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criticalJava ErrorsAffects: All versions

How to Fix OutOfMemoryError: GC Overhead Limit Exceeded

Fix GC overhead limit exceeded in Minecraft by increasing heap size, switching to G1GC, and removing memory-leaking mods.

Quick Fix

Increase heap size with -Xmx6G and add -XX:+UseG1GC to use the G1 garbage collector.

Error Message

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: GC overhead limit exceeded

How to Fix

1

Increase JVM heap size: -Xmx6G -Xms4G

2

Switch to G1GC: -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=50

3

Remove recently added mods or plugins that may cause leaks

4

Delete the region files for corrupted chunks

5

Reduce entity count and loaded chunks

Common Causes

  • Java spending over 98% of time doing garbage collection
  • Severe memory leak in mod or plugin
  • Heap space too small for the workload
  • Corrupted world data causing infinite processing loops

Diagnostic Steps

  1. Check memory usage in F3 screen or server console
  2. Review recent mod/plugin additions
  3. Test with a fresh world to see if the issue is world-specific
  4. Use a profiler like Spark to identify memory leaks

FAQ

What does GC overhead limit exceeded mean?

Java is spending almost all its processing time trying to free memory instead of running the game. The JVM needs more heap space.

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