Modded Minecraft server hosting, sized properly

As a rough rule: 4 GB for a light mod list (up to ~50 mods), 6-8 GB for a mid-size pack (100-150 mods), 10-12 GB for a heavy kitchen-sink pack (250+ mods), and 16 GB or more for very large packs with big world generation and many chunk-loading machines. Add roughly 0.5-1 GB per extra concurrent player on top of the pack's baseline.

Only up to the point where the server stops running out of memory. Once the pack fits comfortably in the heap, extra RAM does nothing for TPS. Beyond that, lag is almost always a CPU problem: mod tick logic, entity counts and chunk generation are single-threaded work. If you are at 12 GB and still lagging, buy CPU quality, not more gigabytes.

Single-thread performance decides your TPS. Look for hosts that publish the actual CPU model and pick modern high-clock desktop-class chips (Ryzen 7000/9000, or recent high-frequency Xeon/EPYC). A shared-core plan on an old low-clock server CPU will lag with 6 players on a heavy pack, no matter how much RAM it has.

Far fewer than vanilla. A heavy modpack that handles 40 players in vanilla terms will typically be comfortable with 8-15 players, because each player loads chunks full of mod machinery that ticks constantly. Treat host 'unlimited slots' claims as a licensing statement, not a performance promise.

Plan for 10-25 GB for a mid-size pack after a few months of play. Modded world files grow fast because of large biome mods, dimension mods and chunk-heavy builds. NVMe storage matters more than raw capacity: chunk saves and loading are disk-bound, and slow disks show up as periodic tick spikes.

Fabric with a small performance-focused mod set is usually lightest. NeoForge and Forge are what most large packs target, and their overhead is mostly a function of the mods in the pack rather than the loader itself. If you are choosing purely for performance, the pack's mod list matters far more than the loader.

A game-hosting plan gives you a panel, one-click modpack installs, automatic restarts and backups. A VPS gives you full control and usually more CPU and RAM per euro, but you install Java, configure the server, set up backups and handle security yourself. If you have never used SSH, start with a game host.

Pick the region closest to most of your players. Ping under 50 ms feels instant, 50-100 ms is fine, and above 150 ms block-breaking and combat start to feel rubbery. For a mixed EU/US group, hosting in eastern North America or western Europe is the usual compromise.

Divide the monthly price by the GB of RAM included, then compare on the same billing period. A 8 GB plan at 16 EUR/month is 2 EUR per GB. Always check the renewal price, not the first-term promotional price, and check whether backups, extra ports or a dedicated IP cost extra.

Because Minecraft's main tick loop is single-threaded, overall CPU usage can look low while one core is saturated. Common causes are mob farms, item-transport machinery, chunk loaders, and world pregeneration happening live. Use a profiler mod like Spark to find the worst tick consumers before upgrading the plan.