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On current Paper servers running Minecraft 1.21 or newer, do not start with Timings. Paper bundles the Spark profiler and identifies it as the preferred profiling tool; Timings is deprecated and disabled by default. Run /spark profiler start during the lag, let it collect a representative sample, then run /spark profiler stop and open the URL printed by the server.
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If you run Spigot or an older Paper build, the legacy procedure is /timings on, a 10–15 minute capture while the problem is occurring, and /timings paste. The report can then show which plugins or server tasks are consuming tick time.
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Choose the right profiler for your server version
The command you should use depends on the server software and version, not merely on the Minecraft client version. Paper changed its recommended workflow, so a current guide must distinguish Spark from legacy Timings.
| Server software | Recommended method | Basic commands | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper for Minecraft 1.21 and newer | Spark profiler | /spark profiler start/spark profiler stop |
Spark creates a profile and prints a link when you stop it. Timings is deprecated and off by default. |
| Older Paper builds | Spark when available; otherwise legacy Timings | Spark commands if bundled or installed; otherwise /timings on and /timings paste |
Exact command behavior varies by Paper version. Check the documentation for the build you actually run. |
| Spigot and other software with legacy Timings | Timings | /timings on, wait, then /timings paste |
The paste produces a web report with timing sections and a Plugins tab. |
| Forge or Fabric servers | Spark, if installed for that platform | Use the Spark commands supplied by that installation | Follow your host’s support instructions if it requires a particular report format. |
Paper’s current profiling documentation is the authority for command syntax and version-specific behavior: https://docs.papermc.io/paper/profiling. Options and defaults can change between releases, so treat examples below as the commands documented for the current workflow rather than a guarantee for every historical build.
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Prepare a useful capture before starting
A profiler only explains the work performed during its capture. Starting it after everyone has left the server can produce a technically valid report that does not contain the activity causing the slowdown. Prepare the server and players first.
Confirm access and software
- Identify whether the server is Paper, Spigot, Forge, Fabric, or another fork, and record its Minecraft and server build numbers.
- Make sure you can execute commands with the required operator or console access. Running a command from the host panel’s console avoids in-game permission problems.
- Ask the host whether it wants Spark links, legacy Timings links, or a report attached to a support ticket. Hosts often publish their own intake process.
- Keep the server running normally. Do not restart, unload plugins, or change several performance settings immediately before the capture unless the issue itself requires that test.
Reproduce the problem deliberately
Write down when the lag happens and what players are doing: exploring new terrain, entering a particular dimension, using farms, fighting mobs, loading redstone machines, or joining at once. During the profile, have players perform those activities at ordinary scale. A quiet lobby profile cannot identify a plugin that only becomes expensive when chunks generate or entities accumulate.
Tell players what will happen
Profiling adds observation overhead and can make the console busier. Announce the start and stop times, ask players to continue normal activity, and note any restart or configuration change. Those notes let an administrator distinguish a persistent problem from a one-time event when reading the report.
Take a Spark profile on current Paper
Paper 1.21 and later bundle Spark and describe it as the preferred profiler. Start the profile from the game with an authorized account or from the server console.
Standard capture
- Wait until the server is under the load that normally produces the complaint. If the lag is intermittent, wait for an episode rather than starting during an idle period.
- Run
/spark profiler start. - Keep the profile running for at least 10 minutes. During that period, reproduce the normal player activity that triggers the lag. A longer sample can be useful when the event is rare, but do not stop before the captured interval includes the problematic workload.
- Run
/spark profiler stop. - Copy the URL printed in the game or console and open it in a browser. Preserve the complete URL when sending it to a host or developer.
The profile’s value comes from representative activity, not from the command alone. Record the server build, approximate online player count, what was happening during the capture, and the start and stop times alongside the link.
Stop automatically after a known duration
If you cannot remain at the console, add a timeout in seconds. Paper’s documentation gives this example:
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/spark profiler start --timeout 600
This requests a 600-second (10-minute) capture and stops automatically. Confirm the completion message and link in the console before closing the panel. A timeout controls duration; it does not recreate an event that never occurred, so start it while the server is experiencing the relevant load.
