Tried individually loading chunks, even expanding the radius to a 7x7 area around the chunks in question and then repeating the test (my lazy no redstone version) to no success. Something still isn't working unfortunately.
quickly tested by forceloading the end, throwing in some entities into the end portal and waiting for items to despawn. After 5 minutes, I can still hop into the portal and collect the items.
Tried individually loading chunks, even expanding the radius to a 7x7 area around the chunks in question and then repeating the test (my lazy no redstone version) to no success. Something still isn't working unfortunately.