How to Fix Minecraft Server Tick Lag From Entities
Tick lag in Minecraft servers, often caused by entities like mobs and items, can ruin gameplay. When your server can’t handle the number of entities, it struggles with game updates, leading to a tick lag from entities, which causes delays and choppy interactions.
This guide breaks down why Minecraft server tick lag from entities and offers practical solutions to measure and reduce it, ensuring smoother gameplay for you and your friends.
Tick rate high latency lag in a Minecraft server happens when too many entities—like mobs, tile entities, or dropped items—overload the server’s processing power, causing server lag, TPS issues, and lag spikes. This is common in Forge servers running many mods, as they increase RAM usage and world size, affecting server TPS. Additionally, view distance, allocated RAM, and garbage collection can determine performance. To reduce lag, limit chunks, optimize the jar file, and use tools like OptiFine mod for client-side lag. A large amount of loaded data or growing crops can also contribute to FPS lag. Ensuring enough RAM and adjusting default settings can make a noticeable difference in performance.
Ticks per second (TPS) is an essential indicator of your server’s performance level. Maintaining a constant TPS around 20 suggests that the server is operating efficiently, but any reduction in this rate can signal issues with tps lag.
On servers like Spigot, Paper, or PurPur, employing commands such as ‘/tps’ can provide valuable data on how the server’s performance fluctuates over time and assist in identifying moments when lag arises.
Each type of server employs distinct methods to track TPS. For example, CraftBukkit utilizes ‘/tps’, whereas servers equipped with the Spark plugin may use ‘/spark tps’. If you are running a vanilla server, we recommend using the Spark plugin to keep track of TPS.
Tick lag related to entities can greatly deteriorate the performance of your server. Such lag emerges when there is a dense grouping of entities, including mobs, items, or blocks within a limited space. This overload can cause not just discernible server lag but also risks corrupting chunks.
To pinpoint tick lag caused by entities, it’s important to keep an eye on how many are present in your world. A high entity count can result in substantial server strain as it attempts to cope with processing them all at once. Keeping these numbers under control is crucial for boosting your server’s overall efficiency and diminishing instances of lag.
An overabundance of entities, especially mobs, can significantly impact the performance of a server. The presence of numerous mobs in a confined space burdens the server with extensive movement and AI processing demands, which often results in tick lag. Areas prone to this problem include mob farms or zones where mobs spawn prolifically, as they tend to accumulate an overwhelming number of active entities.
When experiencing tick lag on a server, activities such as block updates and player movements are not executed instantaneously. This degradation affects gameplay quality and underscores why regulating entity counts within your world is essential for maintaining fluid game dynamics.
In Minecraft, tile entities refer to a specific type of block that possesses advanced capabilities beyond those of normal blocks. This group encompasses items such as chests, furnaces, and hoppers. These extra features make Minecraft the game it is, but these blocks take more computer power to check that status of, which can lead to heightened CPU usage and possible lag spikes.
When there is an abundance of active tile entities within a Minecraft server, it can result in bad game performance. The situation worsens when interactions with these entities become frequent.
Monitoring entity counts ensures smooth server performance. Tools like TickClear and LagMonitor help identify and manage excess entities, enabling proactive steps to limit entities and maintain optimal performance.
When mobs, items, and tile entities accumulate in significant quantities, they can considerably impact tick lag by demanding more processing resources and ruining your Minecraft server performance.
On a Minecraft server, rampant entities, elaborate redstone contraptions, and poorly tuned plugins stand as the most common culprits of lag. Here are a few common things you can look for:
Overcrowding of mobs is a primary contributor to tick lag in Minecraft. Every mob utilizes server resources for movement calculations and entity interactions. Having a lot of mobs in one place results in considerable lag, particularly where mobs spawn frequently or where players have constructed mob farms.
To stop this problem, Minecraft implements limits on the number of mobs that can be present at once. Surpassing these thresholds creates more lag concerns. Mobs that spawn in groups can escalate quickly in numbers leading to abrupt spikes in server demand and subsequent declines in performance efficiency.
Every crop that is growing demands consistent state changes, which may contribute to tick lag if not handled with care. Likewise, when animals are bred, they create more entities that could accumulate and ruin performance unless properly monitored.
Items that remain unclaimed or drops not picked up can add to the lag. As these items pile up, they raise the total number of entities the server has to handle, which over time can erode its performance.
