Setting up a Skyblock server: modpack or plugin?

A skyblock server is technically the mirror image of an ordinary survival server: almost no terrain is generated, so your world file stays small and your disk barely lifts a finger. The bill lands on the CPU instead, because every machine, farm and player is packed onto a handful of permanently loaded chunks. For a plugin skyblock on Paper with BentoBox or ASkyBlock nobody has to install a thing; a mod skyblock in the SkyFactory style needs a modloader and a serious amount of RAM, since All the Mods 10 runs on 10 GB minimum and 14 to 16 GB with five or more players.

What is skyblock and why has the genre lasted?

You start on a small island a few blocks across, floating in the void, with a tree, some dirt and a chest of starter gear. Everything after that you derive from it: a cobblestone generator from lava and water, and later entire factories that duplicate resources. The limitation is the gameplay: where survival rewards you for exploring, skyblock rewards you for solving puzzles.

For a server owner that changes player behaviour completely. They never wander away from spawn, they build on the same little block for months and they automate more and more. That makes skyblock one of the cheapest server types in terms of storage and one of the trickiest in terms of tick stability.

Why does skyblock barely touch your disk but hit your CPU?

On an ordinary survival server, world generation is the biggest cost. Every time a player heads off in a new direction the server has to calculate terrain, place structures and write it all to the region files; a world like that happily grows to many gigabytes. With skyblock you run a void world: there is nothing to generate, and the islands are placed as ready-made structures. Your world folder stays small, backups finish quickly and a world restore takes minutes rather than half an evening.

The flip side is the tick. Your server has 50 milliseconds per tick to handle everything sitting in loaded chunks: entities, hoppers, redstone, fluids and block entities. On a skyblock that is all stacked on top of itself. A mob farm with hundreds of entities, a row of hoppers underneath and a few machines all sit in the same couple of chunks as the player watching them, so there is no spread and nothing falls outside simulation distance. Twenty players with twenty running farms produce spikes you simply do not see on a survival server.

So profile with spark before you buy more RAM: the culprit is usually an entity cluster or a leak of dropped items rather than a shortage of memory. Cap mob spawns per island, be sparing with view-distance and simulation-distance, and consider ClearLagg for items lying around. Our article on optimising your Minecraft server explains how to tackle that systematically.

Mod skyblock or plugin skyblock: what is the difference?

This is the key decision and it shapes practically everything that follows. Plugins run purely server-side on vanilla mechanics. Mods are loaded by a modloader, add genuinely new blocks, items, mobs and dimensions, and have to be on server and client in exactly the same version.

A plugin skyblock is built on Paper or Purpur with BentoBox, ASkyBlock or a comparable island plugin. Players connect with a normal client, type something like /is and get their own island in a shared void world. The plugin handles island borders, levels, leaderboards, co-op and resetting abandoned islands. You round it out with the usual core: EssentialsX for basic commands, LuckPerms for ranks, CoreProtect to roll back griefing and Geyser with Floodgate for Bedrock players. Which plugin does what is covered in our overview of the best Minecraft plugins.

A mod skyblock is a full modpack: the SkyFactory line, or a quest-driven pack on NeoForge or Fabric. You get real machines, new dimensions and a quest book that drives progression, and plugins simply cannot match that. The price is that every player has to install the pack in the same version, that you are tied to that pack's Minecraft version, and that every update is a planned operation with a backup beforehand. We explain how that works in our guide to what a modpack is and how to install one.

How much RAM do you need?

For a plugin skyblock the deciding factors are player numbers and the number of active islands, not a mountain of mods. Memory-wise you are in the same ballpark as an ordinary Paper server with a normal plugin set; start small and scale up as soon as spark shows you are hitting a ceiling. With a mod skyblock the floor is fixed by the pack. All the Mods 10 runs on NeoForge and Minecraft 1.21.1 with 400 to 500+ mods and asks for at least 10 GB, 12 GB for a small group and 14 to 16 GB with five or more players or heavy automation. On skyblock that last one is the norm, so budget for the upper end.

