Choosing the Right Minecraft Server Type
Paper, Spigot, Forge, Fabric, or Vanilla? A straightforward comparison to help you pick the right server type for your community.
When you create a Minecraft server on Zeros Host, you choose a server type. This decision affects what you can install, how the server performs, and what your players experience. Here is how to decide.
Paper
Paper is the recommended choice for most servers. It is a fork of Spigot with significant performance improvements, bug fixes, and a cleaner plugin API. If you want plugins (economy, permissions, minigames, anti-cheat), start with Paper. It runs every Spigot and Bukkit plugin, plus Paper-specific plugins.
Use Paper if: you want plugins and good performance. This covers 80% of use cases.
Spigot
Spigot is the predecessor to Paper. It still works and still has a large plugin ecosystem. The main reason to use Spigot over Paper is if a specific plugin only works on Spigot and has not been updated for Paper. For new servers, Paper is almost always the better choice.
Use Spigot if: a specific plugin requires it and is not available for Paper.
Forge
Forge is the long-standing mod loader for large modpacks. If you are running a kitchen-sink modpack from CurseForge (Direwolf20, All The Mods, RLCraft), you need Forge. It is heavier than Fabric and requires more RAM, but it has the largest mod library.
Use Forge if: you are running a modpack that requires it. Allocate at least 6 GB RAM for modded servers.
Fabric
Fabric is a lightweight mod loader focused on performance and clean APIs. Fabric mods tend to be smaller and more targeted. It is popular for technical Minecraft, vanilla+ experiences, and performance-focused setups (Lithium, Sodium server-side).
Use Fabric if: you want lightweight mods, performance optimisations, or a vanilla+ experience.
Vanilla
The official Mojang server, completely unmodified. No plugins, no mods, no performance patches. Good for small private SMP worlds where you want the exact vanilla experience.
Use Vanilla if: you want the pure Minecraft experience with no modifications at all.
Can I switch later?
Yes. The Version Manager in the panel lets you switch server types. Switching from Paper to Spigot (or vice versa) is seamless because they share the same plugin format. Switching between Forge and Fabric requires different mods. Switching from modded to Vanilla means losing mod data. Plan ahead, but know that the option exists.
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Want to try this on a real server?
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