So you want to run a modded Minecraft server, and every host you look at either promises the world or costs way too much. Modpacks are where cheap hosting falls apart. A plan that runs vanilla fine can choke once you add 150 mods, because the pack needs far more RAM, a faster CPU and quicker storage than vanilla ever did.
This guide is about what to check before you buy, and which of our plans fits which kind of pack.
What Makes a Good Modpack Host?
Here is what you actually need:
RAM: Way more than you think
- Light modpack (50-100 mods): 6-8GB minimum
- Medium modpack (100-150 mods): 10-12GB
- Heavy modpack (150-200+ mods): 14-20GB
Anyone telling you ATM9 runs well on 4GB is being very optimistic.
CPU: Fast single core performance
- Minecraft runs its main game loop on one thread
- 8 slow cores are worse than 4 fast cores
- Ryzen 9 or a high clock Xeon is what you want, and a good host tells you which model you get
Storage: NVMe SSD
- A big pack loads thousands of files at startup, so a hard disk makes starts slow
- Chunk generation writes to disk constantly, and slow storage shows up as lag spikes
- NVMe is standard in 2026, don't settle for less
Clear resource limits
- "Unlimited RAM" is a marketing line, not a spec
- Look for a fixed RAM amount per plan, not "up to 16GB"
How to Judge a Host for Modpacks
We are a host ourselves, so treat this as a checklist rather than a ranking. You can check all of it in the first few days:
- Is the CPU model named? "High performance CPU" tells you nothing.
- How much RAM do you get, and is it a fixed amount?
- Is the storage NVMe?
- Can you set your own JVM arguments and Java version?
- Can you reach the files over SFTP to upload a world or a custom pack?
- Is there a region close to your players?
Then install your pack, let a few players explore new terrain, and watch /forge tps (or /neoforge tps) and a Spark profile. If TPS holds at 20 with your normal group, the host does its job. If it drops and Spark shows no single mod or machine eating the tick, you have hit the limit of the hardware or the plan.
Space-Node for modpacks
Price: EUR 10.80 per month for MC Special 1 (12GB), the Standard tier price in Europe and Canada (the USA regions cost EUR 12.00)
Specs:
- AMD Ryzen 9 3900X-class CPU on the Standard tier in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Canada (Premium there runs a Ryzen 9 9950X with DDR5)
- 12GB RAM (DDR4, or DDR5 in the USA regions)
- 70GB NVMe SSD
- Nine regions to choose from
What you get:
- Custom JVM arguments and full file management
- One-click CurseForge and Modrinth installer
- DDoS protection included on every plan
- CPU cores are shared on every tier, and Premium gets 600 to 800% CPU (6 to 8 vCores) under fair use; the RAM on your plan is allocated to your server
Cons:
- Not the absolute cheapest option out there
The plans, and the one-click CurseForge and Modrinth installer, are on the modpack server hosting page.
Watch out for oversold budget plans
Cheap plans with a lot of RAM on paper are common. The warning signs are an unnamed CPU, "up to" RAM, SATA or hard disk storage, and support that tells you modpacks are not supported. A plan like that can look fine for vanilla and still struggle the moment you load a 150 mod pack. Test your own pack on it before you invite the whole group.
The VPS Option: More Work, More Control
If you run several modded servers or a small network, a VPS is an option:
Space-Node VPS Plans:
- Full root access on a KVM VPS
- Install whatever you want
- Run multiple servers on one VPS
- DDoS protection included
For example, a VPS-XL (16GB RAM, EUR 23.99 per month) can hold an ATM9 server, a Create pack and a small vanilla server side by side. Math: three servers on one VPS-XL cost EUR 23.99 per month, against EUR 21.60 for three separate MC Diamond plans. Roughly the same money, one machine to manage, and you control the Java version yourself. The catch is that you also do the setup, backups and updates yourself. Our VPS plans are out of stock until about the end of October.
