Paper, Purpur or Spigot: which Minecraft plugin server?

If you are not sure, choose Paper. It is what most plugin authors test on.

Spigot is the classic plugin server. It is stable and every Bukkit plugin runs on it, but it has fallen behind on performance. Paper does the same job with less lag, so today Spigot mostly makes sense when a specific old plugin demands it.

Its settings are in spigot.yml and bukkit.yml.

Paper takes Spigot and makes it faster: chunks load in the background, entities and redstone cost less, and many bugs are fixed. It also adds settings for things like how many mobs spawn per chunk and how far items stay loaded.

One thing to know: Paper switches off a few bugs that some players rely on, such as TNT duplication. For a normal server that is a feature. For a technical server, most of them can be switched back on in config/paper-global.yml, under the section with unsupported settings.

Paper's own settings are split over config/paper-global.yml and config/paper-world-defaults.yml.

Paper switches off a handful of vanilla tricks that farms and flying machines use. Each has its own switch under unsupported-settings in config/paper-global.yml:

Set the one you need to true and restart. They are called unsupported because the Paper team does not fix problems that come from them, so turn on only what your players really build.

Redstone itself can stay as it is: redstone-implementation in config/paper-world-defaults.yml is VANILLA by default, so contraptions behave as in the normal game. ALTERNATE_CURRENT makes large redstone builds cheaper, but it can change the order in which some contraptions fire.

Purpur is Paper plus hundreds of gameplay options in one file, purpur.yml. Some examples of what you can switch on:

• Ride and steer almost any mob.
• Let players pick up spawners with a silk touch pickaxe.
• Change when phantoms appear, or stop them from spawning.

Out of the box Purpur behaves like Paper, so switching costs nothing until you change an option. Pick it when you like to fine tune; skip it when you want the game as Mojang made it.

Open purpur.yml in Files, find the option, change its value and restart the server. Purpur also reads config/paper-global.yml and the other Paper files, so every Paper setting works on it too.

Folia is a Paper variant that spreads the world over several processor cores. It is made for servers with hundreds of players spread over a big map. Most plugins do not work on it without changes, so it is not a choice for a normal server.

Vanilla, the server software from Mojang without changes, is also on the list in Settings. It runs no plugins, and new Minecraft versions often arrive there first. For a few friends who want the game exactly as it is, it is fine.

Paper behaves almost the same, runs smoother and leaves room for plugins later, which is why it is the one we recommend. A vanilla world loads on Paper without changes, so you can switch the day you want your first plugin.

Paper, Purpur and Spigot read the same world, so switching keeps your builds, inventories and plugins.

1. Open Settings and find the server type.
2. Pick the new type. The panel stops the server and makes a backup first.
3. Start the server and check the console for plugin errors.

Going from Paper to Purpur and back again is safe. Going from any of them to Fabric or Forge is a different step: plugins stop working and you will need mods instead. See Fabric, Forge or NeoForge.

• Paper to Purpur, or back: every plugin keeps working.
• Spigot to Paper: plugins keep working, and Paper adds its own settings files next to the old ones on the first start.
• Paper to Spigot: plugins made for Paper stop loading. More and more plugins need Paper, so read the console after the first start.
• Any of them to another Minecraft version: plugins that reach deep into the game, such as anticheats and some world editors, need a build for that exact version.

Change your Minecraft server version covers the version side.

Type version in the Console. The answer names the software and its build, such as Paper or Purpur followed by a number, and says whether a newer build is out. The same name is shown under Server software in Settings.

When Mojang releases a new version, Paper first publishes test builds and calls a build stable once the worst bugs are fixed. Purpur follows Paper, usually soon after. Plugins need their own time as well.

That is why a new version can be offered for Vanilla and Fabric before Paper and Purpur, and why waiting a few weeks with a plugin server is often the calm choice.