Mobs spawn too frequently in the Nether

This same issue is plaguing me. At my old (years old) portal to the Nether, I regularly have one or two ghasts spawn EVERY MINUTE; wither skeletons spawn in fortresses as fast as I can kill them, and I can literally watch an area fill to bursting with Piglins over a ten minute period, as they spawn somewhere between three and five a minute.

I believe that this is partially intended. In previous versions of Minecraft, it was common for the cave monster cap to be filled almost all the time (MCPE-21856). In the overworld monsters would be hidden in small, inaccessible caves. In the nether zombie pigmen on remote or inaccessible platforms would fill the cap. The chance of this happening would increase as you spent time in an area. With the new despawning system in 1.16, the hidden and inaccessible monsters are now able to despawn regularly, so new ones can spawn in other places. You are supposed to encounter monsters regularly unless you have worked to spawn-proof an area.

What I think is not intended are the following ramifications of the extremely small 44-block despawn radius on simulation distance 4:

1. Mobs effectively respawn an average of 12.8% (5 blocks) closer to the player.

2. The volume of the viable spawning region (where mobs won't instantly despawn) is more than 50% smaller than it was in 1.14 and earlier, so mobs end up packed together that much more densely.

Now unfortunately, in the 1.16.20.50 beta, this 50% reduction to the viable mob zone, which was implemented in sim4 via depsawning in 1.16.0, is applied to every simulation distance via reduction of the spawning radius. Numerous other problems with this scheme have been raised, and possible solutions suggested, already in MCPE-65570, MCPE-78840, MCPE-79359.

Been playing the game for around 4-5 months, so I'm still relatively new but wanted to give a real-world example of how this absolutely ruined my game.  I had started a new world and intentionally did not go to the Nether a month or so ago in anticipation of 1.16.  When I finally upgraded and stepped through the portal, I found myself up a ~15 block hill smack dab in the middle of a Soul Sand Valley.  There were 15-20 skeletons and 3-4 ghasts that immediately set to work on me.  I was being shot from every direction and the arrow knock back effect was pushing me constantly into soul fire, setting me alight.  I had no idea which direction my portal even was, and all I could see was a massive lava lake I kept getting bounced towards.  It took around 30-45 seconds to get it under control (just barely) and I was hounded the entire way back up the hill and barely made it through the portal, only to find FOUR skeletons that made it back into my base with me.  By the time I finished cleaning those up and took inventory, my fully enchanted set of diamond armor which was at 100% durability when I went through was now at 25% - all pieces of it.   After LESS than one minute in that disaster of a biome.

I copied my survival world and went into it in creative to take a look around.  I have ZERO other biomes within a 300 block radius; one within ~350 blocks and most are at least 400 blocks out.  So I have two options: either wait for this disaster to be fixed or tunnel way down from my portal to level 10 or so and branch out in caves from there.  And these wouldn't be little caves - 400 blocks on average.  Sounds fun, right?

And BTW - this is on normal difficulty.  I was very much looking forward to this upgrade, but this one thing has completely ruined it.  Please fix ASAP.

The nether has a denser mob cap than the overworld, so you can expect twice as many mobs in the same area as overworld caves. With the reduction in the spawning sphere, you have an unexpected density of mobs around the player. Magma cubes are notable because they split into smaller magma cubes, so by the time you have finished one cubes, many more have spawned.

I will link to a twitter thread where I discussed the new mechanics and how to easily improve them on Realms. https://twitter.com/fragmites/status/1276321957219188736

I concur that the number of mobs spawning in the Nether is insane. I have a roadway linking several of my overworld locations via the Nether. One leg is about 1000 blocks long in the Nether. I normally would encounter 3 - 4 Ghasts, which cause me to stop and engage them when running from one portal to the other. However, after the Nether upgrade I literally killed 20 of them and avoided another 20. I'd frequently stop to fight one or two and before I could dispatch them another 3 - 4 would spawn. I can not believe this is by design as it will make building or doing anything virtually impossible. I also encountered a very large number of Magma Cubes, as mentioned in comments above.