To keep server operation running smoothly, it’s beneficial to routinely clear out any items and drops that are not needed.
These are several methods that can help reduce entity lag using server settings.
Open Your Apollo Panel
Open the File Manager and open the server.properties folder
Find the lines simulation-distance=10 and view-distance=10 and reduce them
Save the changes, and this should help!
Open your Apollo Panel
Type gamerule randomTickSpeed <value> in your console for example:
Set it to 1 or 2 to reduce lag, which will slow crop growth.
This guide will help you install server versions for your Minecraft server. For more information about server types, see this.
For Vanilla/Plugin servers ---> Paper or Pufferfish
For Quality servers ---> Purpur or Pufferfish
For lightweight modded servers ---> Fabric
For heavy modded servers ---> Forge + Performance mods
Managing entities effectively is one of the best ways to reduce lag on a Minecraft server. Entities constantly update; too many active entities can cause TPS drops, leading to server lag. Here are some methods that may help:
Please note this method works for Spigot, Paper, and Papur.
Open your Apollo Panel
In your File Manager, head over to the bukkit.yml
Find the line spawn-limits: and lower the mob spawn limit as you like; this is an example after decreased:
Automating Item Collection is the process of gathering and storing items without manual effort using hoppers, water streams, minecarts, or redstone contraptions. This helps reduce lag, improve efficiency, and make farms fully automatic.
You can use Hoppers to make items that land on or above the hopper automatically enter the chest, so you can transfer items from one block to another, sending them directly into chests, furnaces, or droppers.
To use water streams, place packed ice under the water stream to make items move faster. The water pushes items into a collection point (hopper + chest system).
You use the following commands to clean up entities nearby:
Remove all floating items: /kill @e[type=item]
Remove specific mobs (e.g., zombies within 100 blocks): `/kill @e[type=zombie, distance=..100]*`**
*Remove projectiles (arrows, tridents, snowballs): **/kill @e[type=arrow] `/kill @e[type=trident]` /kill @e[type=snowball]
Lag is one of the most frustrating issues for Minecraft server owners. Whether you're running a modded or plugin-based server, optimizing performance is crucial for providing a smooth gameplay experience. This guide explores the best mods and plugins to reduce lag on your Minecraft server.
Please refer to this guide to setup your server to use plugins or mods. To add plugins to your Minecraft server, this guide can help you out!
Please note this is a client-side mod, so it cannot be added to your Minecraft server.
Install the Optfine Mod
Download the version that matches your Minecraft version and use it in your Minecraft Launcher
This will improve your Minecraft's performance, boost your FPS, and make chunks load faster!
ClearLag is a lightweight and effective Bukkit/Spigot plugin that helps Minecraft server owners automatically remove unnecessary entities, limit mob spawns, and optimize server processes to ensure consistent TPS (ticks per second).
Install ClearPlugin, or if you are using Bukkit
After installing and adding the plugin to your Minecraft server, you can run /lagg help to see the available commands.
Spark (For Performance Monitoring & Debugging)
FarmLimiter (Limits the number of mobs and animals per chunk)
Chunky (For Preloading & Optimizing Chunks)
LimitPillagers (Controls the number of pillagers spawning around outposts)
Choosing the right hardware for your Minecraft server is crucial for ensuring smooth gameplay, minimal lag, and high TPS (Ticks Per Second). Whether you're running a vanilla, plugin-heavy, or modded server, having the right CPU, RAM, storage, and network setup can make all the difference.
The more RAM, the better performance, especially for modded servers or large player counts.
For versions above 1.12: You will need a 4GB base and +1GB for every 10 players or each 10 plugins
For Modpacks: 8GB minimum and add 1GB for each additional 5 players
Minecraft focuses more on CPU than anything, relying heavily on single-threaded performance rather than multi-core processing. Choosing a high-clock-speed CPU ensures a stable TPS and reduces lag.
Storage speed directly affects world generation, chunk loading, and autosaves.
You can log a ticket through here, and we'll answer, helpful and clear!
This guide breaks down why Minecraft server tick lag from entities and offers practical solutions to measure and reduce it, ensuring smoother gameplay for you and your friends.
Why Does Tick Rate Lag Happen?
