How much RAM does my server need?

A quick guide to picking the right Krill plan for your players, plugins and mods.

KrillCloud has no player limit. Instead, the RAM on your plan decides how many people can play smoothly. More RAM means more players, more plugins and bigger worlds before things start to slow down.

The short answer

These are guides, not hard limits. Your own setup can make a big difference. Yearly billing is 10 times the monthly price (2 months free).

Vanilla, plugins or modpacks?

Vanilla or a light Paper server. This is the cheapest to run. A small group of friends will be happy on Krill 1 or Krill 2.

A server with plugins. Plugins such as land claims, economy or minigames use extra memory. A handful of light plugins is fine. A large set, or heavy ones like world editors and map renderers, needs more headroom. The table above assumes a few plugins.

Modpacks. Mods add blocks, mobs and machines, and all of that uses memory. Most modpacks need at least 4 GB just to start and run well, even with few players. Large packs often want 6 GB or 8 GB. Check what the modpack author recommends and start from there.

What else uses RAM?

• Players who explore a lot, because new chunks must be loaded.
• A high view distance.
• Lots of animals, villagers or item drops.
• Big builds with redstone or farms running all the time.

What happens if I hit my RAM limit?

The server can lag, or crash and restart. Nothing is deleted. You can upgrade at any time and the price difference is pro-rated.

When to upgrade

Think about moving up a plan if:

1. The server lags when more than a few people are online.
2. Players are being kicked or the server restarts without warning.
3. You have added a big modpack or lots of plugins and start-up is slow.
4. You have already tried the tips in Fixing lag and it is still struggling.

Not every lag problem is a RAM problem. Settings such as view distance often matter more, so try those first.

How to check

Open the console in the game panel while people are playing. If the server keeps running slowly or crashes with an "out of memory" message, it needs more RAM.

Changing plan

You can upgrade or downgrade from your account page (the link in your emails, or Billing in the site footer). An upgrade is charged now for the rest of your billing period (month or year); a downgrade is credited on your next invoice. Your plan price stays the same while you stay subscribed.

Not sure which plan fits? Open a ticket in the panel or use the contact form. Tell us what you plan to run and how many players you expect. We'll tell you straight, even if the smaller plan is enough.