Modpack-Specific Recommendations
All The Mods 9
Minimum: 12GB RAM, fast CPU Recommended: MC Special 1 (12GB) or higher Why: Huge modpack, lots of chunk loading, needs performance
Create: Above and Beyond
Minimum: 8GB RAM Recommended: MC Diamond (8GB) for under 10 players Why: Less intensive than ATM9 but still needs good CPU for contraptions
FTB Academy/University
Minimum: 4GB RAM Recommended: MC Iron (4GB) for a small group Why: Lighter packs don't need insane specs
Vault Hunters
Minimum: 6GB RAM Recommended: MC Lapis (6GB) minimum Why: Lots of custom mechanics and vault dimensions
What Cheap Really Costs
A plan that is too small for your pack is not cheap. Players get lag during exploration, the server runs out of memory and crashes during a busy evening, and people stop logging on. A few euro more per month for a plan that fits the pack is usually the better deal.
On our Standard tier, the plans that make sense for modpacks run from EUR 7.20 (MC Diamond, 8GB) to EUR 14.40 (MC Special 3, 16GB) per month.
Java Arguments for Modpacks
Even on good hosting, use proper Java arguments.
For 10GB allocated RAM, use:
-Xms10G -Xmx10G -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch -XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=8M -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4 -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 -XX:G1RSetUpdatingPauseTimePercent=5 -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 -XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1
Keep -Xms and -Xmx the same, and leave 1 to 2GB of the plan free for Java itself, so for a 12GB plan set 10G. If you get stuck, ask support in live chat.
What About Player Count?
Everyone asks "how many players can it handle?"
There is no honest single number. Player counts on our plan pages are a recommendation based on RAM, not a hard limit, and a modpack changes the picture completely.
Player count depends on:
- Modpack size
- How much people explore (chunk gen)
- Automation complexity
- Loaded chunks
More players exploring = more chunk loading = more RAM needed.
Migration is Easier Than You Think
"But I already have a server on another host"
Yeah, moving servers sounds scary but it's actually super easy:
- Download your world folder (FTP)
- Download your mods folder
- Upload to new host
- Start server
- Done
For most worlds that is well under an hour, plus upload time. If you would rather have us move it, there is a one time Server Migration add-on at checkout for EUR 15.
Your players just need the new IP. That's it.
Our Recommendation
If you're running modpacks seriously:
For personal/friend servers: MC Diamond, EUR 7.20 per month
- 8GB DDR4 RAM
- Handles most packs
- Reliable
For community servers: MC Special 1 or MC Special 3, EUR 10.80 or EUR 14.40 per month
- 12GB or 16GB DDR4 RAM
- Can handle more players
- Custom JVM arguments
For testing/small groups: MC Iron, EUR 3.60 per month
- 4GB DDR4 RAM
- Good for lighter packs
- Cheap to test with
Don't pay for "unlimited" or "unmetered" plans for modpacks. That is a marketing line. You need a known amount of RAM and a CPU the host is willing to name.
Final Thoughts
Look, modded Minecraft needs actual resources. You can't cheap out and expect it to work well.
Size the plan for the pack, not for the price. A plan that fits keeps players around. A plan that is too small costs you the group.
If you're done dealing with laggy modded servers, Space-Node modpack hosting lists the plans side by side. The ones that matter for packs, at Standard prices: MC Diamond 8GB for EUR 7.20, MC Special 1 12GB for EUR 10.80, MC Special 3 16GB for EUR 14.40, and MC Special 4 32GB for EUR 29.99. NVMe storage and DDoS protection are on every plan. You pick the region in the plan selector before checkout, from nine of them: Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Canada, USA California, USA Virginia, Singapore, India and Australia.
Or if you want full control, Space-Node VPS plans start at EUR 5.50 for VPS-S (4GB) and you can run multiple servers on one VPS. They are out of stock until about the end of October.
Stop overpaying for garbage hosting that can't handle mods. Get something that actually works.