How to allocate more RAM to Minecraft

If Minecraft is crashing or giving you memory errors, you may need to increase the amount of RAM that the program can use. Other signs of low RAM are slow loading, freezing, and stuttering. Ideally, Minecraft should constantly load your surroundings fast enough to keep up with your gameplay.

If you find yourself walking on invisible blocks, waiting for the game to load around you as you walk, or have issues when moving quickly in the Overworld, please read below to find a way to address these issues.

Required Programs for Allocating More Ram to Minecraft 1.17.1
How to allocate more memory to Minecraft?
Step-by-Step Guide(with Pictures)
Step 1- Download and install the latest version of Java. Each step of installation is shown below.
Step 2- Install the Minecraft Launcher from Minecraft.net
Step 3- Open Minecraft launcher and sign in using your personal information. You should be greeted with the following screen:
Step 4- Click on the “Installations” tab
Step 5- Hover over your desired version and click the 3 dots icon highlighted below and click edit:
Step 6- Now click on the “more options” drop-down menu
Step 7- Under “JVM arguments” edit the 2 gigabyte entry “-xmx2G” to your desired amount of RAM and click “Save”.
Step 8- Launch a Minecraft world and press F3 to check how much RAM is allocated. It should now be more than 2 gigabytes.
Explainer Video
FAQs
Conclusion

Required Programs for Allocating More Ram to Minecraft 1.17.1

To run Minecraft and customize Java memory allocation settings, each player needs the following programs already installed

Oracle Java 16 or higher
Minecraft Launcher
Mac, PC, or Linux

With these two programs installed on a major operating system, you can be sure that you are ready to change your settings.

How to allocate more memory to Minecraft?

In a Nutshell:

Open the Minecraft Launcher and click on “Installations” . Click the three dots icon → edit → more options and “-Xmx2G” from 2 to the gigabytes of ram that you require and press “Save”.

6 gigabytes would look like “-Xmx6G”

Step-by-Step Guide(with Pictures):

Step 1- Download and install the latest version of Java. Each step of installation is shown below.

Only download java from Java.com

Installation success message for the Java Installer

Step 2- Install the Minecraft Launcher from Minecraft.net

Installation success message for the Minecraft Launcher

Step 3- Open Minecraft launcher and sign in using your personal information. You should be greeted with the following screen:

Step 4- Click on the “Installations” tab

Step 5- Hover over your desired version and click the 3 dots icon highlighted below and click edit:

Step 6- Now click on the “more options” drop-down menu

Step 7- Under “JVM arguments” edit the 2 gigabyte entry “-xmx2G” to your desired amount of RAM and click “Save”.

Minecraft set to allocate 6 gigabytes to RAM

Step 8- Launch a Minecraft world and press F3 to check how much RAM is allocated. It should now be more than 2 gigabytes.

Minecraft showing a cap of 6 gigabytes of RAM in-game.

Explainer Video

FAQs

Q. Can I set this value too high? Can I break my game permanently?

You can set this value too high. If you set the value above your total system ram, Minecraft will not start. Simply revert “-Xmx2G” to the default value if this happens.

Q. What if I don’t set any number?

By default, Java will only allocate 500mb of memory for Minecraft. This was changed recently to a default of 2 gigabytes, to help with system stability and performance.

Q. What is the best number to set the -xmx flag to?

It depends on your system’s available RAM. Typically, users will see benefits if they set their Minecraft RAM to 2 gigabytes below their total system RAM. If you have 8 gigabytes of RAM, set Minecraft to take up 6 gigabytes.

Conclusion

Sometimes Minecraft can begin to run out of memory. This causes several symptoms such as low performance, slow rendering, pop-in of blocks and enemies, and even crashes. These problems get even worse if utilizing mods, which are notoriously memory heavy. If the player sets their Minecraft to use a fair amount of RAM, stability and performance can improve in Singleplayer, Multiplayer, and even Realms.