How to change view distance on a Minecraft server

View distance controls how many chunks the server sends around each player. A higher value lets players see farther but increases CPU, memory, network, and chunk-loading work.

Change server view distance

1. Stop the server.
2. Open server.properties.
3. Find view-distance= and enter the desired chunk distance.
4. Save the file and restart the server.

For example:

view-distance=10

Change simulation distance

simulation-distance controls how far from players the server updates entities, crops, redstone, and other game mechanics. Lowering it can improve performance without reducing visible terrain as much as lowering view distance.

simulation-distance=8

Choose a suitable value

Start with your server software's default. Lower the values gradually if TPS falls during exploration or when many players are online. Test after each change; the right setting depends on player count, hardware, plugins, mods, entities, and world activity.

Client render distance cannot exceed the terrain the server sends. A player's own video setting may also make their visible distance shorter than the server limit.