How to allocate more RAM to Minecraft on PCs

Minecraft is famous for offering a fantastic gaming experience even at low configurations. Even though Minecraft is a pixel block, it can still be quite resource-heavy. While frame drops and lag spikes are common on low-end PCs, facing them on powerful PCs is unusual.

Many times, lags in PCs are due to heavy mods and shaders. However, sometimes, RAM allocation is at fault as well. Minecraft has a minimum requirement of 4 GB RAM. Sometimes players may experience lag spikes even though they have enough RAM with no mods.

One of the common reasons for game lag and crashes is due to low RAM allocation. Increasing the amount of RAM allocated to Minecraft will help improve game performance.

Guide to allocate more RAM to Minecraft

This article is a step-by-step guide on how to allocate more RAM to Minecraft. Remember to leave enough RAM for the operating system to run properly.

1. Launch the Minecraft Client

Minecraft client (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

The first step is to launch Minecraft Client. Once the client has opened, go to the installations tab. Under the Installation Tab, players can find all the versions installed on their computers.

Hover the mouse cursor above the desired version and click on the three dots beside the 'Play' button. Select the edit option from the drop menu.

2. Edit Installation settings

Installation settings page (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

Clicking on the edit option will open the Installation settings page. On this page, players can see the details of the selected Minecraft version. Click on "More Options" to reveal hidden settings.

Players can find "JAVA EXECUTABLE" and "JVM ARGUMENTS." Don't make any changes in the text field of the first option. In the argument text field, replace "Xmx1G" with "Xmx#G" and keep everything else the same. Change the # with the amount of RAM you want to allocate.

For example: For allocating 4 GB of RAM to Minecraft, replace "Xmx1G" with "Xmx4G".

3. Save the settings and play Minecraft

Play screen image (Image via Mojang)

After allocating the RAM, save the settings by clicking the Save button at the bottom of the page. Follow the same steps for all Minecraft versions you play. The same method should also work on modpacks.

Players can run the game and see the change in performance. If the frame drops and lags persist, players can try optimization mods like Optifine or Sodium.