Tick rate high latency lag in a Minecraft server happens when too many entities—like mobs, tile entities, or dropped items—overload the server’s processing power, causing server lag, TPS issues, and lag spikes. This is common in Forge servers running many mods, as they increase RAM usage and world size, affecting server TPS. Additionally, view distance, allocated RAM, and garbage collection can determine performance. To reduce lag, limit chunks, optimize the jar file, and use tools like OptiFine mod for client-side lag. A large amount of loaded data or growing crops can also contribute to FPS lag. Ensuring enough RAM and adjusting default settings can make a noticeable difference in performance.
Measuring Ticks Per Second (TPS)
Ticks per second (TPS) is an essential indicator of your server’s performance level. Maintaining a constant TPS around 20 suggests that the server is operating efficiently, but any reduction in this rate can signal issues with tps lag.
On servers like Spigot, Paper, or PurPur, employing commands such as ‘/tps’ can provide valuable data on how the server’s performance fluctuates over time and assist in identifying moments when lag arises.
Each type of server employs distinct methods to track TPS. For example, CraftBukkit utilizes ‘/tps’, whereas servers equipped with the Spark plugin may use ‘/spark tps’. If you are running a vanilla server, we recommend using the Spark plugin to keep track of TPS.
Causes of Tick Lag
Tick lag related to entities can greatly deteriorate the performance of your server. Such lag emerges when there is a dense grouping of entities, including mobs, items, or blocks within a limited space. This overload can cause not just discernible server lag but also risks corrupting chunks.
To pinpoint tick lag caused by entities, it’s important to keep an eye on how many are present in your world. A high entity count can result in substantial server strain as it attempts to cope with processing them all at once. Keeping these numbers under control is crucial for boosting your server’s overall efficiency and diminishing instances of lag.
Excess Entities
An overabundance of entities, especially mobs, can significantly impact the performance of a server. The presence of numerous mobs in a confined space burdens the server with extensive movement and AI processing demands, which often results in tick lag. Areas prone to this problem include mob farms or zones where mobs spawn prolifically, as they tend to accumulate an overwhelming number of active entities.
When experiencing tick lag on a server, activities such as block updates and player movements are not executed instantaneously. This degradation affects gameplay quality and underscores why regulating entity counts within your world is essential for maintaining fluid game dynamics.
Tile Entities
In Minecraft, tile entities refer to a specific type of block that possesses advanced capabilities beyond those of normal blocks. This group encompasses items such as chests, furnaces, and hoppers. These extra features make Minecraft the game it is, but these blocks take more computer power to check that status of, which can lead to heightened CPU usage and possible lag spikes.
When there is an abundance of active tile entities within a Minecraft server, it can result in bad game performance. The situation worsens when interactions with these entities become frequent.
Monitoring Entity Count
Monitoring entity counts ensures smooth server performance. Tools like TickClear and LagMonitor help identify and manage excess entities, enabling proactive steps to limit entities and maintain optimal performance.
Common Causes of Entity-Related Lag
When mobs, items, and tile entities accumulate in significant quantities, they can considerably impact tick lag by demanding more processing resources and ruining your Minecraft server performance.
On a Minecraft server, rampant entities, elaborate redstone contraptions, and poorly tuned plugins stand as the most common culprits of lag. Here are a few common things you can look for:
Mob Overpopulation
Overcrowding of mobs is a primary contributor to tick lag in Minecraft. Every mob utilizes server resources for movement calculations and entity interactions. Having a lot of mobs in one place results in considerable lag, particularly where mobs spawn frequently or where players have constructed mob farms.
To stop this problem, Minecraft implements limits on the number of mobs that can be present at once. Surpassing these thresholds creates more lag concerns. Mobs that spawn in groups can escalate quickly in numbers leading to abrupt spikes in server demand and subsequent declines in performance efficiency.
Too Many Growing Crops or Breeding Animals
Every crop that is growing demands consistent state changes, which may contribute to tick lag if not handled with care. Likewise, when animals are bred, they create more entities that could accumulate and ruin performance unless properly monitored.
Unnecessary Items and Drops
Items that remain unclaimed or drops not picked up can add to the lag. As these items pile up, they raise the total number of entities the server has to handle, which over time can erode its performance.
To keep server operation running smoothly, it’s beneficial to routinely clear out any items and drops that are not needed.
Optimizing Server Settings to Reduce Entity Lag
These are several methods that can help reduce entity lag using server settings.
