What Minecraft version should I use?

Unsure what server version does what? Hopefully this will help you out!

This guide can hopefully help you understand what the Different Server versions do, and what we recommend that you run on your service to get the best performance.

The most common options

• Vanilla Minecraft

• Spigot

• CraftBukkit

• Paper

• BungeeCord

• Nukkit

Vanilla Minecraft

Vanilla Minecraft is the version of Minecraft without any modifications or changes, this is the version of Minecraft made by Mojang, These options allow you to run a Multiplayer server running the very base version of the game.

Warning: Vanilla versions are un-altered and don't allow for any modification or changes.

CraftBukkit

CraftBukkit runs what is known as the Bukkit API which adds support to the game for Multiplayer and plugins. This is currently maintained and supported by the developers of Spigot who use the Bukkit API and add their own Spigot API to the server.

Warning: All Bukkit plugins should run on Spigot servers as they both utilize the same API, however, Spigot plugins will not run on Bukkit Servers.

Spigot

Spigot is a commonly used Multiplayer version of Minecraft, This version supports modification and plugins, For example, if you wanted to add a plugin to teleport from one player to another, you would likely use this version.

Spigot has a website where developers publish plugins that can be used for these versions, you can view the website here.

Paper

This is currently the version that we recommend that you use and run on your server. Paper is known as a fork of Spigot, this means that the developers of Paper have taken the Spigot code and changed it, The changes they have made are optimizations to the server that allow it to run better and use fewer resources, This gives the client a better experience when using and playing on the server.

Awesome: All Spigot and Bukkit plugins should work on Paper.

Note: The optimization changes in paper reduce lag and memory/CPU usage.

BungeeCord

BungeeCord is a version created by Spigot that allows you to connect multiple servers together, these servers can run Spigot, CraftBukkit, Paper or some other version. A guide for setting up BungeeCord is currently being worked on. (as of Apr 11, 2020)

Warning: BungeeCord needs its own server to run. Typically this doesn't need to be anything more than 1GB of RAM as this is not an intense server version. We recommend 512mb of RAM to start off.

Nukkit

Nukkit is a version that was created to give Multiplayer server support to Minecraft: Pocket Edition players, This version does support plugins, however, the plugins that it will run have to be developed by Nukkit.

Note: You can find more details about Nukkit and it's development here.