Paper, Purpur or Spigot: which plugin server?
Paper, Purpur and Spigot are three versions of the same idea: the Minecraft server with support for plugins added. They share one plugin system, so almost every plugin works on all three.
They are built on top of each other. Spigot came first, Paper started as Spigot with fixes and speed, and Purpur is Paper with extra options. Each one runs what the one before it runs.
The short answer
| Your server | Pick |
|---|---|
| A normal survival or community server | Paper |
| You want to tweak gameplay: rideable mobs, spawner pickup, phantom rules | Purpur |
| A plugin only works on Spigot (rare) | Spigot |
| Technical players who build farms around vanilla bugs | Paper, with a few settings changed |
If you are not sure, choose Paper. It is what most plugin authors test on.
Spigot
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
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.
Purpur
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.
What about Folia?
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.
Switching between them
Paper, Purpur and Spigot read the same world, so switching keeps your builds, inventories and plugins.
- Open Settings and find the server type.
- Pick the new type. The panel stops the server and makes a backup first.
- 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.
Questions
Do Spigot plugins work on Paper?
Yes, nearly all of them. Paper is built on Spigot and keeps its plugin system. The rare exceptions are plugins that depend on the exact internal code of Spigot.
Is Purpur slower than Paper?
No. With its options left at their defaults, Purpur performs like Paper. Some options change gameplay in ways that add load of their own, so switch on only what you use.
Why do my TNT duplicators not work on Paper?
Paper blocks TNT duplication and a few similar bugs by default. They can be enabled again in config/paper-global.yml under the unsupported settings, at your own risk.
Checked against Paper, Purpur and Spigot for Minecraft Java 26.2, September 2026. Written by the Cheapest Minecraft Hosting team, updated .