How to Allocate More RAM to Minecraft

Vanilla Minecraft runs fine on a standard setup. Adding complex mods and high-resolution texture packs pushes your hardware to the limit. When your client lacks sufficient memory, the game stutters, freezes, or crashes entirely to the desktop. In this Nitrado guide, we break down how to assign more memory to your game client so you can keep your framerates stable. Taking control of your memory settings gives the game room to load massive assets smoothly.

How to Increase Minecraft RAM on the Client

Your specific launcher determines how much memory the game can access. We will adjust the application settings to raise that invisible limit.

Allocating RAM in the Default Launcher

To tell the game exactly how much memory it can use, you need to edit the JVM arguments.

1. Launch the official application and select the Installations tab at the top.
   
2. To modify the specific version you want to play, find your profile, click the three dots on the right side, and choose Edit.
   
3. To reveal the advanced settings, scroll down and click More Options.
   
4. Locate the JVM Arguments text box. The default text starts with -Xms2G followed by -Xmx4G, setting a minimum of two gigabytes and a maximum of four.
   
5. To define your own performance boundaries, change these numbers freely depending on your minimum and maximum memory needs.
6. To apply the configuration, click Save in the bottom right corner.
   

Allocating RAM in CurseForge

CurseForge handles memory allocation differently by using a visual slider instead of text arguments.

1. To adjust your global preferences, open the CurseForge application and click the gear icon in the bottom left corner.
   
2. Navigate to Game Specific > Minecraft.
   
3. Scroll down the page until you find the Java Settings section.
4. To increase the memory the game can use, drag the Allocated Memory slider to the right. The numbers are in megabytes. Setting the slider to 4096 MB equals four gigabytes.
   
5. Close the settings menu to save your changes.

Pro Tip: Never allocate more than half of your system’s total memory to the game. If your PC has 16 GB, cap the slider at 8192 MB so your background applications stay stable while you play.

Server RAM Calculator

Client memory only helps your local framerate (FPS). If blocks reappear after you mine them or animals stop moving, your server is struggling with low Ticks Per Second (TPS). That means you need to increase the memory on the host machine.

The RAM your server needs depends mainly on how many players are online at once, how much of the world they explore, how many mods and plugins you run, and how big they are. A vanilla server for a few friends fits in 2 GB, while a large community running heavy modpacks needs 15 GB or more. Use the table below as a starting point, or open our full Minecraft server RAM calculator guide for every available RAM size.

These are recommendations for our Minecraft servers, not limits. Mods, plugins, world size, and view distance all reduce the number of players a RAM size can support, and worlds grow over time as players explore and build. If your player count and your mods point to different rows, or your setup sits between two, choose the higher RAM size for extra headroom. Check your modpack’s recommended RAM first.

RAM is only part of the picture. Server performance depends on both RAM and CPU, so a busy world with lots of farms, redstone, or entities can still lag even when your RAM is sufficient.

Upgrading Your Server’s RAM

A server without enough RAM can lag, load new areas slowly, or crash, and these problems get worse under heavy load. If you see them after your community grew or you added more mods, you can change your RAM size, and the change applies to your existing server. Make a manual backup of your world before you start. For more detailed instructions check out our guide on how to up-/downgrade your server.

1. Login to your Nitrado account, and navigate to the My Services section.
   Note: It is very important to have your server stopped before making any changes.
2. Select the server you want to modify, expand it to reveal more options, and click on Service Settings.
3. Select the option Upgrades & Downgrades.
4. In the new window adjust your RAM according to your needs. Continue the process to checkout.

Once the change is complete, start your server again so it can use the new RAM size.

Forge Your Minecraft Legacy

Taking control of your memory allocation changes how the game feels. A slideshow becomes a fluid experience. But building massive automated farms and fighting the Wither requires server hardware that keeps up with your ambitions. Secure a reliable foundation for your world and build without limits.