Reducing Lag for Minecraft: Optimizing Paper.yml file

Paper adds many advanced configuration options that go beyond Spigot, allowing for even better performance and stability. Tweaking paper.yml correctly can help greatly reducing lag for Minecraft, especially on busy or farm-heavy servers.

---

max-auto-save-chunks-per-tick #

What it does:
Limits how many chunks are saved per tick during world saves. Lower values spread the workload over time, reducing lag spikes.

Default: 24
Recommended: 8

Notes:
Do not go below 8, as saving too slowly can increase the risk of data loss during crashes.

---

optimize-explosions #

What it does:
Uses Paper’s optimized explosion calculations to reduce CPU usage from TNT and creeper explosions.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
While newer versions handle explosions better by default, enabling this still provides a small performance gain.

---

mob-spawner-tick-rate #

What it does:
Controls how often mob spawners attempt to spawn mobs.

Default: 1
Recommended: 2

Notes:
Only increase this if you’re experiencing lag from spawner farms. Higher values slow down spawner output.

---

container-update-tick-rate #

What it does:
Determines how frequently container GUIs (chests, hoppers, barrels, etc.) update.

Default: 1
Recommended: 3

Notes:
Increasing this reduces server load. Avoid going above 3–4 to prevent noticeable GUI delays.

---

max-entity-collisions #

What it does:
Limits how many entities can collide with each other at the same time.

Default: 8
Recommended: 2

Notes:
Very effective for servers with mob farms or crammed entity setups.

---

grass-spread-tick-rate #

What it does:
Slows down how often grass spreads across blocks.

Default: 1
Recommended: 4

Notes:
This has minimal gameplay impact and slightly reduces world tick load.

---

non-player-arrow-despawn-rate #

What it does:
Sets how long arrows shot by non-player entities stay in the world.

Default: -1 (uses vanilla value)
Recommended: 60 ticks (3 seconds)

Notes:
Helps reduce entity buildup during mob fights.

---

creative-arrow-despawn-rate #

What it does:
Controls how long arrows fired in creative mode persist.

Default: -1
Recommended: 60 ticks

Notes:
Useful on creative or admin-heavy servers to prevent accidental lag.

---

despawn-range (soft) #

What it does:
Distance (in blocks) where entities begin randomly despawning.

Default: 28
Recommended: 28

---

despawn-range (hard) #

What it does:
Distance (in blocks) where entities despawn immediately.

Default: 96
Recommended: 96

Notes:
The default values are already well-balanced. Changing these can affect mob farms and gameplay.

---

hopper.disable-move-event #

What it does:
Stops hoppers from constantly firing inventory move events.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
One of the biggest performance improvements available in Paper, especially for redstone-heavy servers.

---

prevent-moving-into-unloaded-chunks #

What it does:
Prevents players from entering chunks that haven’t fully loaded yet.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
Helps prevent lag spikes and chunk-related issues.

---

use-faster-eigencraft-redstone #

What it does:
Enables a faster redstone algorithm without changing redstone behavior.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
Major performance improvement for servers with complex redstone builds.

---

armor-stands-tick #

What it does:
Controls whether armor stands are ticked by the server.

Default: true
Recommended: false

Notes:
Armor stands rarely need ticking unless used with water mechanics. Disabling this saves performance.

---

per-player-mob-spawns #

What it does:
Switches mob spawning to be per-player instead of server-wide.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
Prevents players from stealing mob caps and helps balance farms across the server.

---

anti-xray #

What it does:
Paper’s built-in anti-xray system that hides ores efficiently.

Default: false
Recommended: true

Notes:
More lightweight and effective than most anti-xray plugins.