I would also like to note, one of my portals is in a village inside of a building. Villagers do have access to this building, and occasionally one or two would find their way into the Nether via the portal there. However, when I returned to this poral in the Nether, I found the area swarming with Villagers. There were literally 20  - 30 of them wandering around. 

The excessive spawning my not be confined to the Nether, as when I returned to my village complex there seemed to be a very large number of Villagers in the overworld there, too. But, I have not noticed an unusual number of hostile mobs in the overworld, yet.

I have not created a new world or done other experimentation, as I have one primary world (about 2  GB) that I normally pay in.

I am hopeful the developers will also agree the above Nether mob spawning rate is excessive and tone it back to the previous levels. I think most experienced players will find the current level excessive. 

I reported MCPE-85571 (duplicate), which is about there being more ghasts on Bedrock than on Java. Now that I think about it, I had a lot of trouble with magma cubes as well in the basalt delta biome, which made me want to avoid the biome, and as a consequence I got lost for hours. This definitely needs to be fixed.

I actually liked the increased amount of ghasts. They aren't that big a problem in my opinion (from what I've seen they used to be very common in ancient Java versions, and before this update I wished they were more common), but I can see why the other mobs can be overwhelming. And there were times when I would kill a ghast, and another one would spawn pretty close to the first one almost instantly.

I have been exploring more widely in the Nether and have found that there are many more Magma Cubes than previously, as discussed and reported above. Also, frequently striking them with a sword they break into more than the usual four smaller cubes. Instead they break into the smallest cubes, 16 of them, with one strike. Suddenly, you find yourself swarmed. This has happened twice so far. 

I mentioned above that I am playing on an old map that I have been developing for some years. I do not know how the dynamics of the mob creation works within the game code, and whether it is, in any way, related to the saved status of the map. In short, I wonder if this problem  would appear if I generated a brand new map. I tested this using creative mode. I created a new map, went into the Nether and explored. I did not see an unusual number of mobs. But, this is creative not survival. Anyway, for someone trying to duplicate this issue, trying it on both an old and new map might be a good test unless there is no difference from the coding side. I did mention above that my villagers from the overworld spilled over into the Nether, as well. There were always a few that wandered through the portal. But, now there are dozens all around the Nether Portal. This is also not normal.

I'm also having this issue on Windows 10 realms. It's making the game almost unplayable because it's nearly impossible to gather quartz with the amount of skeletons spawning in the Nether.

Okay...I can see where this might be a problem for some people but I hunt ghasts and kind of like it.  I will admit that the magma cubes in some areas are out of control and that is a lot of skeletons.

EDIT:

Allright...I can admit when I'm wrong.  The new spawn rates might be okay (and even fun) when you're hunting right outside your base.  I just completed a several thousand block out and back in the nether while looking for bastions and ruined portals.

Ghasts, everywhere.  I have a one shot kill bow and they were spawning faster than I could shoot them down.  Often had 3 to 4 at a time and one would burp on me while I was trying to drop another.

Skeletons: In the soul sand areas these were insane.  I would kill a dozen (while getting hit myself multiple times) and while I was collecting experience and drops another dozen would spawn.

Piglins: Pretty much same as skeletons.

And the worst...Magma Cubes:  Crossing a basalt biome is downright nerve wracking.  Way too many of them and they respawn at a crazy rate.

My weapons and armor are all max enchanted.  I have never, ever had problems with armor durability (unbreaking III and mending on all) before now.  Even in the worst case I have always been able to collect enough experience to keep everything repaired.  During my recent nether sortie I had to actually remove my helmet on the return leg to keep it from total destruction (those cubes landing on the head).  This does need to be dialed back a tad.

I'm not complaining about the Wither Skeletons... But the Zombie Pigmen and Magma Cubes are really starting to get on my nerves!

I'm pretty sure this is also a parity issue, as mobs spawn less frequently on Java.

The spawn rate of Skeletons and by extension Ghasts seems excessive in the soulsand biome of the Nether. I'm playing on "Normal" but it feels way harder than that. 1.16 bedrock issue definitely, watching people play on "Hard" Java and they don't see anywhere near as many or as often.

I think there is a problem with the new spawning system, can't clear an area without more appearing even when you aren't moving.

