Resolving Minecraft Lag

Minecraft is such an amazing game for all that it can do. But it's an unfortunate fact that despite best efforts, nearly everyone will encounter lag while playing, either on their single player game or on a server. Sometimes this lag quickly goes away on its own, and sometimes it lasts for a long time. This article will talk about diagnosing different kinds of lag so that you can learn how to resolve it and get back to the fun.

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To Our Customers

If you have purchased a server through us, please feel free to contact us and we can help out with any lag you may be having on the server.

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What's causing the lag?

Determining the cause of your game's lag is vital to fixing it, so let's break the different types of lag down into a few simple categories. Make sure to read through each section to make sure you know what kind of lag you are experiencing.

Server-Side Lag

The Minecraft game server is the part of the game that processes everything that happens while playing. If you are in single-player, there is still an internal server that runs on your computer that your client is connected to locally. There are a lot of different things that can cause server side lag. It's usually relatively easy to determine if the lag you are experiencing is server-side, but it can be difficult to determine the exact cause.

Jump to a specific section:

Section
View / Simulation DistanceView Distance and Simulation Distance are Too Large
Exploration Causing LagLagging while exploring the world.
Too Many EntitiesToo many entities in the world (mob farm, dungeons, etc).
Too Many Chunks LoadedToo many loaded chunks.
Memory IssuesYour server is running low on available memory.
Restart Your ServerLack of server restarts can cause severe lag.

Learn more about Diagnosing Server-Side Lag.

Client-Side Lag

Client-side in this case refers specifically to the game client that is rendering the game on your computer whether you are playing in single-player or connected to a server. When playing single-player, an internal server is running on your computer that your client is directly connected to. That makes understanding client side lag a little bit easier because it's typically associated with a drop in your displayed frames per second (FPS).

Jump to a specific section:

Section
Not Enough Memory on the ClientYour game client is running low on available memory.
Reduce View DistanceReduce your server's view-distance.
Reduce Render Distance and Simulation DistanceReduce your game client video settings for render distance and simulation distance.
Client-Side Frame RateChange your video settings to improve FPS.

Learn more about Diagnosing Client-Side Lag.

Networking Lag

Playing Minecraft while connected to a server over the internet usually works without any issues. However, the internet is a really complicated system and you can encounter issues. Networking lag can be associated with issues such as: losing connection to your server, having a very high latency (ping), or rubber-banding in game. Sometimes these things can also be caused by server-side lag or a software bug in the game, so it's important to follow some steps to test your connection or to use tools to determine if the server is lagging.

Jump to a specific section:

Section
Connection Troubleshooting GuideFollow these instructions to fix most issues with connection or your game in general.
Test Network ConnectionUse ping, traceroute and MTR to test the connection to your server.
High Ping to ServerLearn about testing your network connection quality.
Request a ProxyProxies can help with intermittent connection issues.

Learn more about Diagnosing Network Lag.