Intermediate7 minUpdated: 2026-09-13

Paper & Purpur Server Optimization: Fixing TPS Drops and Lag

Comprehensive guide to configuring chunk, entity, and mob tick limits to maintain a solid 20 TPS.

Verified against

Minecraft: 1.20.x – 1.21.x
Engine: Paper / Purpur
Java: 17 / 21
Last checked: 2026-09-13

Before you start

A running Paper or Purpur server (it must have booted at least once)
Access to the panel console or in-game operator permission
Write access to the config/ folder in the file manager

On This Page

Diagnosing bottlenecks with the Spark profiler
Critical optimization parameters
server.properties: the quickest win
Proper Java startup arguments (Aikar's Flags)
Common mistakes and fixes
Implementation method comparison

All Guides

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As player counts grow or automated mob farms expand, TPS (Ticks Per Second) can drop below 20, leading to delayed block breaks, rubberbanding, and server lag.

Minecraft Server Worlds and Optimization Architecture — World size, chunk generation, and entity density directly govern TPS stability.

clodo.net / panelLIVE

Minecraft Purpur/Paper Cluster

System Normal

Clodo Minecraft Panel Optimization Overview

Purpur engine, Aikar JVM arguments, and NVMe caching are active by default on the Clodo control panel.

Live TPS & MSPT

Panelde görünür

CPU / RAM usage

Anlık grafik

Engine & version

Panelden değiştirilir

Console & file manager

Tarayıcıdan

Clodo Panel Automations1-CLICK READY

Paper / Purpur / Fabric / ForgePanelden seçilir

Aikar G1GC startup flagsHazır gelir

Modrinth plugin installTek tık

server.properties editingDosya yöneticisi

Setting	Which load it reduces	Trade-off
view-distance	Chunks loaded and sent per player	Players see less far
simulation-distance	Entity, redstone and growth ticking	Distant farms stall
despawn-ranges	Monsters kept in memory	Mob farms slow down
mob-spawn-range / limits	Spawned mobs, hence entity tick cost	Fewer natural spawns
network-compression-threshold	CPU spent compressing tiny packets	Slightly more bandwidth
sync-chunk-writes	Main thread waiting on disk	Higher risk on hard shutdown

Diagnosing bottlenecks with the Spark profiler#

Before tweaking configs randomly, you must diagnose which plugin, entity, or chunk causes lag using Spark.

Minecraft Oyun İçi / Konsol

/spark profiler start --timeout 180
# 3 dakika sonra profil linki otomatik oluşturulur
/spark health --memory

Apply to your service

Install the Spark profiler

Downloads Spark from Modrinth into your plugins (or mods) folder. The version is picked to match your engine and Minecraft version.

A compatible Spark build is downloaded from Modrinth
After a restart, /spark profiler and /spark health become available

The server must be restarted for this change to take effect.

If you have a Clodo service you can apply these steps without touching a terminal. You always see the diff before anything is written.

Critical optimization parameters#

The settings below in your server's root config files govern most of the CPU cost. Change them one at a time and measure with /spark health; changing everything at once tells you nothing about which one helped.

config/paper-world-defaults.yml

entities:
  spawning:
    despawn-ranges:
      monster:
        soft: 28
        hard: 96
    ticks-per-spawn:
      monster: 8
      animal: 400
chunks:
  auto-save-interval: 6000 # 5 dakika
  max-auto-save-chunks-per-tick: 8

Config File & Parameter	Default	Recommended Value	Performance Impact
paper-world-defaults.yml > despawn-ranges.monster.hard	128	96 (or 72)	Despawns distant mobs quickly, slashing entity overhead by 35%.
paper-world-defaults.yml > ticks-per-spawn.monster	1	8	Attempts mob spawning every 8 ticks rather than every tick.
paper-world-defaults.yml > auto-save-interval	6000	12000 (10 min)	Eliminates disk I/O lag spikes caused by overly frequent world flushes.
spigot.yml > entity-tracking-range.players	48	36	Minimizes network packet processing across clients.

server.properties: the quickest win#

Before touching any YAML file, review two values in server.properties. view-distance controls how many chunks the server loads and streams per player; simulation-distance controls how many chunks actually tick. The default 10/10 can double MSPT on its own once you pass roughly 20 players.

server.properties

# Oyuncunun gordugu mesafe (chunk). 10 -> 8 gorsel olarak zor fark edilir.
view-distance=8
# Gercekten tick alan mesafe. Her zaman view-distance'tan kucuk veya esit olmali.
simulation-distance=6
# Bu esigin altindaki paketler sikistirilmaz; kucuk paketlerde CPU tasarrufu.
network-compression-threshold=256
# Chunk yazimi ana thread'i bekletmez. Ani kapanmada son saniyeler kaybolabilir.
sync-chunk-writes=false

Apply to your service

Apply view distance and chunk settings

Writes the server.properties values from this guide to your server. Your other settings are left untouched; only the keys below change.

view-distance = 8 (fewer chunks loaded per player)
simulation-distance = 6 (narrows entity and redstone ticking)
network-compression-threshold = 256 (CPU/bandwidth balance)
sync-chunk-writes = false (moves disk writes off the main thread)

The server must be restarted for this change to take effect.

If you have a Clodo service you can apply these steps without touching a terminal. You always see the diff before anything is written.

Proper Java startup arguments (Aikar's Flags)#

Default Java garbage collection is ill-suited for Minecraft, causing severe 'Stop-The-World' pauses where the entire server freezes. Aikar's Flags tune G1GC parameters to compress pauses down to imperceptible milliseconds.

run.sh / Java Arguments

java -Xms12G -Xmx12G -XX:+UseG1GC \
  -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled \
  -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 \
  -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions \
  -XX:+DisableExplicitGC \
  -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch \
  -XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 \
  -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 \
  -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 \
  -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 \
  -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 \
  -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 \
  -jar purpur.jar --nogui

Common mistakes and fixes#

Implementation method comparison#

Method Comparison

How to Implement This?

Clodo Control Panel Quick Method

1-Click Optimized Engine & Live Metrics

Aikar's Flags are pre-configured out of the box; Purpur engine and Spark can be enabled in 1-click.

Where in Panel? Panel > Service detail > 'Version & Engine' tab, then set the engine to 'Purpur'.

Step-by-step Execution:

1Switch the engine to Purpur on the 'Version & Engine' tab; no need to download and upload a jar by hand.
2Startup flags ship preconfigured; edit the startup command on the same tab if you want to change the Aikar parameters from this guide.
3Edit configuration files in-browser without SFTP downloads.
4Monitor live CPU, RAM and disk usage curves in real-time.

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