Talk:Spawn chunk

Console Edition
Just want to say that spawn chunks do exist on the 360 version –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.47.184.42 (talk) at 07:43, 27 September 2014 (UTC). Please sign your posts with
 * This is not a place to say this. If we do confirm this, we'll add that info to the main page. Other Console Editions exist, so instead of saying something like Xbox 360 Edition, just refer to the Console Editions overall. And, finally, please sign your comments with ~, this will allow to distinguish you from others . – Naista2002  ᐸ Talk Contribs  08:47, 27 September 2014 (UTC)

Potential inaccuracy of statement in Spawn chunks and other dimensions section
milkYw4iMC11 (of the ZipKrowd server) stated in the comments to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aJ3GKjc1rM "...the spawn chunks are always loaded, but when there is no player in the overworld entities will not be processed anymore."

This contradicts the statement in the "Spawn chunks and other dimensions" section:

"All Overworld chunks (including the spawn chunks) are unloaded 60 seconds after the last player in the Overworld enters the Nether or the End."

Rather than posting a change which is reverted later, could this be confirmed and the section updated if found to be true?

75.80.152.20 18:54, 9 November 2014 (UTC)


 * What contradiction? If you mean the "entities" in milkYw4iMC11's statement, then that's either just his focus or inaccurate; all capabilities of the spawn chunks will end after 60 seconds, not just entity processing. Skylinerw (talk) 13:09, 10 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Skylinerw: I think the IP and milkYw4iMC11 are correct here. I did the following tests:
 * I created a simple redstone clock in the spawn chunks ticking a command block with a /say command. It continued indefinitely.
 * I created a circular minecart track in the spawn chunks, with a detector rail that triggers a command block with a /say command. It stopped after 15 seconds. I used a TNT minecart so I could do the next test.
 * I did  (where -599 3 -863 is in the spawn chunks). The command was executed successfully, even after #2 stopped.
 * Note that the same command aimed at someplace not in the spawn chunks fails with a "cannot place block outside of the world" error.
 * So it seems to me that the "spawn chunks are unloaded" is either obsolete information, only applies in multiplayer, or is the subject of bias from people who observe that their iron farms seemed to be unloaded and didn't consider that it might be due to villagers no longer being ticked leading to the doors all being unobserved so the village unloads. Anomie x (talk) 19:08, 28 June 2016 (UTC)


 * I can't say what I had known from 2014 (before I had any hands in the source), but as far as 1.9+, entities and tile entities are not sent update ticks rather than spawn chunks just unloading. Not all tile entities rely on update ticks though, as you've observed with command blocks. Hoppers are an example of a tile entity that does rely on update ticks and will stop functioning. I haven't checked 1.10 to see if anything's changed.


 * I also can't say much of anything about villages merging, as I couldn't force it to happen in 1.9 for a downloaded iron farm. I don't play survival so I'm not particularly sure what I'm looking for except the farm not working. It could be that the mechanics have changed, but it's more likely that I have no idea how to trigger village merging nor what to look for if they did. Skylinerw (talk) 20:13, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Keeping Chunks Loaded
Is it worth noting that it's possible to keep chunks loaded another way and a much simpler way as seen here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqsmXD_oCM

I have not tested this myself! And I didn't want to add the information until it was verified but it seems like a good bit of information to add. T1Cybernetic (talk) 13:05, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

wrong spawn chunks volume?
In the wiki, spawn chunks are 16x16(17x17), however, i created a world in 1.8.4 and quit the game before exploring, then, in MCedit, i got an 25X25 area of loaded chunks and seems to be regardless of the spawn point(centered or not or even centered between chunks, not in the middle of one).

Is wrong the wiki information, or this does normally when you create the world and the spawn chunks are like said in the wiki?

