Network Optimization

Configure network settings and packet handling for optimal server performance

Network performance directly affects player experience through latency, bandwidth usage, and packet processing. Paper provides extensive network optimizations and configuration options.

Chunk Send Rate Limiting

Paper limits how quickly chunks are sent to players to prevent network congestion and client lag.

File: config/paper-global.yml

chunk-loading-basic:
  player-max-chunk-send-rate: 75.0

Configuration

Value	Use Case	Effect
75.0	Default - balanced	Good for most servers
50.0	Limited bandwidth	Reduces network usage
100.0	High-speed connections	Faster chunk loading
-1.0	Unlimited	No rate limiting

For servers with gigabit connections and players on fast internet, increase to 100-150 for smoother teleportation and flight.

Unlimited chunk send rate (-1) can overwhelm clients with slow connections or cause network buffer buildup.

Auto-Configure Send Distance

File: config/paper-global.yml

chunk-loading-advanced:
  auto-config-send-distance: true

When enabled, Paper matches the chunk send radius to each client’s configured view distance (if lower than the server’s).

Example:

• Server view distance: 10 chunks
• Player A’s client: 8 chunks
• Player B’s client: 12 chunks

With auto-config-send-distance: true:

• Player A receives 8 chunks (saves bandwidth)
• Player B receives 10 chunks (server maximum)

This significantly reduces bandwidth usage without affecting player experience, as clients with low view distance can’t render additional chunks anyway.

Packet Rate Limiting

Paper includes packet rate limiting to prevent packet spam exploits and reduce processing overhead.

File: config/paper-global.yml

packet-limiter:
  kick-message: '<red>Exceeded packet rate limit!'
  all-packets:
    interval: 7.0
    max-packet-rate: 500.0
    action: KICK
  overrides:
    ServerboundPlaceRecipePacket:
      interval: 4.0
      max-packet-rate: 5.0
      action: DROP

Global Packet Limiting

all-packets:
  interval: 7.0           # Measurement window in seconds
  max-packet-rate: 500.0  # Maximum packets per second
  action: KICK            # Action when exceeded: KICK or DROP

• interval: Time window for rate measurement
• max-packet-rate: Maximum packets allowed in the interval
• action:
  • KICK: Disconnect the player
  • DROP: Silently drop excess packets

Understanding Packet Rate Calculation

With interval: 7.0 and max-packet-rate: 500.0:

The player can send up to 500 packets in a 7-second window, averaging ~71 packets/second.

If exceeded, the configured action is taken.

Per-Packet Type Overrides

Configure specific packet types differently:

overides:
  ServerboundPlaceRecipePacket:  # Recipe book clicks
    interval: 4.0
    max-packet-rate: 5.0
    action: DROP

Common packets to limit:

overides:
  ServerboundPlaceRecipePacket:
    interval: 4.0
    max-packet-rate: 5.0
    action: DROP
  ServerboundPlayerCommandPacket:  # Sneak/sprint packets
    interval: 2.0
    max-packet-rate: 100.0
    action: DROP

Use DROP for non-critical packets to avoid kicking players experiencing network issues. Use KICK for potential exploit packets.

Spam Limiters

File: config/paper-global.yml

spam-limiter:
  tab-spam-increment: 1
  tab-spam-limit: 500
  recipe-spam-increment: 1
  recipe-spam-limit: 20
  incoming-packet-threshold: 300

Tab-Complete Spam

tab-spam-increment: 1
tab-spam-limit: 500

Limits tab-completion requests (e.g., typing commands).

• increment: Violation points added per request
• limit: Maximum points before action taken

Recipe Spam

recipe-spam-increment: 1
recipe-spam-limit: 20

Limits recipe book interactions.

Incoming Packet Threshold

incoming-packet-threshold: 300

Kick players exceeding this many packets per second.

• Default: 300
• Disabled: Set to -1

Setting too low can kick legitimate players during intensive actions (e.g., inventory sorting). Keep at 300 or higher.

Network Compression

File: config/paper-global.yml

misc:
  compression-level: default  # 6 in vanilla

Compression Level

Controls network packet compression (zlib).

Level	CPU Usage	Bandwidth	Use Case
-1	Disabled	Highest	LAN/localhost only
1-3	Low	High	Fast CPU, limited bandwidth
4-6	Medium	Medium	Default - balanced
7-9	High	Low	Slow connections, powerful CPU

For servers on localhost or LAN, disable compression (-1) to reduce CPU usage. For internet servers with limited bandwidth, use 6-7.

Configuration:

misc:
  compression-level: 6  # Vanilla default

Or let Paper auto-configure:

misc:
  compression-level: default

Region File Compression

File: config/paper-global.yml

unsupported-settings:
  compression-format: ZLIB  # ZLIB, GZIP, LZ4, or NONE

Changing compression format is an unsupported setting. Backup your world before changing. Existing chunks remain in their original format until resaved.

