All The Mods 9 is the most popular modpack we host. It's also the modpack we get the most "why is my server lagging" tickets about — but never from servers running on the right hardware tier. So let's settle the RAM question, the CPU question, and the "do I really need NVMe" question once and for all.
What ATM 9 actually demands
ATM 9 is a Forge-based kitchen-sink pack. The progression spans Mekanism, Applied Energistics 2, Botania, Industrial Foregoing, Thermal Foundation, and dozens more. Players who finish early-game move into infinite-progression modes that involve constant chunk-loading, dimensional travel, and active machine simulation.
This means three things stress your server:
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RAM — every loaded chunk and entity lives in memory. Modded chunks are bigger than vanilla because they hold more data per block (custom NBT, machine state, tile entities). 5,000 loaded chunks of vanilla = ~2 GB. The same 5,000 chunks of late-game ATM 9 = closer to 5 GB.
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Single-thread CPU performance — Minecraft's main tick is single-threaded. When mods run heavy logic (Mekanism reactor simulation, Botania mana flow, ME network ticks), they all queue on that one thread. CPU clock matters way more than core count.
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Disk speed — chunk loads happen constantly when players move or machines pull from storage. SATA SSDs add visible stutter. NVMe Gen 4 (~7 GB/s) makes chunk loads invisible.
RAM by player count and progression stage
Real numbers from our fleet:
| Stage | Players | Recommended RAM | |---|---|---| | Early game (first 20 hours) | 1–4 | 8 GB | | Mid game (first machines, ME network) | 4–8 | 10 GB | | Late game (multiblocks, dimension exploration) | 4–8 | 12 GB | | Late game with heavy auto-farms | 8–12 | 16 GB | | End game (multiple players' factories live) | 10+ | 20 GB+ |
Our default recommendation: 12 GB. Most groups find their permanent home there. Going lower works for early-game vanilla-feel runs, but the cost of resizing later is so low ($0 on Lagless) that we'd rather you start at 12 and never need to think about it again.
What hardware we actually run ATM 9 on
We run ATM 9 servers across all 8 locations on AMD Ryzen 9950X (5.7 GHz boost) or 9900X. Here's what each piece does:
- Ryzen 9950X / 9900X high-clock cores — keeps Minecraft's main tick fast. Most modpack TPS drops are CPU-bound, not RAM-bound. Clock speed beats core count for this workload.
- DDR5-6000 ECC RAM — fast memory bandwidth = faster chunk reloads. ECC catches single-bit errors that would otherwise corrupt long-running worlds.
- NVMe Gen 4 (7 GB/s) — chunk reads are invisible. Compare to a SATA SSD's 500 MB/s ceiling and you'd notice every fly-through-the-world moment.
- 10 Gbps network uplink — bandwidth is rarely the issue, but for big modpack patches (1+ GB updates), you don't want to wait.
Setup in under 60 seconds
If you're hosting ATM 9 on Lagless:
- Open /plans?game=minecraft&ram=12 — RAM is preset to our 12 GB recommendation
- Pick the location closest to your players (configurator pings live from your browser)
- Click Deploy
- Wait ~50–60 seconds while we provision
- Server's ready. SSH/SFTP/web-console all live, ATM 9 install is one panel click
The 48-hour free trial covers ATM 9 too. You don't need a credit card — if it doesn't run smoothly on your specific play style, you walk.
When to scale up (and how)
You'll know it's time to bump RAM when:
- Your TPS in
/forge tpsdrops below 19 consistently with all players online - Spark profiler reports flag long ticks tied to specific mods (you can run a profile from the panel)
- You're loading 5+ dimensions actively
- Auto-farms or contraptions are running 24/7 with no players online
Resizing is one click in the panel. Pay the prorated difference, restart in ~10 seconds, you're on the new tier. We don't charge to scale up.
Common mistakes
Hosting ATM 9 on a 4 GB plan to save money. You'll spend the savings on stress while watching the world stutter. Just start at 10–12 GB.
Picking a host based purely on $/GB. Some hosts run shared CPUs that go to 100% load when neighbors update their packs — your TPS tanks even though you didn't change anything. Hardware quality is invisible in marketing copy until your server starts lagging.
Not pinning Java args. ATM 9's launcher recommendation is good, but if you're tuning manually, use Aikar's flags. They're built specifically for modded Minecraft GC patterns.
TL;DR
Run ATM 9 on 12 GB minimum (10 GB if your group is small and patient), on flagship Ryzen + NVMe hardware. Don't compromise on the host's silicon — modpack TPS pain is almost always CPU-bound, and shared boxes on cheap hosts will tank you regardless of RAM.