Minecraft Server Software Comparison

Which Minecraft server software should you use?

Minecraft server software decides what your server can load and how well it runs. This comparison covers the nine options most admins choose between: Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Spigot, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, Velocity and BungeeCord. The table above shows what each one runs, what players need on their side, how it performs and what it is best at. Filter it by plugins, mods or proxies, or load one of the "vs" presets to put two options side by side.

The short answer for most people:

• You want plugins (permissions, economy, land claims, minigames): use Paper.
• You want mods (new blocks, machines, dimensions): use NeoForge for modpacks on 1.21, Forge for packs on 1.20.1 and older, or Fabric for lighter packs and performance mods.
• You want the game exactly as Mojang made it with a few friends: Vanilla is fine.
• You want several servers behind one address: put Velocity in front of them.

The rest of this page explains the choices behind those answers, and the three comparisons people search for most: Paper vs Spigot, Fabric vs Forge, and Velocity vs BungeeCord.

Game servers and proxies

The first split is between software that runs a world and software that does not.

A game server (Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Spigot, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge) loads the world, ticks mobs and redstone, and saves chunks to disk. Players connect to it and play.

A proxy (Velocity, BungeeCord) has no world. It accepts player connections and passes them on to one or more game servers behind it, so a network can have a lobby, a survival server and a minigame server under one address. Players switch between them with a command or a portal without disconnecting. A proxy always runs next to game servers, never instead of one.

If you run a single server, you do not need a proxy. Set the "Type" filter to "Game servers" and ignore the last two rows.

Plugins or mods

The second split is how the server gets new features.

Plugins run only on the server. They use an API (Bukkit, Spigot or Paper for game servers, and a separate API for each proxy) to react to events: a player joins, a block breaks, a command is typed. They can add commands, permissions, economies, protection and minigames, but they cannot add new blocks or items that the client does not already know about. Because nothing changes on the client, players join with a normal, unmodified game.

Mods change the game itself. They can add new blocks, mobs, dimensions and machines. Content mods have to be installed on both sides, so every player needs the same mod loader and the same mods as the server. That is why modded servers usually publish a modpack that players install through a launcher such as CurseForge, Modrinth or Prism. Some mods only change the server (performance mods like Lithium, for example), and those need nothing from players.

The two do not mix well. Plugin servers cannot load mods and mod loaders cannot load plugins. Hybrid projects such as Mohist and Arclight try to run Forge mods and Bukkit plugins together, but plugins that reach into game internals often break on them and mod authors rarely support them. Pick one side for a new server.

The 10 best Minecraft plugins and 10 best Minecraft mods posts show what each side offers if you are still deciding.

Paper vs Spigot

Paper and Spigot run the same plugins, so this is the most common question for plugin servers.

Spigot is a fork of CraftBukkit, the original plugin server. It added performance settings and its own plugin API on top of Bukkit. You cannot download a Spigot jar from SpigotMC. You build it yourself with BuildTools, which downloads the vanilla server and applies Spigot's patches.

Paper began as a fork of Spigot and since late 2024 has been developed on its own, without taking changes from Spigot. It still runs Bukkit and Spigot plugins, plus plugins written for Paper's own API. You download a ready-made jar from PaperMC.

Where they differ:

For almost every server, Paper is the better choice. It loads chunks off the main thread, fixes known lag sources, and has settings for entity limits, despawn ranges, anti-xray and redstone that Spigot does not have. The Paper config generator writes both Paper files, and the spigot.yml generator and bukkit.yml generator cover the files Paper still reads from Spigot and Bukkit.

Spigot still makes sense in two cases. The first is a plugin that breaks on Paper, which is rare but happens with plugins that depend on exact Spigot internals. The second is a technical server whose farms rely on behavior Paper changes, such as TNT and rail duplication. Paper can turn most of those back on under unsupported-settings in paper-global.yml, so check that before switching.

Purpur sits one step further along. It is a fork of Paper, runs the same plugins, performs about the same, and adds a purpur.yml with hundreds of gameplay settings: rideable mobs, villager and phantom tweaks, and small quality-of-life changes that would otherwise need a plugin. Use Purpur if you want one of those settings. Otherwise Paper is the simpler choice, because it has the larger community and updates first.

The Paper vs Spigot vs Fabric vs Forge guide goes into more detail on each server type.

Fabric vs Forge vs NeoForge

These are the three mod loaders. The choice is usually made for you by the mods you want, because a mod is built for one loader.

Forge is the oldest loader and has the largest library of mods, most of it for older versions. Classic packs on 1.12.2, 1.16.5 and 1.18.2 are Forge packs, and so are big 1.20.1 packs such as All the Mods 9 and RLCraft on 1.12.2.

NeoForge split from Forge in 2023. On 1.20.1 the two are close enough that most Forge mods load on NeoForge. From 1.20.2 onwards they are separate loaders, and most large mods that update to new versions now target NeoForge. For a modpack on 1.21, NeoForge is usually the answer.