Format	Speed	Compression Ratio	CPU Usage
NONE	Fastest	1:1 (none)	Lowest
LZ4	Fast	~2:1	Low
ZLIB	Medium	~3:1	Medium
GZIP	Slow	~3:1	High

Entity Tracking and Network Updates

Entity Tracking Range

Controls the distance at which entity position updates are sent to clients.

File: config/spigot.yml

world-settings:
  default:
    entity-tracking-range:
      players: 128
      animals: 96
      monsters: 96
      misc: 96
      display: 128
      other: 64

Reducing tracking ranges decreases network bandwidth:

Bandwidth optimization example:

entity-tracking-range:
  players: 96   # Reduced from 128
  animals: 64   # Reduced from 96
  monsters: 80  # Slightly reduced
  misc: 64
  display: 96
  other: 48

Players won’t see entities beyond tracking range, which may affect gameplay (e.g., not seeing distant mobs or players).

Full Position for Hard-Colliding Entities

File: config/paper-global.yml

collisions:
  send-full-pos-for-hard-colliding-entities: true

Sends full position updates for entities involved in collisions.

• Enabled: More accurate collisions, slightly higher bandwidth
• Disabled: Saves bandwidth, may cause collision issues

Keep enabled unless bandwidth is extremely limited.

Player Connection Limits

File: config/paper-global.yml

misc:
  max-joins-per-tick: 5

Limits how many players can join per tick, preventing join spam lag.

• Default: 5 players per tick
• High traffic: Increase to 10-20
• DDoS protection: Reduce to 1-2

Proxy Configuration

BungeeCord

File: config/paper-global.yml

proxies:
  bungee-cord:
    online-mode: true

File: spigot.yml

settings:
  bungeecord: true

Never enable BungeeCord mode without a properly configured firewall. Exposed servers with BungeeCord enabled allow player UUID spoofing.

Velocity

File: config/paper-global.yml

proxies:
  velocity:
    enabled: true
    online-mode: true
    secret: 'your-secret-key-here'

Or use environment variable:

export PAPER_VELOCITY_SECRET='your-secret-key-here'

Velocity is recommended over BungeeCord for better performance and modern features.

HAProxy / Proxy Protocol

proxies:
  proxy-protocol: true

Enable when using HAProxy or other proxy protocol-compatible proxies.

Network Performance Monitoring

Monitor Network Usage

Use system tools to monitor bandwidth:

# Linux
iftop -i eth0

# Or use vnstat
vnstat -l -i eth0

Spark Profiling

Profile packet handling:

/spark profiler start --thread "Server thread"
# Wait 60 seconds
/spark profiler stop

Look for:

• NetworkManager - Packet processing
• PacketEncoder / PacketDecoder - Packet serialization

Optimization Strategies

1. High-Bandwidth Server

# config/paper-global.yml
chunk-loading-basic:
  player-max-chunk-send-rate: 150.0

chunk-loading-advanced:
  auto-config-send-distance: true

misc:
  compression-level: 4  # Lower compression, less CPU

2. Limited-Bandwidth Server

# config/paper-global.yml
chunk-loading-basic:
  player-max-chunk-send-rate: 50.0

misc:
  compression-level: 7  # Higher compression

# config/spigot.yml
entity-tracking-range:
  players: 96
  animals: 64
  monsters: 64
  misc: 48

3. DDoS Protection

# config/paper-global.yml
misc:
  max-joins-per-tick: 2

packet-limiter:
  all-packets:
    max-packet-rate: 300.0
    action: KICK

spam-limiter:
  incoming-packet-threshold: 200

Troubleshooting

Slow Chunk Loading for Players

Symptoms: Chunks load slowly during teleportation or flight

Solutions:

1. Increase player-max-chunk-send-rate to 100+
2. Enable auto-config-send-distance
3. Reduce network compression level

Players Getting Kicked

Symptoms: “Exceeded packet rate limit” kicks

Solutions:

1. Increase max-packet-rate in packet-limiter
2. Increase incoming-packet-threshold
3. Change action from KICK to DROP for specific packets

High Bandwidth Usage

Symptoms: Server using excessive bandwidth

Solutions:

1. Reduce entity tracking ranges
2. Reduce player-max-chunk-send-rate
3. Increase compression level to 6-7
4. Enable auto-config-send-distance

Compression CPU Usage

Symptoms: High CPU usage in packet encoding

Solutions:

1. Reduce compression level to 3-4
2. Ensure you’re not on localhost with compression enabled

Advanced: Client Interaction Validation

File: config/paper-global.yml

misc:
  client-interaction-leniency-distance: default

Controls server-side validation leniency for player interactions.

• Default: Use vanilla validation
• Higher values: Allow interactions from slightly farther (helps with lag)
• Lower values: Stricter anti-cheat

See Also

• Server Performance Overview
• Chunk Loading Optimization
• Entity Performance