Distant Horizons on Your Minecraft Server: See for Miles with Friends

What server support changes

Distant Horizons is a game mod that draws distant terrain in a simplified version (LOD), without really having to load it. On a server that doesn't have it, each player's mod can only turn into LOD the chunks it received while walking around: the horizon stays empty until you explore it.

If the server has support, the mod asks the server for the distant terrain and the server generates it and sends it. On top of that, players get the changes others make far from them (the house a friend is building on the other side of the map) and, when they log back in, whatever changed while they were away.

It's optional on both sides: anyone without the mod joins and plays the same, just with their normal view distance. To see the horizon, each player installs Distant Horizons in their Minecraft (Fabric or NeoForge, with Sodium or Iris if they use them) in the same version as the server.

On a Paper server: the “Distant Horizons Support” plugin

The mod can't go on Paper, which is what a NapNodes Minecraft server comes with. For that, the Distant Horizons authors have a separate plugin: players keep using the mod; the server, the plugin.

1. Make a backup

   In the panel, “Backups” → create one before installing anything.

2. Install the plugin

   “Mods & plugins” button → search for “Distant Horizons Support”. It only shows up if it has a version for your Minecraft: if it doesn't appear, it doesn't support your version yet (check its Modrinth or GitLab page before changing anything).

3. Restart and check

   After “Restart”, type dhs status in the “Console”. In game, with F3, each player's mod says whether the server has support (“Server has full DH support”) or not.

4. Pre-generate the distant terrain

   First set a world border (worldborder set 8000 in the console) and then dhs pregen start world (“world” is the name of the overworld), which with no more arguments uses that border's centre and size. dhs pregen status tells you how far it's got and dhs pregen stop stops it.

On Fabric or NeoForge: the mod on the server too

If your server already runs mods (a modpack or Fabric to your taste), you install the same mod the players use, in the same version: “Mods & plugins” finds it on Modrinth for your version and your loader. To move from Paper to Fabric or NeoForge there's the “Server type” tab in the same button (the world stays; plugins that don't work are set aside, not deleted).

With the mod, commands start with dh: dh pregen start overworld 0 0 256 generates the distant terrain in a radius of 256 chunks (about 4,000 blocks) around the centre of the map, and dh config shows and changes the settings without opening files. The server's players download the client-side mods from napnodes.com/jugar/<id>.

What it needs: RAM, CPU and disk

Generating distant terrain is CPU work, like pre-generating the world: do it with the server empty or late at night, and not at the same time as Chunky. If you have a web map (BlueMap, Dynmap), the plugin's authors advise stopping it while it runs.

The LODs are stored in a separate database (one .sqlite per dimension) that grows with the radius. Also, if the terrain didn't exist, the plugin generates the real chunks to get their LODs, so the world grows too. Each plan's disk is 5 GB per GB of RAM (15 GB on the 3 GB plan) and the free server has 5 GB: there, keep the border small. dhs trim deletes the LODs left outside the border.

With little RAM, lower scheduler_threads in the plugin's configuration (plugins/DHSupport/config.yml): its authors recommend 1 or 2 threads per 4 GB. If the server still falls short, “Buy RAM” in “My servers” adds more and “Adjust” on the server's card gives it to the server, without losing anything.

Common problems

“Timed out” or lag when joining: by default the server sends up to about 500 KB/s of LODs to each player. Lower it in that player's mod settings (Advanced → Server).

The console fills up with “Received DH config”: that player has adaptive speed turned on in their mod; they should turn it off.

With ViaVersion (players on another version) it isn't supported: it may work, but with glitches. The safe option is for everyone to use the server's version.

Gaps under floating islands or overhangs: in the plugin's configuration, inside “worlds” → “world”, scan_to_sea_level: true or the “FullBuilder” builder.

Frequently asked questions