How To Allocate More RAM To Minecraft
Despite its low graphical style and relatively simple gameplay, Minecraft can be an intense application. A lot is going on in the background, especially if you start playing around with Redstone-heavy builds.
If you throw mods in the mix, the official amount from RAM Minecraft wants to run suddenly becomes nowhere near enough. Without sufficient RAM, you’ll start to encounter stuttering, crashes, and different issues that make the game almost unplayable.
The good news is that it’s almost easy to allocate more RAM to Minecraft. Another good news is that there is more than one way to do it.
Make Sure You Have RAM To Spare
The first step is to find how precisely how much RAM your PC has. This is easy.
- Click Start and choose the Settings icon (it seems like a gear).
- Click About.
- Below Device Specifications, look for Installed RAM. The number beside that will inform you how much RAM you have to spare.
Minecraft calls for a least 2 GB from RAM, although the suggested specs call for 4 GB. If you have higher than this, you’re golden. Forthwith you can allocate all the RAM Minecraft wants to quench its thirst.
How To Allocate More RAM To Minecraft
Method 1: Allocate RAM From The Default Launcher
The first default Minecraft launcher has changed over the years, but you can still allocate more RAM to what Minecraft uses.
- Open the Minecraft Launcher and choose the version you want to play (either Bedrock or Java)
- Choose Installations from the tabs at the top. You will look at a list of releases below, but you might only see the most recent version if you haven’t set up any specific versions to play.
- Hover your cursor over it, click the 3 white dots on the right side, and then click Edit.
- You will notice a screen with the name of the installation, the version, and some other settings. Click More Options and scroll down till you seem JVM Arguments. The box will contain a lot of code, but all you need to worry about is the first snippet that appears like this:
-Xmx2G
- The number on end is the amount of RAM Minecraft uses. Change the “2” to but much RAM you need Minecraft to utilize.
It’s possible to let it use each of the RAM you have available, but whether it gets the advantage of complete utilization depends on if you have anything more running and open in the background.
- Once you get the change, click Save and launch the game. You should notice a difference in performance immediately.
Method 2: Allocate RAM From The ATLauncher
If you have downloaded mods either played many of Sky Factory, you’re likely familiar with Minecraft’s ATLauncher. This makes ATLauncher set aside more RAM even more comfortably than by the default launcher since this means you don’t have to work among any code to make it occur.
- Launch the ATLauncher.
- At the right side of the launcher is a list of options. Choose Settings and then the Java/Minecraft tab at the top of the screen.
- There are so many options to choose from, but what you’re interested in is the second one – Maximum Memory/RAM. You can type in the amount you need to allocate, but the simplest option is to click the up and down arrows. They move the amount of allocated RAM up or down in 0.5 GB increments.
- Once you have taken the amount of RAM, you wish to use, click Save. If you’re playing a mod-heavy pack like a SkyFactory, you will have to allocate more RAM, and the title won’t launch. In tests, Sky Factory 4 wanted 4 GB of RAM at minimum or faced startup errors.
Method 3: Allocate RAM Using The Twitch/Curse Launcher
You can also play a kind of Minecraft mods (or regular Minecraft) via the Twitch launcher. Changing the settings is just as simple in this launcher as in the ATLauncher above, but the initial step for reaching those settings is different.
- In the top-right corner, click the 3 lines, go to Files, and then click Settings. You can further press CTRL + Comma from within the launcher to open the Settings menu.
- Of where navigate to Minecraft and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. You will notice a section entitled Java Settings. See for Allocated Memory and click the slider.
- By fault, it gives 3,228 MB of RAM to Sky Factory 4. You can move the slider to this left or to the right to allocate also or less RAM for the game. The slider increases and decreases the RAM in 0.25 GB increments.
- Once you have moved the slider, you’re completed. Navigate back to Mods, Choose Minecraft, and launch into your better-performing title. It’s as easy as that.
Allocating more RAM on Minecraft can (and in many cases will) make Minecraft perform great, but there are situations in which allocating over much RAM will reduce overall system performance.
Many areas of your PC need RAM, too. While these won’t make a massive impact if they aren’t running at the very time as a game, it’s often a better idea to provide at least 1 GB of RAM for different methods not related to gaming.
If you change your RAM settings and but do not see the performance you expect—or your computer reports an inaccurate amount of RAM—it can indicate other issues with your memory. It’s a great idea to check for bad memory occasionally.
The excellent advice is that even if you have an issue with your RAM, swapping it out is easy. If you want to view even stabler performance, it’s worth considering purchasing more RAM for your system, particularly as memory prices continue to fall.
