Minecraft Forge vs Sponge vs Bukkit: Key differences explained

Minecraft servers are one of the most popular and expansive ways to enjoy multiplayer. Servers in Minecraft come in all shapes in sizes and are uniquely different from one another.

One way in which servers dramatically vary is the underlying software they use to power them. Over the years, a variety of server software has emerged, but among the most popular and well-known are Forge, Sponge, and Bukkit.

For those looking to set up their own server, this article will take a look at how the most popular server softwares vary from each other and the advantages and disadvantages to each individual solution.

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Minecraft server software compared: What is the use for each one?

What is a Minecraft Forge server used for?

Forge servers are designed for use against the Forge modding API. This means they can run any of the thousands of mods that have been designed to work with the forge modloader.

Gamers looking to play mods will need to use a forge server to do so. Forge servers cannot run conventional plugins, but they can run mods which in some cases are much more expansive.

One disadvantage of Forge servers is that they are not as optimized as other solutions. This means they cannot scale with lots of players as easily and are mostly designed for use in an environment below 20 players or so.

Another thing to note is that players connected to the Forge server must also have the mods locally installed to their game client. This can be a rather tricky problem, especially when dealing with version mis-matches and minor discrepancies between setups.

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What is a Minecraft Bukkit server used for?

Bukkit servers can run server plugins and are more optimized for higher playercounts. The most popular gamemodes of Minecraft servers such as Factions servers run some kind of Bukkit fork. This is most commonly in the form of PaperSpigot, which is a heavily optimized fork of Bukkit designed for high playercounts.

Using Paper or some other fork of Bukkit is a great choice in many instances as it does not require players to have any mods installed on their client to join. All of the plugins that add new features to the game are run on the backend server side.

One big disadvantage of using a Bukkit fork, however, is that no mods can be run on these servers. This is a shame for those looking to play modpacks with friends, but it does come with the added benefit of huge performance gains.

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What is a Minecraft Sponge server used for?

Sponge servers are a sort of hybrid between Bukkit and Forge servers. They can run both mods and plugins and are relatively efficient thanks to optimizations imported from the Paper project.

Although not as efficient as a Paper server, Sponge servers are certainly one of the best options available for those looking to play modpacks. They can maintain a respectable level of server performance at higher playercounts, even with a substantial amount of mods running.

It should be noted, however, that while most server plugins will function with Sponge, not all of them will. This can be somewhat of a pain as server admins will need to ensure in advance that desired plugins are sponge compatible before being used. If this is not done, then unexpected errors may occur.

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