Despite setting render distance to 5 in server properties, already generated chunks in The End do not unload correctly and are activated forever until server restart. This is confirmed additionaly by item despawn rate - upon player death items despawn, despite there are no player in that chunks. Also, chunks can be seen from far away like there was render distance like 15 despite it is set to 5 in server properties. This of course also causes huge lags and TPS drop to the server, every time someone goes to The End, as visited chunks never deactivate properly until server restart. Screenshot attached - chunks can be seen from far away despite setting render distance to 5. These are not spawn chunks but chunks far away from spawn chunks while exploration.
MC-154988
Chunks not unloading correctly in The End and causing huge TPS drops
Resolved
Awaiting Response
1
Render distance applies only to players, while central end island is similar to overworld spawn chunks, to make sure whole dragon fight area is loaded (it worked this way since first implementation) - so this is WAI.
I can't confirm that area never unloads - once there are no players within certain radius from 0,0 (even when dragon is dead), ticket is removed and central island is unloaded.
Closing for now, reopen only when area stays loaded after there are no players around (ticket is managed by same code as boss bar, once it disappears, chunks should unload).