Does seem excessive. I've been playing since roughly the time Pistons came to Bedrock. Now, even on Easy, attempting to do anything in Soul Sand Valleys seems like it's attempting to beat the dragon without armor. Making even a very short bridge over the lava ocean means lots of deaths.

Trying to get basalt from basalt pillars and get bone blocks I've close to given up on because too many deaths.

Basically it seems like to do even a tiny task (like those above) you end up fighting 95% of the task.

I myself haven't been to Basalt Deltas.

I also find it Like that annoying, unlike lamb, cow and chicken, they don't get very often.

It doesn't seem to be too excessive anymore - I think the only mob in the Nether that needs their spawning tweaked is Ghasts - as they seem to spawn rather frequently

Agree, i once die by ghasts before because they just spawn too frequently, can’t even take a break man, i could hide in the walls or dug down but they keep shooting fireballs and i’m started to panic so i’m just running around until i get burn to death, i would say that a very fun experience.

Affects 1.16.200.55 Beta.

This is intended as far as I could tell, however this issue could be more about the radius of 44 max spawn range and radius 44+ despawn range on simulation distance of 4. This has always been how spawning worked except now spawn range is smaller and there is a more reliable despawning. I do not find them excessive but balanced, in the latest beta spawn range for simulation distance of 6 has been increased. I suggest that it is tested in that kind of conditions so it could be easier to determine the issue. 

I agree with smokeycheese13, the Ghasts seem to be the only ones that spawn way to frequently, and you kill one then within a couple of seconds another appears in it's place. I'm finding that I cant enter some places because I'm getting constantly attacked!!

Oh boy! Am I having the same problem!

I'm a relatively new Minecraft player, but I've watched Minecraft videos for as long as I can remember so I know the game pretty well. So I was surprised (to say the least) when I went to the Nether for the first time and I was constantly CONSTANTLY being attacked by ghasts, magma cubes, and skeletons.

My portal spawned on a secluded island of sorts so I was very shocked when within seconds of entering the nether I was greeted by not one but two ghasts who spared no time in braking my portal, with PERFECT aim I might add. 

The only thing around me was a Soul Sand Valley, and after my ghast attack, I proceeded with extreme caution and gathered some netherrack, but apparently not with enough caution because within seconds of stepping into the Soul Sand Valley a ton of skeletons and magma cubes started spawning in from all sides, and I was trapped not being able to run on the soul sand. In an extreme panic, I was barely BARELY able to block myself in to hide from the skeletons. After failed attempts to escape my shelter, I noped out and decided to tunnel my way back to my portal.

On the way back I was again getting attacked by multiple ghasts. But when I got finally back to the portal in one piece I decided to not go home just quite yet and explore for other (less dangerous) biomes. I tunneled behind my portal and found a Crimson Forest in the distance, so I proceeded to build a bridge to it; but as I was building the bridge guess what happened next? Yeah, you guessed it; ghasts started spawning and fireballs started flying left and right, when I managed to kill one it seemed like two took its place! I ditched the bridge and ran back to my tunnel, and decided to dig down and find another way to the Forest. I found an opening but dropped down prematurely, and a ghast was waiting for me right there on the ground!

As I was fighting to get back to my tunnel, I decided that this wasn't at all worth it and I was going back home ASAP. But I just couldn't catch a break! Cause when I finally got back, at the end of the tunnel, right where my portal was, there were two ghasts, at least three magma cubes, and a whole bunch of piglins. I could barely process what I was seeing when one of the ghasts sent a fireball directly through my 1x2 tunnel and made a direct hit! I drew cover in the little nook that the explosion made but I didn't even have time to put myself out when the other ghast did the same thing, WHILE I WAS HIDDEN! I don't even know how I made it out alive, but when I got home I made sure to break my nether portal. 

I don't feel like all of that was normal behavior for the Nether. And just to clarify, most all of the ghasts were spawning at ground level close to me (40 blocks away at most), I rarely saw one floating in the sky where they're supposed to be.

All of the above was played at normal difficulty (I double checked) I also had full iron armor with a gold helmet and a shield. I probably won't be returning to the Nether anytime soon because of this. Please fix and thank you for reading.

