Ultimate List of Minecraft Server Jar Forks with Plugin Support

A Minecraft server jar is the core software that powers a Minecraft server. It's responsible for handling connections, processing commands, and executing plugins. While the official Minecraft server jar provides a solid foundation, it is terrible for overall performance and cannot be used with plugins.

This article will explore some of the most popular Minecraft server jar forks that support plugins. We'll delve into their key features, performance characteristics, and specific use cases to help you choose the right one for your server.

Current Up-to-date Jars

Bukkit

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.0 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit

• Major Features:

  • Modifiable mob caps

  • Robust plugin API

  • Basic permissions system - Read more

• Positives:

  • Supports a large number of plugins

  • Closest to normal Vanilla gameplay behavior

• Negatives:

  • Lacks any performance fixes

  • Missing exploit patches found in forks like Paper

  • Can't use Paper or Spigot plugins

Spigot

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• Versions Supported: 1.0 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot

• Major Features:

  • Config options for various gameplay mechanics - Read more

  • Dynamic entity activation range

• Positives:

  • Supports most plugin types

  • Recieves regular updates

  • Improved performance over Bukkit and Vanilla

Paper - ⭐ Our Top Pick

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.8.8 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper

• Major Features:

  • Chunk I/O re-write for improved performance

  • Optimized Redstone

• Positives:

  • Largest selection of plugins out of any fork

  • Many performance patches over Bukkit and Spigot

  • Fixes broken vanilla mechanics

  • Fully configurable - Read more

  • Large community and support

• Negatives:

  • Can conflict with very specific gameplay mechanics - Read more

Pufferfish

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.17.1 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper

• Major Features:

  • Async pathfinding

  • Async entity tracker

  • Optimized hoppers

  • Faster map rendering

• Positives:

  • Excellent entity performance on larger servers

Add this flag to your JVM arguments for improved performance: --add-modules=jdk.incubator.vector This flag enables Pufferfish to use SIMD instructions on your CPU, making some math faster. Currently, it's only used for making rendering in-game plugin maps upwards of 8 times faster.

Purpur

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.14.1 - 1.21+

• List of Forks:

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Let's you change the behavior of most Vanilla mobs

  • Most mechanics can be modified

  • Custom add-ons - See here

• Positives:

  • Well documented features

  • Improved performance over Paper

• Negatives:

  • Config is very overwhelming for beginners

Add this flag to your JVM arguments for improved performance: --add-modules=jdk.incubator.vector This flag is inherited from Pufferfish and improves map rendering times.

Leaf - 🚀 Best Performance

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.19 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Linear Region Format

  • Async pathfinding, mob spawning, and entity tracking

  • Implements performance patches from most other mods and server forks

  • Allows all characters in usernames

  • Mod Protocol support (Xaero's Map, Jade, etc.)

Add the following flag to make a few calculations related to entities up to 30-50% faster! -DLeaf.enableFMA=true

Leaves

Download here or use our One Click Installer

• Versions Supported: 1.19 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper

• Major Features:

  • Linear Region Format

  • Fake Player Support

• Positives:

  • Fully configurable features and patches

  • Large selection of patches

  • Support for various mods to utilize server-side data

SportPaper

Compile here

• Versions Supported: 1.8.8

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Faster chunk loading

  • Reduced entity overhead

  • Optimized packet sending

• Positives:

  • Contains many patches from newer versions

  • Lower overall memory usage compared to other forks

  • Can be used in Java 17 environment

• Negatives:

  • Less active development compared to other forks

Other Alpha/Beta Software

Plazma

Download here

• Versions Supported: 1.19.4 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Config files pre-optimized

  • Active development

SparklyPaper

Download here

• Versions Supported: 1.20.6 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Several unique patches not present in other forks

  • Tailored towards survival servers

Folia

Download not available

• Versions Supported: 1.19.4 - 1.21+

• Plugin Loader Support: Bukkit, Spigot, Paper, Purpur

• Major Features:

  • Multi-threaded chunk I/O System

  • Separate region ticking - Read more

Unsupported and Deprecated Jars

• Airplane

  • "A stable, optimized, well supported 1.17.1 Paper fork."

  • Some features merged into Paper, while others are present in forks like Purpur or Pufferfish.

• Akarin

  • "Akarin is a powerful server software from the 'new dimension'"

  • Fork of Paper featuring multi-threading and other optimizations.

• Fusion

  • "Fusion - A Crazy Minecraft Server Software Fusing Amazing Bukkits and Mods (for Practice)"

  • Implements various patches from other server forks and mods.

  • Development merged into Plazma

• Gale

  • "A performant Minecraft server fork of Paper. In alpha"

• Origami

  • "Bukkit/Spigot/Paper based Minecraft server used by Minebench.de"

  • Most features/patches were merged into Paper.

• JettPack

  • "JettPack is a fork of Pufferfish with experimental patches."

  • Contains various patches from mods and other server forks like Pufferfish.

• Mirai

  • "A powerful Minecraft Server Software coming from the future"

  • Contains many experimental performance patches and general bug fixes.

• Petal

  • "A performance-oriented fork of Purpur intended to increase performance for entity-heavy servers by implementing multi-threaded and asynchronous improvements."

  • Most notable features include async entity pathfinding and multi-threaded entity tracking

• Sugarcane

  • "Highly optimized Purpur fork focusing on stability and performance."

• Tunity

  • "Minecraft server software fork of Paper to improve performance without behavioural changes."

  • Patches were merged into Paper

• Sakura

  • "Minecraft 1.18.2 Backport of Petal, a performance-oriented fork of Purpur intended to increase performance for entity-heavy servers by implementing multi-threaded and asynchronous improvements."

• Yatopia

  • "The Most Powerful and Feature Rich Minecraft Server Software!"

Final Words

For most servers Paper will be the best choice for general compatibility and support, unless specific functionality is needed from another fork. You should also NEVER buy a paid server jar from a random website. These are all scams that prey on new server owner's lack of knowledge. Always use open-source forks instead!

By understanding the strengths of each server jar fork, you can create a Minecraft server experience tailored to your needs and player base. Remember, there's no single "best" option – choose the one that best suits your server goals!