Focus on slow ticks for intermittent stalls
For a problem that appears as occasional freezes rather than constantly low performance, limit the profile to ticks exceeding a threshold. Paper documents this example:
/spark profiler start --only-ticks-over 100 --timeout 300
That combines a 100-millisecond slow-tick threshold with a 300-second (five-minute) timeout. You can use 60 instead of 100 when you want to include less severe slow ticks:
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The threshold changes which ticks receive detailed attention; it is not a claim that every tick above that value is caused by one plugin. Use a threshold that captures the symptom without discarding the surrounding work needed to understand it.
Run Spark from the console when chat commands fail
Enter the same commands without a leading slash in a traditional server console if that interface expects console syntax, or follow the host panel’s command field convention. If the server says the command is unknown, verify that you are actually on Paper 1.21 or newer, that Spark has not been removed or disabled, and that the host has not restricted profiler commands. Do not substitute a Timings command on a current Paper build without first checking the version documentation.
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Take a legacy Timings report on Spigot or older Paper
Legacy Timings remains relevant for Spigot and older Paper installations that expose the command. It is not the preferred workflow on current Paper: Paper’s documentation says Timings has been unmaintained for multiple years and that its reports are difficult for beginners to interpret. Use it when the software or a support process specifically requires a Timings paste.
Start the capture when the lag occurs
- Obtain operator permission or open the server console.
- When the symptom begins, run
/timings on. - Leave it enabled for approximately 10–15 minutes while players reproduce ordinary activity and the lag. Stopping immediately after activation usually captures too little context.
- Run
/timings pasteto publish the collected data. - Copy the resulting link exactly. Include the server version, plugin list, player count, and description of the activity when requesting help.
If the server has no /timings command, it may be a current Paper build with Timings disabled, a platform that does not provide the feature, or a host that has restricted it. Move to Spark where available rather than repeatedly trying an incompatible command.
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In a Timings report, red entries indicate excess resource use relative to the report’s calculations. The Plugins tab ranks plugins by their contribution to lag. Treat those rankings as leads to investigate, not automatic proof that the first plugin listed is defective: a plugin can appear because it schedules work, handles events generated by another system, or is involved in a workload that needs more context.
Read the numbers before blaming a plugin
Start with the server-wide health indicators, then drill into tasks and plugins. A plugin list without this context can send you after the wrong cause.
TPS: how far the server is falling behind
A normally healthy Minecraft server targets 20 ticks per second (TPS). Lower TPS means the server is not completing its scheduled ticks quickly enough, so game simulation falls behind. Check whether the low value is constant, tied to a particular activity, or limited to a short spike.
MSPT: the time budget for each tick
MSPT means milliseconds per tick. The server has 50 milliseconds available for each 20 TPS tick; MSPT should stay under 50 ms for the server to sustain the target rate. Values above 50 ms mean ticks are taking too long, and sustained excess causes TPS to drop. A short spike and a long period over the budget have different operational consequences, so compare the timeline with what players reported.
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System CPU: hardware or host contention
High system CPU usage can point to a hardware or host-capacity limit rather than a single plugin. If the profile shows broad CPU pressure across many tasks, investigate the machine’s available processor capacity, other services sharing it, and the host’s resource limits before disabling a plugin. A plugin ranking alone cannot establish that the hardware is sufficient.
Use Spark instead of isolated status commands on current Paper
Paper’s documentation treats /mspt and /tps as superseded by Spark. Those commands can be useful as a quick symptom check on versions that still expose them, but they do not replace a profile when you need to identify the work consuming tick time. Capture Spark during the event and use the report’s call-tree and timing views for investigation.
Find the task or plugin responsible for lag
Profiler output is most useful when you move from symptom to workload to owner. Follow this sequence instead of disabling the first red line you see.
1. Establish the failing interval
Compare the report’s busiest period with your notes: player joins, chunk generation, a farm cycle, a command, or a dimension change. If the report was captured during calm activity, repeat it under the missing workload before drawing a conclusion.
2. Identify the dominant server work
In Spark, inspect the areas consuming the most sampled time and follow the call tree toward recognizable systems such as entity processing, chunk work, scheduled tasks, commands, or plugin code. In Timings, inspect red entries and the Plugins tab, then open the relevant timing details instead of relying only on the headline rank.
