Understanding Server Performance: RAM, CPU, and Tick Rate

Server performance questions come down to three things: RAM, CPU, and tick rate. Understanding what each one does helps you pick the right plan and diagnose problems when they happen.

RAM

RAM determines how much data your server can hold in memory at once. For game servers, this includes the map, all loaded addons or plugins, player data, and entity state. When the server runs out of RAM, it either crashes or starts swapping to disk, which destroys performance.

Rough guidelines for GMod DarkRP: a lightly modded server with 10 to 15 players runs comfortably on 4 GB. Heavy addon stacks (VoidCases, car packs, custom weapons, M9K) push that to 6 or 8 GB. For Minecraft, a vanilla server needs about 2 GB for a small group. Modded Minecraft (Forge with large modpacks) can need 8 GB or more.

More RAM does not make a server faster. It prevents the server from running out of memory. If your server is not using all its allocated RAM, adding more will not improve performance.

CPU

CPU performance matters more than most people realise. Both the Source engine (GMod) and Minecraft's server run primarily on a single thread. This means that a server with 8 slow CPU cores will perform worse than a server with 2 fast cores.

Single-thread performance is what determines how many entities, players, and scripts your server can process per tick. When the CPU cannot keep up, the server falls behind and tick rate drops. You see this as lag: delayed hit registration, rubber-banding, and slow NPC responses.

VPS hosting means you are sharing physical hardware with other customers. This is standard across the industry. Performance depends on the host's hardware quality and how aggressively they oversell. We use modern AMD processors on our nodes, but it is still shared infrastructure. If you need dedicated cores, our higher tiers allocate more CPU time.

Tick rate

Tick rate is how many times per second the server processes the game world. GMod runs at 33 ticks per second (approximately 30ms per tick). Minecraft runs at 20 ticks per second (50ms per tick). These numbers are fixed by the game engine.

When the server cannot finish its work within the tick budget, the effective tick rate drops. In GMod, you see this as reduced server FPS in the console. In Minecraft, TPS (ticks per second) drops below 20. Both mean the same thing: the server is overloaded.

Reading the TPS monitor

The Zeros Host panel includes a TPS monitor for Minecraft servers. Here is how to read it:

• 20 TPS: the server is keeping up perfectly. No action needed.
• 18 to 19 TPS: slight load. Usually fine, but worth watching during peak hours.
• 15 to 17 TPS: noticeable lag. Players will feel delays. Check what is causing the load (too many entities, a heavy plugin, world generation).
• Below 15 TPS: significant lag. The server is struggling. Either reduce load or upgrade your plan.

For GMod, check the server console for the sv value, which shows server-side FPS. A healthy DarkRP server should show values near 33. If it consistently drops below 20, you have a performance problem.

When to upgrade

Upgrade when you are consistently hitting resource limits during normal play. If your server crashes from out-of-memory errors, you need more RAM. If TPS or server FPS drops during peak hours, you need more CPU allocation. If you are not seeing either of these, your current tier is fine.

Do not upgrade preemptively based on player count alone. A well-configured server with 20 players can outperform a poorly configured one with 5. Optimise your addons and plugins first, then upgrade hardware if needed.

See zerosrp.co.uk/pricing for a full comparison of RAM and CPU allocations per tier. If you have questions about which plan fits your setup, ask in the Discord. Start a trial at zerosrp.co.uk/register.