Minecraft Paper vs Purpur TPS Guide 2026 | SistemDC

When setting up a Minecraft SMP server, your choice of JAR directly determines TPS. Instead of the vanilla JAR, using Paper or Purpur has become standard — but which one suits your server? If you are getting low Minecraft TPS complaints, the problem is not only plugins; the choice of fork, the JVM flags and CPU frequency matter too. In this guide we clarify the difference between Paper and Purpur, how to set up Aikar's flags, and which plan fits which player count on SistemDC's Ryzen 9950X infrastructure.

What Are Paper and Purpur?

Both are Spigot-based, performance-focused Minecraft server forks:

• Paper: The most widely used fork. Async chunk loading, entity optimization, a broad plugin ecosystem (Vault, LuckPerms, EssentialsX). Fast updates and strong community support.
• Purpur: Built on top of Paper; it offers extra config options and aggressive performance tweaks. Mob AI, hopper, redstone and entity activation range settings are more granular.
• In common: 200–400% better TPS than the vanilla JAR; plugin API compatibility at the Spigot/Paper standard.

Paper vs Purpur Comparison Table

Why Does Minecraft TPS Drop?

The target is 20 TPS (ticks per second); when it falls below 19, players feel lag. The main causes:

• Low CPU frequency: Minecraft's main thread depends on a single core — on a 3.0 GHz Xeon TPS can drop to 15; on a 4.5 GHz Ryzen the target is 19.8+.
• Entity density: Mob farms, item entities, minecarts — this is where Purpur's entity activation range settings come in.
• Hoppers and redstone: Hopper clocks that run constantly consume ticks; Paper/Purpur hopper optimization is critical.
• Plugin load: Every plugin adds event listeners; 50+ plugins put serious load on a server with 80 players.
• view-distance: A load of 12+ chunks multiplies CPU and RAM use; 8–10 is ideal for SMP.

Aikar's JVM Flags: A Mandatory Optimization

On Paper and Purpur, using Aikar's JVM flags can raise TPS by 2–5 points. Choose the flag set that matches your amount of RAM — without the flags even a Ryzen server stays inefficient.

Note: -Xms and -Xmx should be set to the same value according to your server's RAM (8G, 12G, 16G). Do not give all of the RAM to the JVM — leave 1–2 GB for the OS.

Paper / Purpur Config Optimization

After choosing the JAR, config settings determine TPS:

• simulation-distance: 6–8 (SMP); view-distance: 8–10
• entity-activation-range: Lower the mob and animal ranges (per-mob settings in Purpur)
• max-auto-save-chunks: 4–8 — reduces save spikes
• hopper.disable-move-event: true — significantly reduces hopper lag
• anti-xray: engine-mode 1 or 2 — choose according to the performance mode
• mob-spawn-range: 4–6 — cuts unnecessary mob spawn load

Choosing a Ryzen Plan by Player Count

Related guides: FiveM and Minecraft Ryzen Selection · Game Server DDoS Protection · Ryzen or Xeon?

Network Servers: Velocity + Paper/Purpur

If you run more than one Minecraft server (lobby, survival, skyblock), use a Velocity proxy. The proxy runs on a separate lightweight VDS (RYZ-S), while the backend Paper/Purpur servers run on RYZ-L or a Dedicated server. This architecture provides TPS isolation — lag on one server does not affect the others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I choose Paper or Purpur?
For an SMP with fewer than 50 players, Paper is enough. On servers with 80+ players, heavy entities or lots of redstone, switch to Purpur.

What should I do if Minecraft TPS drops below 20?
First, run a tick analysis with /spark profiler ; then lower view-distance, reduce the number of plugins and apply Aikar's flags. If CPU frequency is insufficient, move up from Ryzen VDS (9950X infrastructure) to a higher plan.

Why Paper instead of Spigot?
Spigot is no longer actively developed; Paper offers async chunk loading, entity optimization and security patches. Do not use Spigot on new servers.

Does Purpur support Paper plugins?
Yes. Purpur is a fork of Paper; 99% of Paper/Spigot plugins are compatible.

Related SistemDC Guides

• FiveM and Minecraft on Ryzen
• 9950X Dedicated vs VDS
• Turkey Ping