Updated:
The difference
| Setting | Controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
view-distance | How much terrain is sent to players (how far they see) | 10 |
simulation-distance | Where mobs, crops, furnaces and redstone keep running | 10 |
Both are a radius in chunks (16×16 blocks) around each player. A view-distance of 10 shows about 160 blocks in each direction.
What stops outside simulation-distance
Chunks beyond simulation-distance can be visible but frozen: crops do not grow, mobs do not move and furnaces do not smelt. Farms and mob towers only work while a player is within that range. That is why simulation-distance is normally equal to or lower than view-distance; a higher value only adds work nobody can see.
How much it costs
The setting is a radius, but the work grows with the area. Chunks per player:
| Value | Chunks per player |
|---|---|
| 4 | 81 |
| 6 | 169 |
| 8 | 289 |
| 10 | 441 |
| 12 | 625 |
Going from 10 to 6 more than halves the chunks. Players spread far apart multiply this.
Values by player count
| Situation | view-distance | simulation-distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 players, spare capacity | 10 | 8 |
| 5–10 players | 8 | 6 |
| 10+ players or a cheap host | 6–7 | 4–5 |
Lower simulation-distance first and view-distance only if it is still slow. Players keep their view while the server does much less.
The player's render distance
A player with render distance 32 still sees no further than the server's view-distance. A lower client setting wins.
Bedrock Dedicated Server
BDS uses tick-distance (4–12) for the simulated area. It also has view-distance, but the number does not behave exactly like Java's.
After changing
Restart the server. Farms far from where players work may stop after lowering simulation-distance, so check them. More causes of lag are in server lag.
Common questions
- Downside of a low view-distance? Distant terrain disappears, and fast elytra flights show gaps while chunks load.
- Will my farm stop? If it is beyond simulation-distance from every player, yes. Stay near it, or use
/forceloadon Java, which keeps redstone and hoppers running but not crop growth or mob spawning, which need a player nearby (see the forceload guide). It also costs performance. - Which setting helps most? simulation-distance. If it is still slow, look at entities, hoppers and redstone.
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