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PaperMC

Recommended Spigot hard fork Java 25+ Free / Open source

What is Paper?

PaperMC (usually just "Paper") is the most popular server software for Minecraft Java Edition, used by most servers around the world, including most of the servers on our server list. Paper grew out of Spigot (which in turn is a fork of CraftBukkit), and since version 1.21.4 it has been developed independently as a hard fork. It has hundreds of extra optimization patches, bug fixes and API extensions.

The PaperMC project began in 2016 as "PaperSpigot", a set of optimization patches applied on top of Spigot. Over time it grew into full server software with its own development team, API and tool ecosystem. Today PaperMC is not just a server but a whole organization that is also responsible for Velocity (a proxy server), the multithreaded Folia and other tools.

Paper's main advantage is performance. Compared with the vanilla server.jar, Paper drastically reduces RAM usage, improves TPS (ticks per second) and minimizes lag even with many players online. Many of the optimizations target the chunk generation engine, the entity system, the lighting engine and redstone mechanics, the areas that cause the most performance problems in vanilla.

Paper is fully compatible with Bukkit and Spigot plugins and also offers its own extended API (Paper API) with capabilities not available in Spigot. That means you can use practically any plugin from the SpigotMC platform, Modrinth or Hangar (the plugin platform run by PaperMC). Thousands of plugins, from economy (Vault, EssentialsX) through land protection (WorldGuard) to advanced minigames, run on Paper without problems.

Paper also fixes many exploits and bugs present in vanilla Minecraft that Mojang doesn't fix, or fixes only after a long delay. Item duplication, TNT crashes, piston exploits: Paper eliminates these problems, which makes it much safer than the vanilla server.

Paper 26.x versions

Since 2026 Minecraft numbers its versions by year and drop number, so 1.21.11 was followed by 26.1, 26.2 and 26.3. Paper has released stable builds for 26.1.2, 26.2 and 26.3, and each of these versions requires Java 25. Status as of October 20, 2026, according to PaperMC:

  • Paper 26.3 - stable since October 11, 2026 (build 175), latest build 207 from October 20, 2026. Pick this version for a new server.
  • Paper 26.2 - stable since July 26, 2026 and still supported, latest build 134 from October 14, 2026.
  • Paper 26.1.2 - stable since May 1, 2026, support ended on July 26, 2026.
  • Paper 1.21.11 - the last version on Java 21, support ended on June 15, 2026.

Once you upgrade a world to a newer version, you can't go back, and Paper 26.1 changed the world folder layout. Before you swap the file, read the guide to updating a server to 26.x. If you're looking for an alternative built on Paper, check the comparison of Paper forks.

Why Paper and not Spigot?

Advantages of Paper over Spigot

  • Nearly 1,600 additional patches and over 130,000 lines of code compared with Spigot (PaperMC data from December 2024)
  • Much better TPS with many players and entities
  • Extended Paper API with unique capabilities
  • Faster fixes for exploits and security bugs
  • Asynchronous chunk loading (reduces lag)
  • Better memory management (fewer OOM crashes)
  • A ready-made .jar file, no need to compile (unlike Spigot)
  • An active community and regular updates

Good to know

  • Since 1.21.4 Paper no longer pulls in changes from Spigot. bukkit.yml and spigot.yml still work, but PaperMC warns that going back to Spigot may be impossible
  • Some vanilla mechanics are changed (for example TNT duplication, 0-tick farms)
  • Plugins that rely on vanilla exploits may not work
  • By default, Paper shows warnings about "dangerous" plugins
  • The configuration is more extensive (more .yml files)

Installing Paper step by step

  1. Install Java 25 - Paper 26.x requires it (versions 1.20.5-1.21.11 run on Java 21). Download it from adoptium.net, and you will find the details in the guide Java for Minecraft.
  2. Download Paper - go to papermc.io/downloads/paper, choose the Minecraft version and download the latest build.
  3. Create a folder - make an empty folder and put the downloaded file in it, for example paper-26.3-207.jar.
  4. Start the server - in a terminal, type: java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -jar paper-26.3-207.jar nogui
    The -Xmx4G flag allocates 4 GB of RAM. Adjust it to your needs (2 GB minimum).
  5. Accept the EULA - open eula.txt and change it to eula=true.
  6. Start it again - the server will generate the world, the config files and the plugins/ folder.
  7. Add plugins - put the plugin .jar files in the plugins/ folder and restart the server.

Recommended starter plugins

EssentialsX

Basic commands: /home, /warp, /tpa, /spawn, economy, kits. The foundation of every server.

WorldGuard

Region and land protection. Define zones with different permissions: building, PvP, block use.

LuckPerms

Permissions and ranks system. Create groups (player, VIP, admin) with different permissions. The industry standard.

Vault

Economy and permissions API. Most economy plugins need Vault as an intermediate layer.

CoreProtect

Logging of player actions. See who tore down a house and who stole items, and roll the changes back with one command.

Chunky

Chunk pre-generation. Generate the whole world up front to avoid lag while exploring.

Optimizing Paper

Paper offers dozens of optimization options in its config files. The key files are paper-global.yml, paper-world-defaults.yml and spigot.yml, and since Paper 26.1 the settings of a single world live in paper-world.yml in the dimension folder (world/dimensions/minecraft/...). The most important settings:

  • view-distance - reduce it to 6-8 chunks (the default is 10) for better performance
  • simulation-distance - the distance within which entities are updated (4-6 is optimal)
  • entity-activation-range - reduce mob activation ranges for better TPS
  • max-auto-save-chunks-per-tick - limit chunk autosaving to reduce lag
  • anti-xray - built-in anti-xray (engine-mode 2 for the best protection)

You'll find every option described in the documentation at docs.papermc.io. We also recommend the spark tool for profiling server performance.

Download Paper from papermc.io →