Testing Methodology

Every Minecraft host is measured the same way, on the same plan size, with the same automated benchmark, so the numbers are actually comparable.

How we test

For each provider we buy a real Minecraft plan, deploy our custom benchmarking plugin, and run a benchmark session made up of 5 individual runs with pauses in between.

We repeat that session every 8 hours across a full 24-hour day to even out time-of-day load, and if a host's results come back inconsistent, we keep testing for another full day to properly capture the swing. We also keep an uptime monitor running for the full month of the subscription.

Every host is tested on a 4 GB RAM server so the playing field is identical. If a provider only sells plans with more than 4 GB of RAM, we try to limit the server to 4 GB using launch options and memory limits so it competes on the same footing as everyone else. When that isn't possible, we state it explicitly in the review and its detailed information.

The goal isn't to stress a server until it falls over. It's to measure how each host performs in realistic, standardized conditions, so a score for one provider means the same thing as a score for another.

What we measure

Our benchmark records data across 9 categories that reflect the work a real Minecraft server actually does:

  • Chunk Operations: generation and loading throughput
  • Entity Processing: entity processing under load
  • File I/O: disk read/write speed (SSD vs NVMe matters here)
  • Mathematics: raw single-core CPU performance
  • Multithreading: parallel CPU performance
  • RAM Memory: allocation and garbage-collection behavior
  • Redstone Circuits: tick-heavy redstone logic
  • Block Updates: large-scale world edits
  • Virtual Threads: modern concurrency handling

How scores work

Each run produces an Overall, Minecraft and System score, plus a Hardware score that reflects the raw machine you're actually getting. We aggregate the runs into a single result and report the variance, so you can see how consistent a host is, not just how fast it is on a good day.

Hosts are grouped into performance tiers based on their hardware score:

  • Enterprise: 200+
  • High-End: 150 to 199
  • Performance: 125 to 149
  • Standard: 100 to 124
  • Budget: under 100

We also rank by performance per dollar, because the fastest host isn't always the smartest buy.

TPS stability tracks how steadily the server ticks under load. Smaller drops mean smoother gameplay.

Support testing

Benchmarks only tell half the story, so we test the humans too. For every host we open a real support request, "help me get a plugin onto my server", and later try to cancel the subscription. We record response time, tone, whether they actually solved it, and how painful (or easy) cancelling was.

Our principles

  • Real data only. We never fabricate or estimate a metric. If we didn't measure it, it shows as N/A.
  • Independent. Rankings are driven by the data, not by who pays us.
  • Transparent. Any sponsorship or affiliate relationship is disclosed.