I recently tried my long-term survival world on Realms for a few weeks and based on that experience I can corroborate that the 44-block spawning and despawning spheres (which now apply only to Simulation distance 4) are the primary cause of this issue. That's just as I speculated in my previous comment and as many other comments above have suggested as well. There is a very noticeable difference travelling through the Nether on sim4 (required by Realms) and sim8 (what my survival world was set on locally).

This is likely no longer an issue on Realms due to REALMS-6805

everytime i go to the soul sand valley ghasts and skeletons spawn WAY TOO FREQUENTLY. pls fix NOW

Still seems to be an issue, as REALMS-6805 was resolved by reverting realms back to sim distance 4. I've been wanting sim distance 10 for a while now, but it seems there was too much outcry on that.  Making sim distance configurable per realm would probably be the best compromise. 

Main issues with the smaller sim distance are that crops stop growing when moving to other side of base, and after killing 3 ghasts in the nether and turning back to building, there are instantly 1 or 2 behind me again (applies to skeletons and blades in soul sand valleys and fortresses too).

It is still an issue. They also seem to completely ignore their spawn rules, ghasts should not spawn without sufficient space or close to each other, but they do.

Still an issue and it makes my family's Realm nearly unplayable with ghasts and other hostiles spawning immediately and continuously and in spots they shouldn't even be able to spawn in. The whole nether has become a chore to work through. It's kind of hard to believe that this issue has still not been addressed. 

This bug affects 1.17.10.22.

(I have to say, it's too annoying)

I spent a lot of time digging out a nether hub that I didn't think would be spawnable, but ghasts are still spawning where they shouldn't on my 1.17 realm. It's worth noting, though, that I think there are two different issues here. One is the spawn rate of Nether mobs, which is way too high. The other is some mobs spawning where there isn't space for them. The latter applies to ghasts, magma cubes, and slimes (at least), so this isn't just in the Nether. I have a large 2-tall area dug out in the Overworld and large slimes will spawn in slime chunks there, even though they're supposed to need 2.5 blocks of height to spawn.

Chris O'Brien: the issue will large magma cubes spawning in spaces that are too small is tracked at MCPE-46540. Slimes have the same problem, tracked at MCPE-60859. I could not find a similar report on ghasts. If you can reproduce that, please make a new ticket. This ticket is about the spawn density in the nether (which is a result of the despawnnig rules introduced in 1.16.0, and mostly small size of the instant despawn sphere on simulation distance 4).

GoldenHelmet: I'll try and get some screenshots of ghasts spawning where they shouldn't, but it seems like there are already plenty in this ticket (the attachments from 6/27/2020, of a ghast spawning in a tunnel where it shouldn't have space to spawn).

Thanks for the reference, I think so much was new with this last summer that I had forgotten the comments and screenshots about ghasts in tunnels on this ticket. Looking at the tunnel design here I can see why ghasts are spawning: the tunnel has a 5 wide x 4 high area free of any solid blocks or blocks made of spawn-blocking material like wood, stone, or iron. Glass panes do not block spawns. Now, if that solid block in the middle of the ceiling were lowered by one, or if the glass panes were replaced with iron bars or any kind of fences, then you probably would not get any ghasts in that tunnel. (I say probably because many nether mobs have special elements in their spawnable spot checks, and I don’t know exactly what ghasts check for.)

Ah, I hadn't realized glass panes won't block spawns. Will carpets? I know carpets stop spawns for the block they're placed on, but not sure if they stop the spawning of large mobs on the blocks around them. I'm digging out a large area in the nether that's 7 blocks tall, and placed carpet every 3 blocks in a grid, but ghasts were still able to spawn. Is that a bug, or do I just need to place carpet on every block?

As I said, I don't know if Ghasts have some specific conditions or exceptions in their block check. However, this kind of discussion is not appropriate for the bug tracker. You might ask on the Minecraft Discord or one of the technical community discords like Techrock.

Fair enough, thanks for the help anyway!

