Abstract This manuscript reports on the elliptic flow parameter, v 2 , in proton-proton (p–p) collisions using PYTHIA8 event generator simulations. The typical event plane (EP) method v 2 (EP) as the one used for the real data analysis has been adopted to measure the v 2 of particles composed of different quark flavors, and produced at mid-pseudorapidity ∣η∣≤1 at center-of-mass energy s = 200 GeV and s = 13 TeV. The event plane has been constructed using the soft-charged particles with transverse momentum ( p T < 2 GeV/c) produced in various η ranges. The pseudorapidity gap technique (Δη) between the particle of interest and the soft charged particles contributed to the event plane constructions has been utilized to benchmark the non-flow contributions. The v 2 π ± , π 0 , v 2 J ∕ ψ , ϒ , K , D , B , and the v 2 γ dir show similar pattern dependence on the transverse momentum for the same Δη, at both s = 200 GeV and s = 13 TeV. At each center-of-mass energy, the measured v 2 shows obvious dependence on the quark flavor contents where v 2 γ dir ≤ v 2 J ∕ ψ , ϒ , K , D , B ≤ v 2 π ± , π 0 for similar Δη gap. The measured v 2 shows slightly higher values at smaller s for particles of similar values of Δη gaps, particularly at small Δη gap. The measured v 2 for all particles shows systematic decreases with increasing the Δη gap as expected from the previous experimental results. Because PYTHIA8 simulations do not incorporate final state interactions, the v 2 ( EP ) values reported here primarily reflect the non-flow contributions and its dependence on the quark contents, pseudorapidity gap as a function on p T at each center of mass–energy. These contributions should be carefully subtracted from the signal in real data analysis that employs the same event plane determination algorithm.