If you have opened server.properties and wondered what network-compression-threshold actually does, you are not alone. It is one of the most misunderstood settings in Minecraft server hosting, and getting it wrong can quietly cost you TPS or bandwidth. Here is exactly what it means and the value you should use in 2026.
What network-compression-threshold does
The setting controls the minimum packet size, in bytes, before the server compresses a packet before sending it to players. The default value is 256.
- Packets larger than the threshold get compressed. This saves bandwidth but uses CPU.
- Packets smaller than the threshold are sent uncompressed. This saves CPU but uses more bandwidth.
So network-compression-threshold is a trade between CPU time and network bandwidth. There is no single perfect number. The right value depends on where your players connect from and how your server is hosted.
The recommended values
Set it to 256 (default) for most public servers. This is the safe general-purpose value and works well when players connect over the internet from mixed locations.
Set it to 512 for small servers with players on fast connections. Fewer packets get compressed, which reduces CPU work. This can help a CPU-bound modded server that is already fighting for tick time.
Set it to -1 only for LAN or local play. A value of -1 disables compression entirely. This is great when the server and players are on the same fast local network, because you remove all compression CPU cost. Do not use -1 on a public internet server, because uncompressed traffic can balloon your bandwidth.
How to change it
- Stop your server.
- Open
server.propertiesin your control panel file editor. - Find the line
network-compression-threshold=256. - Change the number and save.
- Start the server again.
On a managed host like Space-Node you can edit server.properties directly from the panel, so no SFTP is required.
Does it fix lag?
Not directly. network-compression-threshold does not affect TPS or MSPT on its own. What it can do is shift load between your CPU and your network. If your host has plenty of bandwidth but a busy CPU, raising the threshold slightly can free a little CPU time. If bandwidth is your constraint, keeping it at 256 keeps traffic small.
For real lag problems, look at entity counts, view distance, redstone, and your server software first. A proxy setup with BungeeCord or Velocity also changes how compression behaves, because the proxy handles part of the packet flow.
Common mistakes
- Setting it to
0. A value of0compresses every single packet, including tiny ones. This wastes CPU on packets that are too small to benefit. Avoid it. - Using
-1on a public server. You will send far more raw data and can hit bandwidth limits on a busy server. - Expecting a TPS boost. This setting is about network and CPU balance, not tick performance.
The short answer
Leave network-compression-threshold at 256 unless you have a specific reason to change it. Use 512 on a small server with fast connections and a busy CPU, and reserve -1 for LAN only.
If you want hardware that keeps compression cheap even on busy servers, Space-Node Minecraft hosting runs on AMD Ryzen 9 CPUs with fast single-thread performance and 1Gbps networking, so you rarely have to trade CPU for bandwidth in the first place.