1The 25 most installed plugins
Servers running each plugin, from bStats, the stats service most plugins build in.
| Rank | Servers | Share | What it does | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EssentialsX | 1 | 66,411 | 35.4% | Commands, homes, warps, kits and an economy |
| PlaceholderAPI | 2 | 63,503 | 33.8% | Library: placeholders other plugins show |
| WorldEdit | 3 | 56,881 | 30.3% | Edits big areas of the world at once |
| packetevents | 4 | 56,083 | 29.9% | Library: packet handling for other plugins |
| WorldGuard | 5 | 54,089 | 28.8% | Protected regions and their rules |
| TAB | 6 | 49,093 | 26.1% | Tab list, name tags and scoreboard |
| Vault | 7 | 47,594 | 25.3% | Library: connects economy and permission plugins |
| ProtocolLib | 8 | 46,670 | 24.9% | Library: packet access for other plugins |
| NBT-API | 9 | 44,035 | 23.5% | Library: item and block data for other plugins |
| Multiverse-Core | 10 | 43,247 | 23.0% | Several worlds on one server |
| Chunky | 11 | 41,336 | 22.0% | Generates the world ahead of players |
| FastAsyncWorldEdit | 12 | 37,350 | 19.9% | A faster WorldEdit for big edits |
| CoreProtect | 13 | 30,422 | 16.2% | Logs blocks and rolls back griefing |
| EssentialsXSpawn | 14 | 28,676 | 15.3% | EssentialsX's spawn point module |
| GSit | 15 | 25,111 | 13.4% | Sit, lie down and crawl |
| EssentialsXChat | 16 | 22,499 | 12.0% | EssentialsX's chat formatting module |
| Skript | 17 | 21,793 | 11.6% | A scripting language for custom features |
| DecentHolograms | 18 | 21,060 | 11.2% | Floating text |
| Citizens | 19 | 19,509 | 10.4% | NPCs |
| Grim | 20 | 18,323 | 9.8% | Anticheat |
| DeluxeMenus | 21 | 16,793 | 8.9% | Custom menus |
| DiscordSRV | 22 | 16,447 | 8.8% | Links chat with a Discord channel |
| FancyNpcs | 23 | 16,151 | 8.6% | NPCs |
| FancyHolograms | 24 | 15,171 | 8.1% | Floating text |
| InvSee++ | 25 | 14,517 | 7.7% | Opens players' inventories and ender chests |
2Plugins that do the same job
- Web maps: BlueMap 14,090 servers, dynmap 5,269, squaremap 2,872 and Pl3xMap 1,297.
- Anticheats: Grim 18,323 and Vulcan 7,032.
- Holograms: DecentHolograms 21,060 and FancyHolograms 15,171.
- NPCs: Citizens 19,509 and FancyNpcs 16,151.
- Land protection: WorldGuard 54,089 and GriefPrevention 9,457, across its two bStats listings.
- Shops: Shopkeepers 8,793, EconomyShopGUI 8,249 and QuickShop-Hikari 4,486.
Old plugins linger too: 11.6% of Paper servers still load at least one plugin written for Minecraft before 1.13, and 14 load more than 50.
3Crossplay: Bedrock players on Java servers
Floodgate, the add-on that lets Bedrock players join a Java server without a Java account, runs on 66,840 servers and proxies. 53,136 of them are Paper or Spigot servers: 28% of all servers reporting. Geyser, which translates between the two editions, runs on 58,867.
| Bedrock players' device | Players online | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Android | 8,039 | 58.2% |
| Windows | 1,769 | 12.8% |
| iOS | 1,501 | 10.9% |
| PlayStation | 1,257 | 9.1% |
| Switch | 713 | 5.2% |
| Xbox | 504 | 3.7% |
| Other | 22 | 0.2% |
The 13,805 Bedrock players online through Geyser at 14:00 UTC on 28 Sep 2026, from Geyser's own bStats counter.
Phones are 69% of the Bedrock players on Java servers, and consoles 18%.
4Server software
| Software | Servers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | 132,193 | 73.0% |
| Purpur | 17,170 | 9.5% |
| Spigot | 12,085 | 6.7% |
| Leaf | 4,179 | 2.3% |
| UniverseSpigot | 2,073 | 1.1% |
| Arclight | 1,572 | 0.9% |
| Folia | 1,213 | 0.7% |
| Mohist | 996 | 0.6% |
| Other | 4,030 | 2.2% |
| Unknown | 5,505 | 3.0% |
Of the 181,016 servers that report their software. Arclight and Mohist load mods and plugins together.
