---
title: "How to make a Vault Hunters server"
description: "Research is per-player, vaults are generated on demand: why the load comes in spikes, and what that changes about sizing."
url: https://tickserv.com/en/guides/vault-hunters
site: "TickServ (https://tickserv.com)"
lang: en
published: 2026-08-22
games: [minecraft]
---
# How to make a Vault Hunters server

Vault Hunters is an action RPG grafted onto Minecraft: **5.9 million downloads** for the third edition, progression through a talent system, and dungeons generated on demand — the _vaults_ — from which you must bring back 25 artifacts to face the final boss. It's also one of the few packs whose authors state their memory requirement to the megabyte.

## The mechanic that changes everything on a server: research

In Vault Hunters, you don't start with the mods. **Access to mods is unlocked through research**, and that progression belongs to each player individually.

That's the pack's distinctive server characteristic, and it has three immediate consequences:

- **everyone advances their own tree.** Two players on the same server don't have the same machines available at the same time;
- **player data weighs as much as the world.** Losing `playerdata` means losing weeks of research and talents — not just an inventory;
- **a player joining late starts their tree from zero**, even if the group's world is far along. Decide that up front, as with RLCraft.

Add vault-specific gear, currency and mobs on top: progression is gated end to end, and it isn't something you catch up on.

## Vaults are dimensions generated on demand

This is what makes this pack's load different from a conventional exploration pack's.

A vault isn't a room placed in the world: it's a **procedural dungeon** the server builds the moment someone enters. Every entry is a complete terrain generation — brief and intense.

The concrete consequence: Vault Hunters' load comes in **spikes**, not continuously. A server humming along quietly can stutter at the precise moment two players each launch a vault. That isn't a misconfiguration — it's the shape of the pack, and it's why you mustn't size it "at rest".

## RAM: 8 GB, stated by the authors

The pack's official instructions tell you to set allocated memory to **8192 MB**. That's precise, and it's rare.

But that figure refers to the **JVM heap** (`-Xmx`), not the machine's memory: the operating system, Docker and Java's off-heap memory live beside the heap. Here, the heap is the smaller of "RAM − 2 GB" and "75% of RAM":

| Tier you pick | Actual JVM heap | Verdict for Vault Hunters        |
| ------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------- |
| 8 GB          | 6 GB            | below the stated 8 GB            |
| **16 GB**     | **12 GB**       | **the right choice**             |
| 32 GB         | 24 GB           | large group, simultaneous vaults |

**Take the 16 GB tier.** The 8 GB tier yields only a 6 GB heap — two gigabytes less than the authors ask for — and on a pack with spiky load, margin isn't a luxury. The creation screen warns you when the tier doesn't cover the pack: it compares heaps, not machine sizes.

## Version and Java

Vault Hunters 3rd Edition targets **Minecraft 1.18.2** on the **Forge** loader.

The Java version follows the Minecraft version: the [Minecraft Wiki](https://minecraft.wiki/w/Server/Requirements) is explicit — "For version 1.18, JRE version 17 is required." That's the kind of detail that fails a manual install without a clear message. Here, the loader and the Java version are derived from the pack: you choose nothing.

And as with any content mod: the client must install **exactly the same pack version** as the server, or the connection is refused.

## The first boot, then the rest

Expect **15 to 25 minutes** on first boot: downloading the pack, resolving mods, writing hundreds of configuration files, then generating the world. A vanilla server is ready in two minutes — don't compare the two, and don't kill it thinking it crashed.

Later boots are quick, the world already being there. The vaults, on the other hand, generate on every entry, indefinitely.

## Backups: here, this is the critical point

On most packs, backing up protects buildings. On Vault Hunters, it protects **each player's research and talents** — which is what actually took the time.

The data directory is archived **before every shutdown**, with a `save-all flush` immediately before so no minute stays in memory, and restored on the next boot. An automatic backup runs **every 30 minutes** while you play, of which the **last 5** are kept. Storage is free, server off included.

Five rotating backups mean, concretely: if something breaks mid-session, you can go back to a state from two hours ago. On a pack with gated progression, that's the difference between an incident and a lost run.

## What not to do

**Switch packs, or major versions, on an existing world.** The world and player data hold blocks, items and a research state only this pack can read. Loaded elsewhere, they're gone.

**Size it from what you see at rest.** A Vault Hunters server idling consumes little; at rest is not when to judge it.

> [Create your Minecraft server](https://tickserv.com/en/games/minecraft) and pick Vault Hunters from the modpack list. Your first session is free.