View distance
The server.properties setting that controls how many chunks around each player the server loads and sends, measured as a radius in chunks.
view-distance is a setting in server.properties. It defines the radius, in chunks, that the server keeps loaded and sends to each player. The default is 10.
Server versus client
Players also have a render distance in their own video settings. They can only see as far as the smaller of the two values: if the server sends 8 chunks, a client set to 16 still sees 8. A high client setting cannot pull more chunks from the server.
Why it matters for server owners
The number of chunks per player grows with the square of the radius. A radius of 10 means a 21 by 21 area, 441 chunks; a radius of 16 means 33 by 33, 1089 chunks. Every one of those chunks has to be loaded (or generated), held in memory and sent over the network. With many players spread across the map, view distance is one of the biggest levers for RAM, bandwidth and generation load.
Since Minecraft 1.18, view distance no longer decides how far the world is actively simulated. That is the job of simulation distance. Chunks beyond the simulation distance but within the view distance are visible but not ticked.
Choosing a value
- Keep the default if the server runs well and players like the view.
- Lower it if RAM or chunk generation is the bottleneck, especially while players explore new terrain.
- Lower simulation distance first if TPS is the problem; that keeps the view intact.
Practical tip
Changes to server.properties apply after a restart. Change one value at a time and watch performance for a while with several players online before adjusting further.