Minecraft doesn’t look like the most demanding game, capable of running even on weak PCs. It would seem, what’s slowing down there? However, many players encounter lags and freezes: sometimes Minecraft lags even on powerful computers. Why does this happen, what are the main reasons for lags and how to solve these problems? Let’s figure it out.
On weak PCs
Minecraft is constantly being updated, and with each new version, the system requirements are growing. This pixel world can be quite heavy for an old computer, especially when it comes to mods and shaders. What to do?
Check your graphics settings
If you are experiencing Minecraft lag, check the application settings. This may reduce the load and make the game more enjoyable.
Here are some possible solutions:
- Reduce the draw distance: set the value from 4-8 chunks;
- Set the graphics to “Fast”;
- Turn off soft lighting;
- If you want stable FPS, then enable V-Sync, in which case the frame rate will be adjusted to the hertz of your screen.
Install mods
In the basic version of Minecraft, the graphics settings are not the most flexible. This is where Optifine comes to the rescue – this is a must-have mod that optimizes performance and gives more options when setting up graphics. With its help, you can fine-tune the graphics elements: from displaying animations to performance.
Here’s how to set up optimization:
- Set the graphics to “Fast”;
- We turn off soft lighting and object lights, as they significantly load your computer;
- We set the rendering to 4-8 chunks, the more chunks you have, the lower the FPS;
- You can leave the frame rate at maximum, but if you want more stable FPS, turn on V-Sync.
If you want the picture to be smoother and the edges of objects more natural, we recommend setting the anti-aliasing value to “FXAA 4x”. This anti-aliasing method is faster, while the loss of FPS is minimal, unlike using the same shaders.
Let’s move on to the game element settings. Here we set clouds, leaves, vignette, rain and snow to “fast”, we recommend turning off fog.
In this menu we can disable unnecessary animations so that they do not overload our computer. We disable animations of redstone, particles of emptiness, fireworks, water and portal. We also disable animation of dripping lava and water. We set particles to a minimum.
We leave the level of detail at maximum: distant objects will look better due to anti-aliasing, while this does not significantly affect performance. Detailing can be set to close. We do not touch all other settings in this menu and leave them by default.
Here are the settings that are best to set in the “Performance” section:
- Fast Render : Runs an optimized rendering algorithm, which will reduce the load on the processor and increase the frame rate;
- Fast Computing : Improves CPU cache utilization;
- World stabilization : the load on the internal server will decrease, which will level out FPS and eliminate delays. Works only in local worlds;
- Smart animations : the system will only animate the areas that are visible to the player, which adds a few more frames.
On a powerful PC
We’ve sorted out the graphics settings. But what to do if the problem occurs in players with good hardware? Let’s figure out why Minecraft has low FPS even on a powerful PC.
Lots of mods or resource packs
Mods can diversify the game, add new features and items, but at the same time they also load the processor, video card, and consume more RAM. Mods can also conflict with each other, which leads to errors, crashes and lags. Some mods are poorly optimized, so they load the system and reduce performance.
Here are some solutions that may help:
- Download files compatible with your version of the game;
- Download mods from trusted sources, use assemblies that have proven themselves well;
- Avoid installing mods with overlapping functions to avoid conflicts;
- Organize your files properly: remove unnecessary or rarely used mods.
Outdated Java version
Minecraft runs on Java, and if you have an outdated version, lags are unavoidable. If you play on the latest version of Minecraft, then for its stable operation you definitely need the latest version of Java. The latest version of Java at the moment is JDK 23. You can download it from the Oracle website .
Here are a couple of tips for such a case:
- Update Java to the latest version.
- Make sure you have the correct version of Java installed for your system architecture (32 or 64 bit).
Not enough RAM memory
The launcher may have a limited amount of RAM used. To increase the memory used, follow our instructions:
- Go to the launcher settings;
- Find the parameter to set the amount of memory used – Xmx4G.
- Set the amount of RAM you want to allocate for Minecraft. For example, if you have 16GB RAM, use 8GB; if 8GB, use 4GB.
CPU and video card load
Mining diamonds, chatting with friends on Discord, and listening to music at the same time is certainly a lot of fun, but it all takes a lot of resources from your PC. So if the lag is due to a heavy load, we recommend following these steps:
- Close all unnecessary processes and programs;
- Check what graphics card the game is using: if you have a laptop, make sure it’s a discrete NVIDIA or AMD card, not an integrated GPU;
- Check and update your video card drivers if necessary.
Problems with the Internet
Server lag is a common problem. If mobs “freeze” and blocks don’t break, the problem is usually ping or an overloaded server.
What can be done:
- Check your internet connection speed on speedtest.net and make sure that the ping does not exceed 100-150 ms;
- Connect to the Internet via cable – Wi-Fi sometimes fails;
- Choose servers with low ping. For example, popular Russian-language servers VimeWorld or LemonCraft are optimized for players from the CIS.
In this guide, we have collected the main problems that players most often encounter and told about the ways to solve them. Remember that the main secret of success is the balance between a beautiful picture and performance.