- Want plugins (permissions, land claims, economy) and a normal client? Paper.
- Want Paper plus extra gameplay toggles? Purpur.
- Want mods on a recent version, or performance mods? Fabric.
- Want a big content modpack, especially on 1.20.1 or older? Forge (or NeoForge, if the pack says so).
- Want Minecraft exactly as Mojang ships it? Vanilla.
Side by side
| Vanilla | Paper | Purpur | Fabric | Forge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plugins (Bukkit/Spigot/Paper) | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Mods | No | No | No | Fabric mods | Forge mods |
| Players need to install anything | No | No | No | For content mods | For content mods |
| Performance vs Vanilla | Baseline | Much better | Much better | Better with Lithium etc. | Depends on the pack |
| Updates to new versions | Day one | Days to weeks | Shortly after Paper | Usually fast | Slower |
| Vanilla mechanics kept exactly | Yes | Mostly (some exploits fixed) | Mostly, configurable | Yes | Yes |
Vanilla
Mojang's official server jar. No plugins, no mods, no performance tuning. Choose it if you want pure Minecraft with a few friends, or if your technical builds depend on exact Vanilla behaviour that Paper changes (some duplication glitches and TNT/sand mechanics). You can still use data packs on every option here.
Paper
Paper is a fork of Spigot (which is a fork of Bukkit) focused on performance and stability. It runs nearly all Bukkit and Spigot plugins, rewrites chunk loading and lighting to be faster, and adds hundreds of config options for entity limits, hopper behaviour, item despawn and more. For most public servers and SMPs, this is the right default. Players connect with an unmodified client.
The trade-off: Paper fixes some exploits that technical players rely on (for example certain duplication glitches). Most of these can be re-enabled in Paper's config.
Purpur
A fork of Paper with many more gameplay options: rideable mobs, configurable mob behaviour, tweaks to villagers, phantoms, elytra and much more. It runs the same plugins as Paper. Choose it when you want Paper but find yourself wishing you could change a particular mechanic.
Fabric
A lightweight mod loader. Fabric itself does very little; the mods do the work. It updates to new Minecraft versions quickly and has the best performance mods available: Lithium (game logic), FerriteCore (memory), C2ME (chunk generation) and others. Many modern Modrinth modpacks use Fabric. Most mods also need Fabric API.
A Fabric server with only server-side performance mods can still be joined by players with a normal client, which makes it a good Vanilla replacement if you don't need plugins.
Forge (and NeoForge)
The oldest mod loader, behind many of the biggest content mods and modpacks. Huge libraries of mods exist for versions such as 1.12.2, 1.16.5, 1.18.2 and 1.20.1. Since 2023, much of the modding community has moved newer work to NeoForge, a fork of Forge; for Minecraft 1.20.2 and later, check which loader your mods actually target.
Which should you choose?
| You want… | Run |
|---|---|
| A server for friends, no extras | Paper (or Vanilla) |
| A survival SMP with claims, homes and anti-grief | Paper |
| A public server with ranks, economy or minigames | Paper or Purpur |
| A light modded experience on the latest version | Fabric |
| A specific modpack | Whatever the pack uses |
| Technical/redstone play with exact Vanilla behaviour | Vanilla or Fabric (with Lithium and Carpet) |
Can you switch later?
Yes, with care. A world from Vanilla loads on Paper, Fabric or Forge. Going from Paper back to Vanilla, Paper stores the Nether and End in separate world_nether and world_the_end folders, which need moving back into world/DIM-1 and world/DIM1. Removing mods removes their blocks and items from the world. Always back up first.
On NS5, change server software from the Settings tab without changing your plan or price. Switching reinstalls the server, so download a backup first if you want to keep your files.
Common questions
Is Paper better than Spigot?
For almost everyone, yes. Paper runs Spigot plugins, performs better and is more actively developed. There's little reason to run plain Spigot today.
Is Fabric or Forge faster?
Fabric with performance mods is generally lighter. A Forge pack's performance depends mostly on which mods it includes rather than on Forge itself.
Can Paper run Fabric mods?
No. Paper runs plugins. Fabric mods need a Fabric server.
Minecraft Java servers from $3.70/month on AMD EPYC with dedicated RAM. One-click Paper, Fabric, Forge and Modrinth modpacks, backups and SFTP included. Try one free for 48 hours, no card needed.