How to Allocate More RAM to Minecraft

If you’ve been experiencing lag, crashes, or sluggish performance in Minecraft, one of the main reasons can be lower than the required memory assigned to the game. In this case, you should have to allocate more RAM to Minecraft. It’s especially true when using mods or playing in large worlds or heavy servers. This guide tells why you might need more RAM, how much you should give, and how to increase Minecraft’s memory allocation in different launchers.

Why You Should Allocate More RAM to Minecraft?

Minecraft, by default, only uses 2GB of RAM, which is good enough for vanilla Java gameplay. But to use mod packs, shaders, or play on multiplayer servers with lots of entities, only 2GB can not handle such high resources.

Having high memory can:

• Improve chunk loading speeds
• Reduce lag and stuttering
• Prevent crashes due to memory exhaustion

However, giving too much of it to only Minecraft is also a problem. Minecraft uses Java, and if you assign an excessive amount of RAM, Java’s garbage collection process will slow down your game rather than speed it up. So, finding the right balance is a key factor.

• Related: How to Get Sweeping Edge in Minecraft & What It Does

How Much RAM Should You Give to Minecraft

It depends on how you play Minecraft and what you have, this is how much memory you should have for the game depending on different scenarios:

• Vanilla Minecraft without mods → 3-5 GB
• Light Modpacks (Few Mods, Small Worlds) → 5-7 GB
• Heavy Modpacks (Lots of Mods, Large Worlds) → 7-10 GB
• Extreme Modpacks (Hundreds of Mods, Ultra HD Shaders) → 10-16 GB

Remember, don’t allocate more than half of your total system RAM to Minecraft. Your operating system and other programs such as Discord (if installed), browsers, and background apps also need memory so everything works the way it should.

If you want to check how much RAM your PC has, you can do it by following this:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Click on the Performance tab.
3. Look for Installed RAM under Memory.

How to Allocate More RAM in the Minecraft Launcher (Default Java Edition)

If you’re using the official Minecraft Launcher, follow these steps:

1. Open the Minecraft Launcher and click on Installations on the top menu.
2. Find the version/profile you want to edit and click the three dots (…) next to it.
3. Click Edit → More Options.
4. Look for the JVM Arguments text box. You’ll see something like: -Xmx2G
5. Change the 2G to the amount of RAM you want to allocate. Example:
   • -Xmx4G (for 4GB of RAM)
   • -Xmx8G (for 8GB of RAM)

Click Save, then launch the game.

How to Allocate More RAM in Other Launchers

If you’re using a third-party launcher to manage mods or modpacks, customizing memory varies on each because of their different setting options. Here’s how to do it in some popular ones:

ATLauncher

You have two options in this launcher: setting a default memory allocation for all instances or adjusting RAM for a specific modpack.

1. Open ATLauncher and go to the Settings tab on the left.
2. Click the Java/Minecraft tab.
3. Find the Maximum Memory/RAM option.
4. Enter the RAM amount you want the game to consume (in megabytes).
   • Since 1GB = 1024MB, the values should be as:
     • 4GB = 4096MB
     • 8GB = 8192MB
     • 12GB = 12288MB
5. Click Save and restart the launcher.

To allocate RAM to a specific modpack, here’s how to do it:

1. Click the Instances tab on the left side.
2. Find the modpack you want to adjust and click the Settings button.
3. Go to the Java/Minecraft Settings tab.
4. Change the Maximum Memory/RAM to your preferred amount by setting the same values as above.
5. Click Save to apply changes.

CurseForge Launcher

If you usually play heavily modded Minecraft, you most probably be using the CurseForge Launcher. It has a user-friendly and simple way to adjust RAM usage.

1. Open CurseForge and click Settings (bottom left).
2. Select Minecraft from the list of games.
3. Scroll down to Java Settings → Allocated Memory.
4. Move the slider to allocate the desired RAM.
5. Click Save, then restart the launcher.

For a Single Modpack:

1. Go to the My Modpacks section.
2. Click on the modpack you want to adjust (but don’t hit “Play” yet.).
3. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the Play button and select Profile Options.
4. Uncheck the Use System Memory Settings box.
5. Adjust the memory slider according to your demand.

Technic Launcher

1. Open Technic Launcher and go to Launcher Options from the top right corner to open settings.
2. Go to the Java Settings tab.
3. Select the amount of memory from the dropdown.
4. Close the settings and restart the launcher before opening the game.

FTB (Feed The Beast) App

FTB is well known for its massive library of modpacks, so allocating enough RAM becomes more crucial here. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the FTB App and go to the Library section.
2. Find the modpack you want to adjust and hover over it.
3. Click anywhere on the modpack but hit play.
4. Click Settings and adjust the slider to set the required RAM.

Allocating More RAM to a Minecraft Server

If you’re hosting a Minecraft server, follow these steps:

• Create a new text file in your Minecraft server folder.
• Open the file and paste this command: java -Xmx[RAM]M -Xms[RAM]M -jar server.jar nogui
• Replace [RAM] with the amount of RAM in megabytes (1GB = 1024MB). So:
  • 3GB = 3072M
  • 6GB = 6144M
• Save the file as run.bat for Windows or run.sh for Mac/Linux.
• Run the file to start your server with the new RAM allocation.

Keep in mind that more isn’t always better—find the right balance based on your system’s specs and needs and first make sure how much RAM you can allocate to Minecraft so it doesn’t cause trouble for the whole PC or other programs.