3. Check whether the work is proportional to load
Compare a profile with fewer players or fewer entities against one made during the incident. Work that scales with entities, loaded chunks, or player actions may require reducing the triggering workload or tuning its configuration. Work that appears even when the server is empty points toward a background task, repeating schedule, or infrastructure issue.
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4. Isolate one change at a time
After recording a baseline, change one configuration, farm, plugin feature, or world condition and profile again under similar activity. Restarting and changing several variables at once can make an apparent improvement impossible to attribute. Keep the original profile so another administrator can verify the comparison.
5. Escalate with complete evidence
Send the profile URL, server software and exact version, Java or host details if requested, approximate player count, reproduction steps, and the time window. Include whether the symptom was low TPS, high MSPT, short freezes, or all three. A link without a reproduction description forces support to guess what the profile represents.
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Short freezes are easy to miss with a profile started after the event. Use an automatic timeout long enough to cover the usual interval, or use Spark’s slow-tick filter. For example, /spark profiler start --only-ticks-over 60 --timeout 600 watches a 10-minute window while concentrating on ticks over 60 ms.
Do not interpret a slow-tick filter as a complete server history. It intentionally emphasizes the ticks above the selected threshold. If the resulting report is too sparse to explain the cause, repeat a normal profile during the same activity without the filter, or lower the threshold from 100 to 60.
Host-specific support workflows
Managed hosts do not all request the same artifact. Some publish Timings instructions, others recommend Spark, and some require that you open a support ticket and paste the link into it. Shockbyte, WiseHosting, PebbleHost, and Sparked Host are examples of providers that publish their own workflows for these reports. Follow the instructions for your host’s current panel and software image when they differ from a generic command sequence.
Before opening a ticket, ask whether the host needs a profile made from the panel console, whether it wants a minimum duration, and whether it needs the server log as well. Do not paste only a screenshot of TPS; provide the generated report URL and the conditions under which the lag occurred.
Troubleshoot common command and report problems
“Unknown command” for Spark
- Check the server software and version; Spark is bundled with Paper starting in 1.21, not necessarily with every older fork.
- Try the command from the server console to rule out in-game permission or chat parsing issues.
- Ask the host whether profiler commands are restricted or whether Spark was removed from a custom installation.
- Consult the current Paper profiling page for syntax changes before trying options copied from an older guide.
“Unknown command” for Timings
- Current Paper may have Timings deprecated and disabled by default.
- The server may be running a platform that does not implement legacy Timings.
- Use Spark on a supported Paper build, or ask support which profiler the host accepts.
The report has no useful lag data
- Check that profiling overlapped the actual incident and that players performed the triggering activity.
- Confirm that the capture lasted long enough: Spark guidance calls for at least 10 minutes for a normal profile, while legacy Timings guidance is about 10–15 minutes.
- Repeat the capture with a slow-tick filter for intermittent stalls, then make a normal capture if the filtered view omits too much context.
- Record player count, loaded worlds, and the exact reproduction steps so the next profile is comparable.
The report points to high overall CPU
Do not immediately remove a plugin. Broad CPU pressure may indicate a hardware or host limit. Compare the server’s workload and available capacity, then profile again after reducing one known load source. If the host controls the machine, provide the report and ask whether the instance is CPU-throttled.
A repeatable reporting checklist
- Identify the server platform and exact build.
- Choose Spark for current Paper, or legacy Timings only when the software or support process requires it.
- Start during normal load or the specific lag episode.
- Capture at least 10 minutes with Spark; allow about 10–15 minutes for legacy Timings.
- Use
--timeoutfor an automatic stop and--only-ticks-overwhen intermittent slow ticks are the target. - Stop the profile and preserve the complete generated URL.
- Compare TPS with the 20 TPS target and MSPT with the 50 ms tick budget.
- Check system CPU before assigning blame to a plugin.
- Use plugin rankings and call trees as investigation leads, then test one change at a time.
- Send the report with version, player count, reproduction steps, and the activity performed during capture.
For current Paper, that process produces a Spark profile rather than a Timings paste. The older Timings commands remain a compatibility procedure for servers that still expose them, but the profiler choice should follow the software version and the support workflow you are using.
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