What is the Best CPU for a Minecraft Server?

Minecraft is hands down one of the biggest games of our time and is largely responsible for introducing PC gaming to a wider audience. The game has sold over 300 million copies since it was released in 2011. It’s inspired multiple spin-offs and there’s even a live action movie in the works. Now, you might be wondering “Why has Minecraft been so successful?” Really, there’s two main reasons: Accessibility: Minecraft is one of the easiest games to pick up, even if you’ve never played a game before. (Perfect if you want to play with your kids). Multiplayer: It was one of the first games to offer a rich multiplayer experience that wasn’t a shooter. Making it more appealing to general audiences. So whether you’re looking to play with gaming veterans or people who are brand new to gaming, Minecraft is a great choice. But if you want to get the most out of the game’s incredible multiplayer experience, you’ll want to use a dedicated server. And if you want that server to run well, it’s going to need a good CPU, but what does that actually mean?

Minecraft Server Hardware Requirements

A smaller part of Minecraft’s success was its minimal hardware requirements, especially in the early days. Over the years that’s become less true as the game has gotten more updates (and more content!), but you’d probably still be surprised at what you can use to host a server. Believe it or not quite a few people run Minecraft servers on a Raspberry Pi, and if you really wanted to, you could get one running on your smartphone. However—as you might expect—both of those options are convoluted to set up, don’t exactly make for a smooth gaming experience, and make mods/plugins difficult or impossible to use. So we’ll assume you’re using a standard PC. With that, let’s take a closer look at how the CPU impacts Minecraft servers.

CPUs for Minecraft Servers

CPU 101

It’s no secret that CPUs are… complicated, to say the least; especially modern ones. Obviously, you didn’t come here for a college-level dissertation on the inner workings of CPUs, so we’ll focus on the practical aspects. Think of a CPU like the kitchen in a restaurant, it’s responsible for receiving orders (list of recipes) and using ingredients (stored data) to make recipes (execute actions). Each CPU core is like an individual chef who can handle one recipe at a time, and threads represent how many parts of the recipe a chef can handle at once e.g., watching a pot on the stove and chopping veggies. Lastly, the clock speed (Usually measured in GHz) is how fast each chef can finish recipes. But how does this apply to Minecraft servers?

The Effect of CPUs on Minecraft Server Performance

When Minecraft was created, PC gaming was still relatively new, and as a result, it doesn’t make great use of modern computer capabilities (though that has slowly been changing). To use our kitchen analogy: The orders/recipes a Minecraft server requests the kitchen to make, don’t utilize multiple chefs effectively, or a chef’s ability to multitask. So if you want the smoothest experience, you’ll want one master chef who can handle each step very quickly. Or in computer terms: Minecraft servers don’t utilize multiple cores/threads particularly well, so you’re looking for single-thread performance and high clock speed. Well kinda, it’s been getting better over the years, and if you’re using something like Paper you can get even better multi-thread performance. That’s great and all, but what CPU should you get? Or how do you know if the CPU you already have is powerful enough?

Picking the Right CPU for your Minecraft Server

In the past, Intel was the clear winner when it came to Minecraft server hosting. Since their processors were the epitome of “one super fast chef”. But not only has Minecraft steadily been making improvements to multithreading capabilities, AMD has also stepped up their game when it comes to per-core (or chef) performance. So it’s become a tossup between the two companies if you’re looking for something new. However, if you’re looking for aftermarket/used parts Intel is going to give you a bit more bang for your buck. It doesn’t matter too much though, as long as you snag something with a decent clock speed (3.0GHz+) and at least 4 cores, you’ll be able to host a server for 6-10 people fairly easily. And if you were thinking about using that old laptop or family PC as a server, here’s a guide to check what CPU is installed so you can get an idea of what you’re working with. The Minecraft wiki also has a super helpful section listing out the system requirements for a server based on player count. Before you run off to grab that CPU or dust off that old machine, we’ve got a few more tips for you.

Tips and Tricks for Minecraft Server Hosting

While we’ve been focused on the CPU, RAM is also super important for a Minecraft server. RAM is like counter space in the kitchen, it doesn’t matter how many chefs you have or how fast they are if there isn’t enough space for them to work. And on that note, the operating system (OS) you choose also matters for performance, similar to how the layout of a restaurant can affect how quickly food gets served. Windows is convenient but eats up a lot of resources on its own, Linux offers better performance but is harder to use. Best case would be to use a server-specific OS but those are really unwieldy, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Luckily, you don’t have to.

Using a Server Host

If you have the time, energy, and tech know-how, hosting a Minecraft server yourself is a super fun project. But it takes quite a bit of work and can be very frustrating. On top of that, it’s unlikely to have a top-of-the-line CPU laying around; or the cash to buy one. That’s where server hosts like AleForge come in. We get the guesswork and troubleshooting out of the way so you can focus on playing with your friends. Plus, it benefits us to make sure things are optimized for you, like our in-house Java executable that lets you get the performance of modern Java versions regardless of what version your server is. Go ahead and take a stab at hosting a server yourself if you get the chance. It’s genuinely a fun project. But if you get frustrated or don’t have the time, our Minecraft server plans are available whenever you need them.