Paper's own counter puts Paper and its forks, such as Purpur, Leaf and Folia, on 166,456 servers: 89% of all servers reporting. In front of the servers, Velocity proxies outnumber BungeeCord about six to one: 13,348 against 2,199.
5Minecraft and Java versions
| Minecraft | Servers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 26.2 | 57,363 | 30.7% |
| 1.21.11 | 48,873 | 26.1% |
| 26.1.2 | 16,647 | 8.9% |
| 26.3 | 13,393 | 7.2% |
| 1.21.4 | 7,387 | 3.9% |
| 1.21.10 | 6,103 | 3.3% |
| 1.21.8 | 5,854 | 3.1% |
| 1.21.1 | 5,202 | 2.8% |
| 1.20.1 | 4,515 | 2.4% |
| 1.8.8 | 4,268 | 2.3% |
| 1.12.2 | 3,350 | 1.8% |
| Other versions | 14,149 | 7.6% |
Of the 187,104 servers that report their Minecraft version.
Minecraft 26.x runs on 47.2% of servers and 1.21.x on 41.8%, so 1.21.11, the last 1.x release, is still the second most common version. Java follows: Java 25, which 26.1 and newer need, runs on 61.8% of servers, Java 21 on 27.5%, Java 17 on 3.0% and Java 8 on 2.7%.
6The machines servers run on
- Operating system: Linux 90.2%, Windows 9.3% (a third of it Windows Server) and macOS 0.4%.
- Processor: 95.5% x86-64 and 4.5% ARM64, which is 8,486 servers.
- Cores: 51.9% have 4 or fewer: 1 core 2.9%, 2 cores 19.7%, 3 or 4 cores 29.3%, 5 to 8 cores 20.2%, 9 to 16 cores 15.1% and more than 16 cores 12.4%.
- Country, by the server's address: the United States 22.1%, Germany 21.7%, France 7.1%, China 5.0%, Canada 4.7%, the United Kingdom 4.0%, the Netherlands 3.6% and Finland 2.8%. That's where the machines are, which isn't always where the players are.
7When players are online
| Hour (UTC) | Players online |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | 181,088 |
| 03:00 | 163,485 |
| 04:00, the quietest | 160,702 |
| 06:00 | 169,222 |
| 09:00 | 201,391 |
| 12:00 | 253,701 |
| 15:00 | 298,206 |
| 17:00, the busiest | 304,809 |
| 21:00 | 218,440 |
Players on servers reporting to bStats, averaged over the 7 days to 28 Sep 2026.
The number of servers online barely moves, from 177,568 to 187,955 over the day, while players nearly double. Restarts and updates at 04:00 to 05:00 UTC reach the fewest players.
8How we counted
- The source: bStats' public API, read for 14:00 UTC on 28 Sep 2026. Totals and charts come from its counter for Bukkit-based servers (Paper, Purpur, Spigot and their forks), plugins from its plugin table, crossplay from Floodgate's and Geyser's own counters, and Paper's share from Paper's own counter.
- What's missing: servers with bStats off, and plugins that don't report to it. LuckPerms, ViaVersion, spark, LiteBans and Simple Voice Chat aren't there, so they're missing, not unpopular. Modded Fabric, NeoForge and Forge servers aren't in the totals.
- Busy hours: the average of each hour over the 7 days to 28 Sep 2026.
Questions
What are the most popular Minecraft server plugins?
EssentialsX (66,411 servers), WorldEdit (56,881), WorldGuard (54,089), TAB (49,093) and Multiverse-Core (43,247), out of 187,758 servers reporting to bStats on 28 Sep 2026. Counting libraries, PlaceholderAPI is second with 63,503.
Is Paper more popular than Spigot?
By far: 73.0% of servers run Paper and 6.7% run Spigot. Counting forks of Paper like Purpur and Leaf, 89% run Paper's code.
What Minecraft version do most servers run?
26.2, on 30.7% of servers, then 1.21.11 on 26.1%. Together, 26.x versions run on 47.2% of servers and 1.21.x on 41.8%.
How many Minecraft servers are there?
At least 187,758 Paper, Purpur and Spigot servers were online with bStats on at 14:00 UTC on 28 Sep 2026, behind 13,348 Velocity and 2,199 BungeeCord proxies. Servers with bStats off, modded servers and Bedrock servers aren't in that count, so there are more.
Why isn't LuckPerms on the list?
It doesn't report to bStats, so it can't be counted this way. Neither do ViaVersion and spark.
When is the best time to restart a Minecraft server?
When the fewest players are on. Across servers reporting to bStats, that's 04:00 to 05:00 UTC, with about half as many players online as at the 17:00 UTC peak. Your own server's player graph is the better guide.
