Processor performance and RAM play a major role in the performance of a gaming server. You also have to make sure that you have enough computing power when compiling the hardware setup of your Minecraft server. How much CPU and RAM you need can’t be defined in a general way, because there are a lot of factors to consider:
For example, the number of players on your server and how they interact with the game world is crucial. While a player object only requires about 50 to 100 MB of RAM, the server often has to allocate much more memory per player if:
- different chunks are visited
- movement through chunks takes place at a very fast pace (e.g. on a boat, via train or by gliding with Elytren)
- the game world is large
The latter also automatically increases the requirements for the CPU power needed, which also depends on factors such as the number of redstone elements for Minecraft electronics.
To get an approximate idea of the computing requirements of your own Minecraft server, it is worth taking a look at Majong’s recommendations, which are based on the default settings in server.conf (so, for example, a maximum object visibility of 10):
Windows Server (from 2008)