Pumpkin

Pumpkin is an open-source Minecraft server software designed for high performance and efficiency. Built in Rust, it aims to deliver extremely fast startup times and low resource usage, positioning itself as the world's fastest Minecraft server. The software is in early development and encourages community contributions under a GPL license.

A key feature of Pumpkin is its rapid startup, with servers ready in approximately five milliseconds, which is claimed to be about 1000 times faster than the vanilla Minecraft server. 8GB typically required by vanilla servers. The server also utilizes multi-threading, leveraging all available CPU cores for both chunk processing and other core game logic, which is intended to maximize scalability and performance.

Pumpkin supports cross-play between Minecraft Java and Bedrock editions natively, allowing players from both platforms to join the same server without the need for additional plugins. It is delivered as a single, self-contained executable, eliminating the need for Java installation or complex setup—users can simply download and launch the server. The tool is particularly suited for developers and server administrators seeking efficient resource usage, quick deployment, and the ability to run servers on lower-cost VPS hosting.

The platform offers a developer API for creating custom features and integrations, as well as extensive configuration options to tailor server behavior. Plugin support is in early development, with Pumpkin using its own API, but compatibility with Bukkit/Paper plugins is possible through PatchBukkit. The software supports multiple world and chunk formats for efficient data storage and loading, and is fully open source, promoting transparency and community involvement.