TPS (Ticks Per Second)

TPS (Ticks Per Second) is the most critical performance metric for any Minecraft server. It measures how many game updates the server processes per second.

What Is a Tick?

Minecraft runs on a tick-based game loop. By default, the server attempts to process 20 ticks per second. Each tick is 50 milliseconds:

20 TPS  =  50ms per tick  =  Optimal performance
18 TPS  =  ~55ms per tick  =  Minor lag noticeable
15 TPS  =  ~66ms per tick  =  Significant lag
10 TPS  =  100ms per tick  =  Severe lag, near unplayable

Checking TPS

Paper/Purpur

Run /tps in your server console to see TPS for the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

Spark

Install Spark and run /spark tps for detailed tick rate information.

What Causes Low TPS?

• Too many entities (mobs, items, villagers)
• Heavy plugins doing lots of work each tick
• Excessive redstone activity
• Large-scale block updates
• World generation (new chunks being created)
• Complex mod machinery

Fixing Low TPS

1. Run /tps to confirm the issue
2. Use /spark profiler to identify the cause
3. Reduce entity counts where possible
4. Optimize or replace inefficient plugins
5. Adjust view distance and simulation distance