Change View Distance on Your Minecraft Server
How to adjust view distance and simulation distance for performance and visibility on your Minecraft server.
View distance controls how many chunks are sent to players. Simulation distance controls how far game logic runs.
Settings
In server.properties:
view-distance=10
simulation-distance=10| Setting | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
view-distance | 10 | 4–32 | Chunks rendered for each player |
simulation-distance | 10 | 4–32 | Chunks where mobs spawn, redstone runs, crops grow |
Performance Impact
| View Distance | Chunks per Player | RAM Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | ~144 | Low — best for busy servers |
| 8 | ~256 | Moderate |
| 10 | ~400 | Default |
| 12 | ~576 | High — smooth for small groups |
| 16 | ~1024 | Very high — needs good hardware |
Recommendations
| Server Type | view-distance | simulation-distance |
|---|---|---|
| Large public (20+ players) | 6–8 | 6 |
| Medium (10–20 players) | 8–10 | 8 |
| Small private (2–5 players) | 10–14 | 10 |
| Solo / testing | 16+ | 10 |
💡 Tip: Reducing
simulation-distancehas a bigger performance impact thanview-distancebecause it controls mob spawning and entity processing.
Related Guides
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