server-side issue.
In terms of fixing the TPS lag, the easiest way is to simply upgrade the hardware. Gamers can upgrade their CPU or allocate more RAM to their server as a quick fix for most TPS issues. However, upgrading hardware costs money and is not always a viable option.
Related: How to add friends in GTA onlineAnother easy way to instantly see better performance is to use an optimized Minecraft server jar. The most popular is called “Paper MC”. It has been perfected over several years by some of Minecraft's best developers as a passion project.
Upgrading to Paper MC is very easy. All players need to do is simply swap out the jar from the old server with the relevant Paper MC version.
Paper MC supports all versions of Minecraft, including builds for all the latest versions once they are released by Mojang.
One last thing players should ensure is that low quality and poorly optimized plugins are not installed on the server. Even just a poorly written plugin can bring even the most optimized server to its knees.
If too many plugins are installed, players can easily identify the lag ones by removing the plugins one by one until the lag stops.
Also Read: 5 Best Minecraft Servers Like Mineplex
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