How to Change View and Simulation Distance on Your Minecraft Server

View distance and simulation distance control how much of the world players can see and how far away the server processes entities and other game mechanics. Adjusting these settings helps you balance server performance with player experience. Lower values improve performance on servers with limited resources, while higher values provide better visibility and gameplay at the cost of increased CPU and memory usage.

Changing View and Simulation Distance

1. Navigate to the Wabbanode Control Panel and select your Minecraft server.
2. Stop your server if it is currently running. You cannot modify server settings while the server is online.
3. Click Settings to access your server properties.
4. Scroll down to locate the View Distance and Simulation Distance settings. Enter your desired value in chunks (we recommend 5-7 for most servers).
5. Click the Save button at the top of the page to apply your changes.
6. Start your server to load the new configuration.

Players will experience the new view and simulation distance settings immediately upon joining the server.

Understanding View Distance vs Simulation Distance

View Distance controls how far players can see in all directions. It determines the radius of chunks that are sent to each player's client. A view distance of 10 means players can see 10 chunks in every direction, creating a 20×20 chunk visible area around them.

• Higher values allow players to see further, improving immersion and making it easier to spot landmarks and structures.
• Lower values reduce the amount of data being loaded and sent to players, improving server performance.

Simulation Distance controls how far away the server will process game mechanics such as mob spawning, crop growth, redstone circuits, and entity movement. A simulation distance of 5 means the server will only simulate chunks within 5 chunks of each player.

• Higher values ensure farms, mob grinders, and redstone contraptions work from further away.
• Lower values improve server CPU performance by reducing the number of active chunks being processed.

In most cases, simulation distance should be equal to or lower than view distance. Setting simulation distance higher than view distance provides no benefit since players cannot interact with chunks they cannot see.

Recommended Settings

For most servers, we recommend setting both view distance and simulation distance between 5-7 chunks:

• 5 chunks - Best for budget servers or those with many players. Provides adequate visibility while maintaining good performance.
• 7 chunks - A balanced option for mid-range servers. Offers better visibility without excessive resource usage.
• 10+ chunks - Only recommended for high-performance servers with few players. Significantly increases CPU and memory usage.

If your server experiences lag or low TPS (ticks per second), try reducing both values. Monitor your server's performance after making changes and adjust accordingly.

Troubleshooting

• Changes not taking effect. Ensure you clicked Save Config before restarting your server. Players may also need to disconnect and reconnect to see changes.
• Server lagging after increasing distance. High view and simulation distances require more CPU and RAM. Consider reducing the values or upgrading your server plan.
• Players reporting low render distance. Check that players have not manually set a lower render distance in their client video settings. The server's view distance acts as a maximum cap, but players can choose to render fewer chunks.