The fix for this bug in 1.17.20.20 has problems (MCPE-132746), so I have made a behavior pack to test some alternative changes that are targeted to specific issues raised in this report.

does 4 things:
1. Reduces the nether monster cap by 25% for simulation distance 4 only. (Technically uses a dummy entity to emulate a lower cap.)
2. Gives skeletons their own density cap, which makes them not so thick in soul sand valleys.
3. Changes ghast's targeting behavior to match Java so that they have to be close to the player's elevation before they initially target (unless they are shot first), which means they won't surprise you from above.
4. Makes ghasts immune to distance-based instant despawning, which means new ghasts will not spawn near the player as frequently on simulation distance 4.

We are eager to hear feedback on how this pack impacts your nether experience!

Thanks GoldenHelmet. Was trying to get this to import into my Android bedrock but haven't had any luck. Guessing I'm doing it wrong. I'm able to get the textures packs to work, but have never tried behavior packs importing.

It’s for testing in the release version. In the beta it may not import, and you would hardly get any spawns. It should import the same as a resource pack, and then you enable on the left side of the world settings screen for whatever world you want to use it in. There is no “global behaviors” section for all worlds like there is for “global resources.”

I completely agree here. It's September of 2021, and this issue has become almost unbearable for me. I am learning MC speedrunning, and whenever I'm in the Nether I am literally always fighting at least one Ghast, if I'm in a biome that allows their spawning. The Magma Cubes are also so over the top that I often avoid the Delta biomes entirely, which obviously adds time. I have a slightly better time with Skeletons in the Soul Sand Valleys, but fewer of them would be far more balanced, imo.

Ultimately, the Ghasts are what brought me here. They will spawn literally right in front of me, multiple at a time, the entire time I am in the Nether. It's so constant that my partner knows when I'm in the Nether without looking just by hearing their constant screeching. 

1.17 was made in large part to tempt players who avoided the Nether previously to go explore there. The Biomes are beautiful, and I thoroughly love this update, but the spawning issues on Bedrock are probably causing even fewer players to explore the Nether. God forbid your first Portal drops you in a Soul Sand Valley or a Basalt Delta. There is a high chance you will immediately be killed, especially if like myself, your computer lags a lot upon changing dimensions. This allows 10+ seconds of Hostile Mobs attacking me while I'm still stuck staring at the Nether loading screen, unable to defend myself. Obviously, my lacking a decent computer isn't MC's responsibility, but the spawning mechanics are. 

Please, please, consider parity with Java on this issue. Speedrunning on Bedrock is already significantly more challenging, and the Mob Spawns in the Nether is actually making it not fun.

In my opinion I don't think there is too many spawns, I think they are just spawning closer to the player. On Java mobs spawn 128 by 128 but on bedrock it's limited to 96 by 128. Meaning mobs spawn closer to the player, Making the Nether alot harder for bedrock players. If we had those extra 2 chunks of spawning space It would probably make the difference. And if we did get 128 by 128 on bedrock, then quad witch huts will finally work with one player.

This bug is still an issue as of version 1.19.51.

I've noticed this happening in the overworld with slimes as well. If the surrounding area is well lit (preventing other spawns), it's possible to fight a whole bunch of slimes in an area, then turn around to do something and get ambushed from behind by a newly spawned slime.

Giving realms the option to use the optimal simulation distance of 12 would certainly solve the problem.

I feel its important to understand first before i decide to Upvote a report, So here goes, What exactly is the bug here? All im seeing is Suggestions to make the nether spawn less mobs? Can anyone tell me what the bug is? Cause i dont see anything that indicates that this report is a bug. 

If its a suggestion then i will add my own suggestion, If players are struggling with the difficulty of the Nether then the question to ask is, What difficulty is the player playing on. Minecraft comes with 4 difficulties, Hard is meant to be Hard. But everyone can choose to play Minecraft on Peaceful/Easy/Normal/Hard. Again playing on Sim4 has a massive impact on spawning. Sim4 spawning is more difficult then Sim6. Just a suggestion but players can choose a higher sim that will give the mobs a wider area of spawning rather then in the face of the Player.

People are saying changing to sim 12 would help, but those same people don't realize no mater if you're on sim 10 or 12 the mobs spawns are limited to 128x96. Until this is addressed bedrock will always be a litter harder because of the hostile mobs are forced to spawn closer to the player. Who knew 2 chunks of spawning space could make a massive difference in gameplay... 

