Chunk Pregenerating with Chunky

This guide will teach you how to pregenerate chunks on your Homestead server using the Chunky mod. Pregenerating chunks significantly improves server performance by generating terrain ahead of time, so players don't experience lag when exploring new areas.

Why Pregenerate Chunks?

When players explore new areas in Minecraft, the server must generate terrain on-the-fly. This can cause:

• Server lag and TPS drops - especially with multiple players exploring
• Rubber-banding - players getting teleported back as chunks load slowly
• Slow exploration - particularly noticeable when using elytra or boats

Pregenerating chunks does all the heavy lifting upfront, resulting in a smoother gameplay experience for everyone.

Installing Chunky

Note: If you're running a Homestead server, Chunky is already included! You can skip this section and go straight to the Quick Start Guide.

Chunky is available for multiple platforms:

Platform	Download Link
Fabric	CurseForge / Modrinth
Forge/NeoForge	CurseForge / Modrinth
Paper/Spigot	SpigotMC / Modrinth

Simply drop the mod into your server's mods folder and restart the server.

Quick Start Guide

Here's the fastest way to get started with chunk pregeneration:

/chunky center 0 0
/chunky radius 5000
/chunky start

This will pregenerate a 5,000 block radius around coordinates 0, 0 (10,000 x 10,000 blocks total).

Essential Commands

Task Management

Command	Description
/chunky start	Starts chunk generation with current selection
/chunky pause	Pauses generation and saves progress
/chunky continue	Resumes a paused generation task
/chunky cancel	Stops and cancels the current task
/chunky progress	Shows real-time progress information

Selection Commands

Command	Description
/chunky world <world>	Sets which world/dimension to generate
/chunky center <x> <z>	Sets the center point for generation
/chunky radius <blocks>	Sets the radius in blocks
/chunky shape <shape>	Sets the shape of the area to generate
/chunky pattern <pattern>	Sets the generation pattern/order
/chunky selection	Displays your current selection settings

Utility Commands

Command	Description
/chunky spawn	Sets center to the world spawn point
/chunky worldborder	Matches selection to the world border
/chunky corners <x1> <z1> <x2> <z2>	Sets selection using corner coordinates
/chunky silent	Toggles progress messages on/off
/chunky quiet <seconds>	Sets interval between progress updates
/chunky trim	Deletes chunks outside your selection

Available Shapes

Chunky supports several shapes for your pregeneration area:

Shape	Description	Best For
square	Standard square area	Most common, easy to calculate size
circle	Circular area	Natural-feeling exploration boundaries
rectangle	Rectangular area	Non-square map shapes
ellipse	Oval/elliptical area	Custom map layouts

Example:

/chunky shape circle
/chunky radius 10000
/chunky start

Generation Patterns

The pattern determines the order chunks are generated:

Pattern	Description
concentric	Generates from center outward in rings (default)
loop	Generates in a spiral pattern

Tip: The concentric pattern is recommended as it prioritizes the center where players typically spawn.

Radius Shortcuts

Chunky supports convenient shortcuts for specifying radius:

Format	Example	Result
Blocks	/chunky radius 5000	5,000 blocks
Thousands	/chunky radius 10k	10,000 blocks
Chunks	/chunky radius 625c	625 chunks (10,000 blocks)
Incremental	/chunky radius +1000	Adds 1,000 to current radius

World/Dimension Names

When pregenerating different dimensions, use these world names:

Dimension	Common Names
Overworld	world, overworld, minecraft:overworld
Nether	world_nether, the_nether, minecraft:the_nether
The End	world_the_end, the_end, minecraft:the_end

Example for Nether:

/chunky world world_nether
/chunky center 0 0
/chunky radius 1250
/chunky start

Note: The Nether is 8x smaller in scale, so a 1,250 block radius in the Nether equals 10,000 blocks in the Overworld!

Recommended Pregeneration Sizes

Server Type	Recommended Radius	Total Area
Small (1-5 players)	5,000 blocks	~78 sq km
Medium (5-15 players)	10,000 blocks	~314 sq km
Large (15+ players)	15,000-20,000 blocks	~700-1,250 sq km

Warning: Larger areas require more disk space and take longer to generate. Start small and expand as needed!

Full Pregeneration Example

Here's a complete example for pregenerating your Homestead server:

Step 1: Set Up Overworld

/chunky world world
/chunky shape square
/chunky center 0 0
/chunky radius 10000
/chunky start

Step 2: Monitor Progress

Watch the console or use:

/chunky progress

You'll see output like:

Task running for world. Processed: 125000 chunks (43.2%), ETA: 1h 23m, Rate: 156.3 chunks/s

Step 3: Pregenerate Nether (Optional)

/chunky pause
/chunky world world_nether
/chunky radius 1250
/chunky start

Step 4: Pregenerate The End (Optional)

/chunky world world_the_end
/chunky radius 5000
/chunky start

Tips for Best Performance

1. Pregenerate before players join - Generation is fastest with no players online
2. Start with a smaller radius - Test with 5,000 blocks first, then expand
3. Disable map plugins - Temporarily disable Dynmap, BlueMap, etc. during generation
4. Monitor disk space - Large pregenerated worlds can use significant storage
5. Use pause and continue - You can pause generation and resume later without losing progress
6. Consider server resources - Pregeneration is CPU and disk intensive

Troubleshooting

Generation is slow

• Ensure no players are online
• Disable map rendering plugins temporarily
• Check if other heavy processes are running

Server lagging during generation

• Use /chunky pause to stop temporarily
• Consider generating during off-peak hours
• Reduce the generation rate in Chunky's config

Chunks not saving

• Ensure you have enough disk space
• Check file permissions on your world folder
• Use /chunky pause before stopping the server

Additional Resources

• Chunky GitHub - Source code and documentation
• Chunky Wiki - Full command reference
• BisectHosting - Recommended server hosting

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