just happened to my friend in a 1.17 server. My friend died and went all the way back to their spawn far away. I wanted to help them but was too late, and saw their items drop. Looking away for one moment to fight pillagers, my friend's items despawned suddenly, would say 30 seconds after their death.
My guess: Me loading the chunk where my friend's items were must've affected the item timer somehow.
just happened to my friend in a 1.17 server. My friend died and went all the way back to their spawn far away. I wanted to help them but was too late, and saw their items drop. Looking away for one moment to fight pillagers, my friend's items despawned suddenly, would say 30 seconds after their death.
My guess: Me loading the chunk where my friend's items were must've affected the item timer somehow.