Storage type counts too: on an HDD the first start of a pack like that takes a good ten minutes, on SSD two to three minutes. Optimisation mods genuinely help: FerriteCore cuts memory use by 30 to 40 percent, and Canary and ModernFix are standard fare on NeoForge. With Minecraft hosting from MC-Node, NVMe SSD comes with every package as standard, and so do backups. The budget line charges EUR 1.10 per GB per month and works out cheaper per GB on larger packages: 4 GB costs EUR 4.40, 8 GB costs EUR 8.80 and 15 GB costs EUR 15.00.

Which server software suits skyblock?

For a plugin skyblock, Paper is the default choice: hundreds of performance patches on top of Spigot, better TPS stability and chunk loading, and full compatibility with Bukkit and Spigot plugins. Purpur is a fork of Paper with extra configuration options and optional features such as rideable mobs and adjustable mob AI, and it runs the same plugins. Pufferfish sits somewhere between the two in intent.

We are deliberately leaving Folia out here. It is experimental multithreaded Paper for very high player counts, it breaks most existing plugins, and it only helps when activity is spread across the map. Skyblock is precisely the opposite. For a mod skyblock you do not pick server software at all, you follow the pack, because it dictates loader and version: for All the Mods 10 that is NeoForge on 1.21.1 with Java 21.

How do you set up a mod skyblock step by step?

1. Note down the exact pack version, the modloader and the Minecraft version. Those three have to be identical on server and client.
2. Set the server up with the right loader and Java version. For All the Mods 10 that means NeoForge and Java 21; Java 17 will not start the pack.
3. Allocate the RAM before the first start. Too little memory does not give you a tidy error message, it gives you a crash or a server that loads forever.
4. Install the server files, accept the EULA and let it start up fully once. On NVMe that takes two to three minutes; let it finish.
5. Set up server.properties with a low view-distance and simulation-distance. On a skyblock nobody needs to see far, and it saves tick time immediately.
6. Add optimisation mods: FerriteCore, Canary and ModernFix are the usual set on NeoForge.
7. Have every player install the same pack version and test with two clients before you share the server.
8. Check that the automatic backup is running and take an extra backup before every pack update.

When is skyblock the wrong choice?

If your audience mainly wants to explore, comb through caves and stumble on villages, skyblock works against you. The genre is deliberately confined, and anyone who did not sign up for that drops off within an evening. If nobody in your group fancies installation faff, a plugin skyblock is more than enough. And if there are Bedrock players involved, the decision is already made: a plugin skyblock on Paper with Geyser and Floodgate works, a modpack does not.

Finally, if you are eyeing a pack with 400 to 500 mods while your budget stops at 4 GB, pick something lighter. A small pack that runs smoothly is more fun than an impressive pack that keeps stuttering.

Frequently asked questions

Do players need to install anything for a plugin skyblock? No. Plugins on Paper or Purpur run purely server-side on vanilla mechanics, so as a player you only notice BentoBox or ASkyBlock through commands such as /is. With a modpack, everyone has to install exactly the same pack and Minecraft version as the server.

How much RAM does a SkyFactory-style modpack server need? It varies per pack, but All the Mods 10 is a good yardstick for the heavy end: 10 GB minimum, 12 GB for a small group and 14 to 16 GB with five or more players or heavy automation. At MC-Node, 15 GB on the budget line costs EUR 15.00 per month.

Why does my skyblock server lag when the world is only a few MB? Because skyblock spares your disk but loads your CPU. All the farms, hoppers and entities sit in the same loaded chunks, so nothing falls outside simulation distance. Profile with spark and lower view-distance before you buy more RAM.

Can Bedrock players join a skyblock server? On a plugin skyblock, yes: with Geyser and Floodgate on Paper or Purpur, Bedrock players can join your Java server. With a mod skyblock that is not a realistic route, because mods require a modloader on the client.

Is Folia a good idea for a busy skyblock server? Usually not. Folia is experimental multithreaded Paper that breaks most existing plugins and only pays off when activity is spread across the map. Skyblock concentrates activity instead, so Paper or Purpur is almost always the better call.

Further reading

• Sodium, Lithium and FPS: which performance mod goes where?
• All the Mods 10 on Your Own Server: RAM, Java 21 and Settings
• Geyser and Floodgate: Bedrock Players on Your Java Server