ARCADYO_BETA

Minecraft server RAM calculator

Tell us who plays and what you run. You get a RAM figure and a monthly cost range straight away, with the formula underneath so you can check it.

Recommended RAM

4 GB

Reasonable range: 3 – 6 GB · Rounded up to whole GB.

6 players on vanilla at view distance 10 need about 2.9 GB for the game itself, plus 1 GB of headroom for the rest of the Java process.

Arcadyo pricing model (beta, provisional), at this RAM

€2.90 per month

What that RAM costs per month

Fixed-size hosts bill the same every month; pay-as-you-play hosts bill the hours the server is on. The hours slider only changes the pay-as-you-play rows.

Host and pricing modelPer month at this sizePrice source
MineStrator MyBox, 4 GB plan (fixed monthly)€6.99EUR, one-month price, VAT status not stated on the page
exaroton (pay as you play)€1.73 · no monthly cap listedEUR via 100 credits = €1.00, VAT status not stated
VoxelRun (pay as you play)€0.87EUR, includes VAT where applicable
Arcadyo pricing model (beta)€2.90 · base only: usage is below itEUR, no VAT added (art. 293 B CGI), provisional model

Prices read on 2026-10-04. Hosts change prices and discount long commitments (MineStrator advertises up to 50 % off). Check the host before you buy.

How we calculate this

The sizing is a rule of thumb, not a measurement. Every constant is labelled. Real use depends on your plugins, mods and how players explore, so treat the result as a starting point and watch your own server.

  • heap = (base(mode) + players × perPlayer(mode) × (view distance ÷ 10)² + (0.5 if the world is not pre-generated)) × versionFactor
  • recommended RAM = round up (heap + 1 GB), never below 2 GB
  • range = recommended × 0.75 up to recommended × 1.5, rounded up to whole GB

Constants

  • base(mode): vanilla 1.5, plugins 2, light mods 3, large modpack 5 (GB) ASSUMPTION
    Chosen to sit near published floors (see the 2 GB floor and the Paper 6 to 10 GB guidance below); not benchmarked.
  • perPlayer(mode): 0.1, 0.1, 0.15, 0.25 (GB per player) ASSUMPTION
    Rule of thumb. Neither Mojang nor Paper publishes a per-player figure.
  • view distance factor: (distance ÷ 10)² ASSUMPTION
    The number of chunks around a player grows with the square of the distance; 10 is the default view-distance. Applying it to RAM is our simplification.
  • versionFactor: 1.8 to 1.12 = 0.8, 1.13 to 1.19 = 1.0, 1.20+ = 1.1 ASSUMPTION
    Newer versions are commonly reported as heavier; the exact factors are ours.
  • not pre-generated: +0.5 GB ASSUMPTION
    Generating new terrain costs memory and CPU while players explore.
  • headroom: +1 GB VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE
    Paper docs, Aikar flags page, read 2026-10-04: reduce Xmx and Xms "by about 1000-1500MB" from the memory available. We use 1000 MB.
  • floor: 2 GB VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE
    minecraft.wiki server tutorial, read 2026-10-04: "at least 2 GB of RAM" for small servers, 4 GB "for larger servers".
  • Paper host guidance: "at least 6-10GB, no matter how few players" VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE
    Same Aikar flags page, 2026-10-04. Paper gives this alongside its recommended garbage-collection flags, which it says work better with a larger heap. Our figure for a small vanilla group is lower. Both are shown so you can judge.

How the monthly cost is calculated

Hours per month = hours per week × 4.33. Pay-as-you-play cost = hours per month × GB × the host rate per GB-hour.

Arcadyo model (provisional beta pricing, ASSUMPTION until launch prices are set): €0.01 per GB-hour, a €2.90 monthly base that is waived when usage is higher, and a €19.90 monthly maximum. The bill is the larger of the base and usage, never above the maximum.

exaroton: 1 credit per GB per hour, 100 credits = €1.00 (VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE: exaroton.com homepage, accessed 2026-10-04, including 100 credits = €1.00 and the storage fee of up to 10 credits, about €0.10, per 30 days; the page shows no VAT status). A €0.10 storage fee is offset by the credits you use.

VoxelRun: €0.005 per GB-hour, with compute capped at €2.50 per GB per month (VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE: voxelrun.com/en/pricing, price data and terms, 2026-10-04).

MineStrator MyBox: the smallest plan with at least your RAM, at its listed one-month price (VERIFIED FROM PRIMARY SOURCE: minestrator.com/en/hosting/minecraft, 2026-10-04). Other fixed-size hosts block automated reads or hide their prices; they are left out rather than guessed.

This tool does not measure your server. It does not model CPU, disk, backups or plugin-specific memory.

Questions

How much RAM does a Minecraft server need?

For a small vanilla server with a handful of friends, 3 to 4 GB is a common starting point; a plugin server on Paper often wants 4 to 6 GB; a large modpack usually wants 6 GB or more. The calculator above gives a figure for your exact setup. These are our rules of thumb (assumptions), not measurements.

Does more RAM make Minecraft run faster?

Not by itself. Too little memory causes lag spikes and crashes, but once the server has enough, extra memory only adds cost. The Paper docs also advise leaving some memory outside the heap for the rest of the Java process.

Does view distance change how much RAM I need?

Yes. Each player keeps the chunks around them loaded, and the number of chunks grows with the square of the view distance. Lowering view-distance from 10 to 8 cuts the loaded area by about a third.

Does pre-generating the world help?

It moves the cost of creating new terrain to before your friends join, so exploring does not cause lag spikes. We add 0.5 GB for a world that is not pre-generated; that figure is an assumption.

How much does a Minecraft server cost per month?

The table above compares a fixed-size host with pay-as-you-play hosts at your RAM. A server that is on a few hours a week costs a few euros with pay-as-you-play pricing; a fixed-size plan costs the same all month. The slider shows where the two cross for your hours.

Is Arcadyo available for Minecraft?

Not yet. We are starting to test Minecraft; it is not available and there is no date yet. You can join the beta waitlist from the homepage; there is no signup needed to use this calculator.

Sources