Edit to add an a link to a recording. 

Gameplay example

version 1.19.81 on Realms

Normal difficulty   

Spawning in the Nether is a mess and makes the nether almost unexplorable. All types of mobs can spawn immediately after previous ones have been killed. For example, clearing mobs in an open area, turning away for a few second and turning back will often result in the mobs having respawned. Ghasts, blazes, Wither skeletons, all types. The state it is currently in makes any mob spawners irrelevant.

The expected behaviour is that when mobs are cleared, there will be a gap between the next mobs spawning. 

Tman Bacon, I've added a 5 minute recording (link) so people can see how fast the spawns are. It's not the best as I have protected the area a bit, but it should demo how fast things come back. I have not changed any settings from the default.

@unknown I see what you mean by the spawns, however im not sure if you know how spawning works on Bedrock. This area that you are in is a Fortress. Fortress are Structures and all structures have Spawn Spots that are unique to that Structure, meaning mobs will always spawn in those spawn spots unless they are spawn proofed. And because of the Spawning Mechanics of Structure spawns they can appear to spawn fast. However this is intentional to provide the Structure with a level of difficulty. But the player can prevent these spawns. With the latest changes to Mobs in the nether, Nearly all mobs can be prevented Using Light Levels. You are basically inside the Hard part of the Nether, and its designed this way as completing the game requires players to adventure into difficult areas such as a fortress to obtain Blaze rods to open the end portal. It may appear unbalanced but its really the opposite when you think about how the Nether is meant to be more difficult then the overworld.  

@Tman Bacon. it is not just in the fortress. It just so happens that I made tot a fortress.. which took a long time. I'll do another recording outside the nether portal. It's just not right.

You can skip the first minute of magma cubes: https://youtu.be/lMGuyJaXxnU

Affects 1.20.0. I don't mean to be rude, but when will this be fixed? It's becoming almost unbearable to try and traverse the Nether. It seems to happen in bastions too, there's an unfair amount of Piglin Brutes. Mojang, PLEASE fix this ASAP.

Can confirm this is still present on 1.20. I cannot count how many times I see TWO ghasts spawn directly in front of me. I kill those, and two more will spawn in less than a minute. And you can absolutely forget about traversing a soul sand valley. I must have killed 75 skeletons on my way across it. Kill three or four and watch them respawn in less than 10 seconds. It's impossible to climb scaffolding or anything else because you're in the middle of a shooting gallery. Other biomes are just as bad with constant piglin and magma cube spawns. It's just ridiculous. This can't be hard to turn down can it? Just put some more gaps between spawns, and maybe only spawn one ghast at a time.

There are more ways to make this game less challenging then more challenging, Users can play on multiple difficulties as well as multiple sim distances. The choice is the player, However as it stands right now there is no way to make vanilla Minecraft Harder for those who want it to be more challenging. Im stuck on the hardest difficulty and on Sim4 if i want a challenge, everyone else can choose between peaceful/easy/normal/hard. and change sim to make it easier. Im not sure why are there complaints about a game that has multiple different difficulties, If you dont want mobs spawning. Turn mob spawning off? If you dont want too many mobs in your face, Play on sim 6+? If you still dont want any of this. Play on Creative. Choices are there. Like i said, its easier to make this game less challenging already with choices, then to make it harder which i would like to see. The same way you need to go out and craft a diamond pick to Mine obsidian to make a Portal. You can also find ways to SPAWN PROOF the nether. Learn the game. And you can do many things to help yourself. 

yeah it makes the nether truly unbearable. cant even traverse the nether calmly anymore, you HAVE to sprint jump as far away as possible or else you get screwed by 10 skeletons all shooting you from different angles. its not that people dont want mobs spawning, we just want mob spawning to be more fair. we shouldnt have to spawn proof the nether so you can actually explore it lmao. maybe its normal for you people who just gotten use to how crap bedrock is, but for the people who only play it so you can play with friends who dont have a pc its horrible. 

I don't want to be rude, but this is yet another bug that you haven't fixed after a long time of reports
the nether is too difficult due to too many mobs
As you kill the wither come the piglins plus lots of ghasts
This should make the art of parity
1.20.10 is present