Adjusting View Distance
Open Your Apollo Panel
Open the File Manager and open the server.properties folder
Find the lines simulation-distance=10 and view-distance=10 and reduce them
Save the changes, and this should help!
Configuring Tick Settings
Open your Apollo Panel
Type gamerule randomTickSpeed <value> in your console for example:
Set it to 1 or 2 to reduce lag, which will slow crop growth.
Using Efficient Server Types
This guide will help you install server versions for your Minecraft server. For more information about server types, see this.
For Vanilla/Plugin servers ---> Paper or Pufferfish
For Quality servers ---> Purpur or Pufferfish
For lightweight modded servers ---> Fabric
For heavy modded servers ---> Forge + Performance mods
Managing Entities Effectively
Managing entities effectively is one of the best ways to reduce lag on a Minecraft server. Entities constantly update; too many active entities can cause TPS drops, leading to server lag. Here are some methods that may help:
Limiting Mob Spawns
Please note this method works for Spigot, Paper, and Papur.
Open your Apollo Panel
In your File Manager, head over to the bukkit.yml
Find the line spawn-limits: and lower the mob spawn limit as you like; this is an example after decreased:
Automating Item Collection
Automating Item Collection is the process of gathering and storing items without manual effort using hoppers, water streams, minecarts, or redstone contraptions. This helps reduce lag, improve efficiency, and make farms fully automatic.
Hoppers
You can use Hoppers to make items that land on or above the hopper automatically enter the chest, so you can transfer items from one block to another, sending them directly into chests, furnaces, or droppers.
Water Streams
To use water streams, place packed ice under the water stream to make items move faster. The water pushes items into a collection point (hopper + chest system).
Regular Entity Cleanup
You use the following commands to clean up entities nearby:
Remove all floating items: /kill @e[type=item]
Remove specific mobs (e.g., zombies within 100 blocks): `/kill @e[type=zombie, distance=..100]*`**
*Remove projectiles (arrows, tridents, snowballs): **/kill @e[type=arrow] `/kill @e[type=trident]` /kill @e[type=snowball]
Utilizing Mods and Plugins to Reduce Lag
Lag is one of the most frustrating issues for Minecraft server owners. Whether you're running a modded or plugin-based server, optimizing performance is crucial for providing a smooth gameplay experience. This guide explores the best mods and plugins to reduce lag on your Minecraft server.
Please refer to this guide to setup your server to use plugins or mods. To add plugins to your Minecraft server, this guide can help you out!
Optifine Mod
Please note this is a client-side mod, so it cannot be added to your Minecraft server.
Install the Optfine Mod
Download the version that matches your Minecraft version and use it in your Minecraft Launcher
This will improve your Minecraft's performance, boost your FPS, and make chunks load faster!
ClearLag Plugin
ClearLag is a lightweight and effective Bukkit/Spigot plugin that helps Minecraft server owners automatically remove unnecessary entities, limit mob spawns, and optimize server processes to ensure consistent TPS (ticks per second).
Install ClearPlugin, or if you are using Bukkit
After installing and adding the plugin to your Minecraft server, you can run /lagg help to see the available commands.
Other Helpful Plugins
Spark (For Performance Monitoring & Debugging)
FarmLimiter (Limits the number of mobs and animals per chunk)
Chunky (For Preloading & Optimizing Chunks)
LimitPillagers (Controls the number of pillagers spawning around outposts)
Hardware Considerations
Choosing the right hardware for your Minecraft server is crucial for ensuring smooth gameplay, minimal lag, and high TPS (Ticks Per Second). Whether you're running a vanilla, plugin-heavy, or modded server, having the right CPU, RAM, storage, and network setup can make all the difference.
Having Enough RAM
The more RAM, the better performance, especially for modded servers or large player counts.
For versions above 1.12: You will need a 4GB base and +1GB for every 10 players or each 10 plugins
For Modpacks: 8GB minimum and add 1GB for each additional 5 players
CPU Performance
Minecraft focuses more on CPU than anything, relying heavily on single-threaded performance rather than multi-core processing. Choosing a high-clock-speed CPU ensures a stable TPS and reduces lag.
Disk Speed and Storage
Storage speed directly affects world generation, chunk loading, and autosaves.
Still have some questions about fixing Minecraft server lag from entities?
You can log a ticket through here, and we'll answer, helpful and clear!
Updated on: 25/03/2025
Thank you!