Choose Paper for a small server, a normal SMP or broad plugin compatibility. Choose Folia only when you expect many players spread across the world and every required plugin explicitly supports Folia. ChunkArc offers Paper, Purpur, Folia and Fabric at creation; Folia is worth choosing only if the software you plan to run states that it supports Folia's regionised threading.
Is Folia better than Paper?
Folia is not generally better than Paper. Paper is the better default for most small and medium Minecraft servers because it supports a much wider plugin ecosystem and is simpler to operate. Folia can outperform Paper only in the right workload: many players spread across independent regions, enough CPU cores, and a complete plugin stack written specifically for Folia.
The practical difference
Recorded ChunkArc installations: July–August 2026
From 27 July to 26 August 2026, the ChunkArc panel completed 173 Paper, Purpur or Folia server installations. Paper accounted for 159 installations, compared with 12 for Purpur and 2 for Folia.
| Software | Installations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | 159 | 91.9% |
| Purpur | 12 | 6.9% |
| Folia | 2 | 1.2% |
How to read this: these are completed installations, not unique customers or a survey of their reasons. The records may include internal test servers. The window runs from 27 July at 16:56:57 to 26 August at 16:56:57 UTC. Two Folia installations cannot establish a performance advantage. This sample is not a benchmark or a picture of the wider hosting market.
Why Paper is the default choice
Paper improves the Minecraft Java server while retaining the plugin ecosystem most administrators already understand. Permissions, protection, homes, moderation and quality-of-life plugins are generally easiest to deploy on Paper.
For a Free Beta server with a few friends, Folia usually adds compatibility work without creating a meaningful advantage. Paper is therefore ChunkArc's recommended starting point unless your use case clearly needs something else.
What Folia changes
Folia is a Paper fork maintained by the PaperMC team. It divides loaded chunks into independent regions and runs eligible regions in parallel. This can help a large server whose players are spread across separate areas, such as some skyblock or large SMP designs.
Folia is not a universal performance switch. Players gathered in the same area still create a concentrated workload, and small servers rarely have enough independent regions to benefit significantly.
Paper and Folia plugin compatibility
A Paper plugin is not automatically compatible with Folia. Folia removes the assumption of one global main thread, so plugin code must schedule work against the correct region or entity. PaperMC requires compatible plugins to declare folia-supported: true, but the project documentation also warns that the declaration alone does not make unsafe code compatible.
- Check the plugin's official page or documentation for explicit Folia support.
- Do not assume that a plugin works because its Paper version loads successfully.
- Test backups and core gameplay before moving a live world.
- Use Paper when even one essential plugin depends on the traditional scheduler.
Will Folia make your server faster?
It depends on the workload, player distribution, plugin support and available CPU cores. Folia can scale independent regions in parallel, but it cannot turn every slow plugin, overloaded chunk or undersized server into a fast one.
How to test Folia before moving your world
Treat this as a comparison procedure, not a benchmark result. A successful startup is only the first check.
- Keep a working Paper copy. Back up the world, plugins and configuration before making changes. Use a separate test server; do not experiment on the only copy of a live world. See the backup and restore checklist.
- Check every essential plugin. Read its maintainer's Folia support notes. Do not add
folia-supported: trueyourself to bypass the compatibility check. If an essential plugin has no supported Folia build, stay on Paper. - Measure the problem on Paper first. Capture a profile while the slowdown actually happens. Paper's profiling guide explains how to collect a spark report. Review a report before sharing its link publicly.
- Compare like with like. Keep the Minecraft version, hardware, world copy, view distance and player activity comparable. Try players together and spread apart. Record whether they explore new chunks or revisit generated terrain, alongside CPU, memory and tick timings. For Folia, use metrics that account for its separate regions.
- Test the things players use. Check teleports, claims, permissions and inventories, then stop and restart to check that changes persist. If compatibility or performance is worse, return to the untouched backup and its original software. Do not downgrade a world that has already been converted by a newer Minecraft release.
Decision checklist
- Choose Paper for a first server, a few friends, common plugins or the widest compatibility.
- Choose Folia for many distributed players, suitable multi-core hardware and a verified Folia plugin stack.
- Choose Purpur when you want Paper compatibility with more built-in gameplay configuration.
- Choose Fabric when you need Fabric mods rather than Bukkit-style plugins.
If you are deciding between two plugin-focused choices rather than regional multithreading, read the Paper vs Purpur comparison.
Start with Paper in the Free Beta
Create a small Minecraft server, choose your version and manage it from the ChunkArc panel. No credit card is required.
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