Fabric is a lighter loader that stays close to the vanilla code. It updates to new Minecraft versions quickly, starts faster and uses less memory than Forge for a similar number of mods. Most Fabric mods need Fabric API installed alongside them. Fabric is also popular for server-side mods that change nothing for players: Lithium (game logic), FerriteCore (memory) and Krypton (networking) make a Fabric server run faster while players still join with a vanilla client.

If your pack already exists, use the loader it was built for. Fabric and Forge mods do not load on each other's loader, and compatibility layers such as Sinytra Connector only cover some mods.

Modded servers need more memory than plugin servers, and big Forge and NeoForge packs need the most. The RAM calculator estimates the heap from the loader and mod count, and the JVM arguments generator writes the flags, including the user_jvm_args.txt lines Forge and NeoForge read.

Velocity vs BungeeCord

Both proxies link several game servers under one address. They are not compatible with each other's plugins, so the choice matters for which proxy plugins you can use.

BungeeCord is the original proxy, written by md_5, the author of Spigot. It has a large library of plugins built up over many years. Waterfall was a BungeeCord fork by the PaperMC team, and it reached end of life in 2024; its users are told to move to Velocity. BungeeCord itself is still updated.

Velocity is a proxy the PaperMC team wrote from scratch. It handles more players per CPU core, and its modern forwarding sends each player's real address and UUID to the backend servers signed with a shared secret. BungeeCord's IP forwarding has no secret: any client that can reach a backend server directly can claim to be any player. On BungeeCord you have to firewall the backends so only the proxy can reach them, or add a plugin such as BungeeGuard.

For a new network, use Velocity with Paper backends. Stay on BungeeCord if your network already runs on it and depends on plugins that have no Velocity version. Velocity can also use legacy BungeeCord forwarding, which lets you move the proxy first and switch the backends to modern forwarding later.

The Velocity config generator writes velocity.toml with the forwarding mode and server list, and the BungeeCord config generator writes BungeeCord's config.yml. For existing Waterfall networks, the Waterfall config generator covers both of its files.

Modded networks can run behind a proxy too, but Fabric, Forge and NeoForge backends need a mod such as FabricProxy-Lite or Proxy Compatible Forge to accept the forwarded player data.

When Vanilla is the right choice

Vanilla is Mojang's own server.jar. It has no plugins, no mods and only the settings in server.properties. It does support data packs, which can add recipes, advancements, loot tables and custom world generation.

It is a reasonable choice for a small group of friends who want the plain game, and for new versions on release day, before Paper and the mod loaders update. Technical players who build farms that depend on exact vanilla mechanics also often prefer it, although many run Fabric with Lithium instead, which keeps vanilla behavior and runs faster.

For anything beyond that, Paper usually runs the same world with less lag and adds the option of plugins later. Paper reads the same server.properties, so a server.properties file you generate for Vanilla works on Paper unchanged.

How to use the comparison tool

1. Pick a preset for the question you have: "Paper vs Spigot", "Fabric vs Forge vs NeoForge", "Velocity vs BungeeCord", or the "Plugin Servers" and "Modded Servers" groups.
2. Or set the filters yourself. "Type" limits the table to game servers or proxies. "Runs" limits it to software that runs plugins or mods. Vanilla only shows when "Runs" is set to "Plugins, mods or neither".
3. Turn single entries on or off under "Software to Compare" to build your own comparison.
4. Read across the table. "Players need" tells you whether players can join with a normal client, and "Config tools" links the generators for that software's files.
5. Copy or download the comparison as Markdown to share it with your staff or paste it into a planning document.

Common mistakes

Picking by performance alone. Fabric with Lithium and Paper are both fast. The deciding question is whether you need plugins or mods, and then which ones.

Mixing plugins and mods. A plugin jar in a Forge mods folder does nothing, and a mod jar in a Paper plugins folder fails to load. Hybrid servers seem to solve this, then break on updates.

Running Spigot out of habit. Many older guides say Spigot. Unless one of your plugins needs it, Paper runs the same plugins with better performance.

Starting a new network on BungeeCord or Waterfall. Waterfall no longer gets updates, and BungeeCord's forwarding needs a firewall to be safe. Velocity is the better starting point.

Switching software without a backup. Paper and Spigot store the Nether and the End in separate folders (world_nether, world_the_end). They convert a Vanilla world on first start, but going back to Vanilla or a mod loader means moving those folders back by hand. Moving a modded world to Paper removes every modded block. Copy the whole server folder before switching.

Forgetting the players. A Forge or NeoForge server needs every player to install the same pack. For a public server where people join from a server list, that is a real barrier. Plugin servers have none.

Performance on any software

The software sets the ceiling, but most lag comes from what happens in the world: too many entities, big farms, unloaded chunks being generated while players explore. The server lag guide covers the usual causes. On any software, lowering view-distance and simulation-distance is the most effective single change; the view distance calculator suggests values for your RAM and player count. Pre-generating the world with Chunky removes most exploration lag on Paper and Fabric.