Folia vs Paper: Which Minecraft Server Software in 2026?
Paper processes the entire world on a single main thread. Folia splits the world into independent regions, each running on its own thread. The goal: true multithreaded performance for large servers.
How Paper Works
Paper optimizes the single main thread. Every entity, every block update, every redstone circuit shares one thread. This works well for small to medium servers (1-50 players) but hits a ceiling because one CPU core does all the work.
How Folia Works
Folia divides the world into regions based on nearby player activity. Each region ticks independently on its own thread. If 40 players are spread across 8 different areas, Folia runs 8 parallel tick loops instead of one sequential loop.
Folia scales with CPU core count in a way Paper never will. More cores = more parallel regions = better performance for spread-out players.
Plugin Compatibility
Folia breaks most existing plugins. Any plugin that assumes a single main thread will crash or behave unpredictably. Plugin developers need to rewrite scheduling logic to work with Folia's region-based threading.
Check before you switch. Verify every plugin your server uses has explicit Folia support. If even one critical plugin lacks it, stay on Paper.
Performance Comparison
| Scenario | Paper | Folia | |---|---|---| | 10 players, one area | Excellent | No benefit | | 50 players, spread out | Good | Better | | 100+ players, large world | Struggling | Significantly better | | Modded (Forge/Fabric) | Not applicable | Not applicable |
When to Use Each
Use Paper if:
- Fewer than 50 players
- Plugins lack Folia support
- Hub server or minigame world
- You want the largest plugin ecosystem
Use Folia if:
- 50-200+ players spread across the map
- All plugins verified Folia-compatible
- Multi-core hardware to take advantage of
- You need to exceed Paper's single-thread ceiling
What About Purpur?
Purpur adds gameplay configuration options on top of Paper. It runs single-threaded like Paper. If you want Paper with extra knobs and do not need multithreading, Purpur is a solid choice.
Space-Node supports Paper, Purpur, and Folia in the server panel. Minecraft servers start at €0.90/GB per month on AMD Ryzen 9 hardware.
