How to Change the Entity Broadcast Range on Your Minecraft Server
Reduce server lag by limiting how far the server sends updates for entities
Reduce server lag by limiting how far the server sends updates for entities
What is the Entity Broadcast Range?
The entity broadcast range controls how close a player must be to an entity (a mob, item frame, dropped item and so on) before the server sends updates for it to their game. Lowering it stops the server from processing distant entities, which cuts lag and bandwidth use.
Changing the Value
Stop your server Press "Stop" in the Console.
Open
server.propertiesUse the File Manager in your server control panel.

- Find the line:
entity-broadcast-range-percentage=
and set a lower value, for example:
entity-broadcast-range-percentage=60

- Save the file and start your server.
Choosing a Value
- 100: the default, full range.
- 60: a common reduction that still feels normal.
- Below 60: more performance gain, but mobs and objects can pop in closer to players.
Important Considerations
- Too Low: Entities suddenly appear right in front of players, which hurts immersion and ranged combat.
- Lag Reduction: Lower values help a lot on servers with many players or heavy mobs.
- Test It: Start at 60 and adjust until the balance feels right for your server.
Conclusion
Lowering the entity broadcast range is one of the easiest performance tweaks you can make. Set it to 60 to start, then tune from there.
Similarly, if you are having any type of issue or problem with your server at MCServerHost you can always get in touch with us by joining our Discord server or writing to us at support@mcserverhost.com.
Related guides
- How to Identify Performance Issues on Your Minecraft Server Using Spark — Find out exactly what's causing lag with detailed performance profiling
- Boosting Your Server Performance with ClearLagg — Boost Minecraft server performance using ClearLagg to automatically manage dropped items and entities.
- How to Add a Server Border on Your Minecraft Server — Limit the playable area to keep players together and reduce server lag
- How to Use Default Minecraft Commands on Your Server — The built-in commands every operator has, without any plugins