Note: when i made the test, i put my render distance on minimum

Edit: it doesn't, i tested it

--LightningSh0ck (talk) 11:54, 29 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Spawn chunks are an area around the spawn point that are always kept loaded, no matter where you are in the world. This is different from the dynamic area loaded around the player, the size of which is determined by your render distance. With the default render distance, a 25x25 area of chunks will be initially loaded, but not all of them are spawn chunks. -- Orthotopetalk 14:27, 29 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm a bit confused by this statement since you refer to both the individual player's render distance and spawn chunks at the same time. If I place my player thousands of blocks away from the spawn chunks (well outside rendering distance), delete those chunks with MCEdit, and then load the game back up with my character still not at the spawn chunks, MCEdit shows that a 25x25 area is loaded. This also occurs for multiplayer, and I don't even have to enter the world on multiplayer for it to load them. Of course, there's seemingly nothing that players can do with those extra chunks anyway, but I personally have no idea why it does this if it's not related to a specific player's render distance. Skylinerw (talk) 18:57, 29 June 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm a bit confused by this statement since you refer to both the individual player's render distance and spawn chunks at the same time. If I place my player thousands of blocks away from the spawn chunks (well outside rendering distance), delete those chunks with MCEdit, and then load the game back up with my character still not at the spawn chunks, MCEdit shows that a 25x25 area is loaded. This also occurs for multiplayer, and I don't even have to enter the world on multiplayer for it to load them. Of course, there's seemingly nothing that players can do with those extra chunks anyway, but I personally have no idea why it does this if it's not related to a specific player's render distance. Skylinerw (talk) 18:57, 29 June 2015 (UTC)

How many spawn chunks are there?
I understand this:

"The spawn chunks usually consist of an area of 16×16 chunks centered as close as possible to the world spawn point."

But this bit is very confusing:

"Entities are only active if all chunks in an area of 5×5 chunks around them are loaded, limiting their activities to an area of 12×12 chunks."

So, is it 16x16, 5x5, or 12x12? --98.246.236.183 16:31, 17 August 2015 (UTC)


 * It means that an entity (such as a creeper) will only actually do anything if at least two chunks in any direction from it are loaded (meaning that entities will only actually move if they are within a 12x12 area of the spawn point). Blocks on the other hand only require their block to be loaded to function, hence the required distinction.
 * So effectively, 16x16 is the spawn chunks, 12x12 is the area of the spawn chunks for entities, and 5x5 is the area around an entity that must be loaded. – KnightMiner  t/c 17:04, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

vertical redstone limit
"The normal 128 block vertical transmission limitation on redstone signals is ignored in spawn chunks. That is, a redstone signal can be transmitted from bedrock up to the full build height of y=256."

I have never heard of such a limit. I checked the redstone and vertical transmission of redstone pages and didn't see any mention of such a limit. I made a tower of redstone back in 1.4 from bedrock to the sky limit and never had a problem with redstone signals not reaching the top. Was this ever a real limit?

76.119.152.249 15:02, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

List of things that need addressing
Do entities still take damage? It is not mentioned whether they do or not. If they do,does the wither still destroy nearby blocks when damaged?

I assume that bosses don't despawn when the chunk is outside render distance. If it's true (someone please test), I think the part that says all hostile mobs despawn needs to be changed.

24.104.71.134 19:22, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

Chickens laying eggs in spawn chunks?
Never noticed this before, but after 1.14 I was away from my base for a very long time and for this time my automatic raw chicken farm seemed to be working 77.235.212.83 10:20, 8 May 2019 (UTC)

Add history section instead of deleting page
I cannot find info in which version spawn chunks were introduced anywhere. Also, there was a change in spawn chunk area size in 1.13 or 1.14. Sergejb (talk) 07:23, 30 April 2020 (UTC) - I disagree, we can add that to the Chunks page. There is no reason to keep this page.46.13.135.124 12:23, 12 August 2020 (UTC)

Spawn chunk mechanics are unclear
Having read this spawn chunks page I assumed crop growing and - potentially even mob spawning - might be possible. There are terms used like "All mechanics active". From my understanding this includes e.g. crops, but as seen in the Minecraft issue tracker this is not the case: https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-93971

I'd like to clear up what is different in (distant) spawn chunks compared to player-loaded chunks, e.g. crops grow in player-loaded chunks, but not spawn chunks without players nearby. However, I lack understanding of what you guys mean by e.g. "All game aspects are active." and therefore cannot improve spawn chunk explanation myself. --Phoenix004 (talk) 15:49, 5 April 2021 (UTC)