Overview

Chunker is designed to be more efficient and resilient compared to traditional pre-generators. Traditional pre-generators often keep track of hundreds of thousands of chunks in memory, leading to significant issues in the event of a crash. Chunker's approach minimizes the amount of data tracked, reducing the impact of crashes and improving overall performance.

It works best on Paper forks, where it utilizes asynchronous functionality for faster performance. Performance for Bukkit/Spigot has been more optimized than the default PaperLib implementation, so it should be about 2-3x faster for those compared to other pre-generators.

The pre-generation can be set to run by default when there are no players on the server, and it will shut down when any players connect. This option can be changed in the settings.yml. You can also modify the load each world will put on the server and distribute the load however you would like. For example, if you just want to pre-generate the overworld, you can enable auto_run in the world and set parallel_tasks_multiplier to your thread count to utilize 100% CPU load. You can also customize the task_queue_timer, parallel_tasks_multiplier, print_update_delay, and radius in the settings.yml individually per world.

NOTE: This plugin will not support older versions because it uses features available only in Java 21 (Virtual Threads). However, I plan to support future versions and improve performance further if possible.

Key Differences

1. Reduced Memory Usage

Other pre-generators maintain a large in-memory database of chunks, which can grow to hundreds of thousands. This leads to high memory consumption and an increased risk of losing hours of progress during a crash. Chunker limits the amount of data tracked, only keeping necessary information in memory.

2. Minimal Data Loss

In case of a crash, traditional pre-generators can lose a significant amount of progress due to the extensive data they manage. Chunker is designed to handle crashes more gracefully. At most, it will lose the chunk it was processing at the time of the crash.

3. Efficient Chunk Processing

Chunker ensures that already processed chunks are not redone. This is achieved through a strategic method of determining the next chunk for generation. If a chunk is reloaded, it is instantly unloaded, avoiding redundant processing and saving resources.

4. Parallel Task Management

Chunker utilizes an efficient parallel task management system, leveraging the available CPU cores optimally. The load on the server scales linearly with parallelTasksMultiplier. If you want a lighter load, you can set a smaller parallelTasksMultiplier.

How It Works

Starting Point for Generation

Chunker begins pre-generation at chunk (x = 0, z = 0) and then expands outwards in a spiral pattern. This ensures that chunks near the spawn point are generated first, gradually moving outward.

Determining the Next Chunk

The next chunk is determined using a spiral traversal algorithm. The direction of traversal changes dynamically based on the position, ensuring efficient coverage of the world. Here’s how it works:

1. Initial Direction and Position: Start at (x = 0, z = 0) with an initial direction.
2. Direction Changes: Change direction based on the current position. If x == z or (x < 0 && x == -z) or (x > 0 && x == 1 - z), the direction changes. This ensures a spiral pattern.
3. Update Position: Update x and z based on the current direction. Continue this until a chunk at a coordinate (both x and z) is found for processing.

Tracking Progress and Saving Data

Chunker keeps track of the following numbers to ensure minimal memory usage and efficient recovery in case of a crash:

1. Current Coordinates (x, z): The current coordinates being processed.
2. Direction (dx, dz): The current direction of traversal.
3. Total Chunks Processed: The total number of chunks processed so far.
4. Chunks Processed in the Current Cycle: The number of chunks processed in the current cycle (resets every print cycle).

These numbers are periodically saved to a file after each chunk is processed to ensure that progress can be resumed in case of a crash. The file contains:

1. x, z Coordinates: The current coordinates.
2. dx, dz Directions: The current directions.
3. Total Chunks Processed: To track overall progress.

Example Saved Data Format

world_pregenerator.txt

-96_-222_1_0
99039

• x: -96, z: -222, dx: 1, dz: 0
• totalChunksProcessed: 99039

Reasons for These Choices

• By only tracking essential data, Chunker minimizes memory usage.
• Periodically saving progress ensures minimal data loss in case of a crash.
• The spiral pattern ensures that chunks are processed in an orderly fashion, avoiding redundant processing and unnecessary checks and verifications.
• Changing directions based on the position ensures thorough and efficient coverage of the world.

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Paper Config

• On non-Paper forks, the async functionality will not be used.
• I recommend that you update your Paper server's paper-global.yml file:

chunk-system:
  gen-parallelism: default
  io-threads: 12
  worker-threads: 12

• Adjust io-threads and worker-threads to match your CPU’s thread count. Default settings utilize only half.
• Usage: /pregen <ParallelTasksMultiplier> <PrintUpdateDelay in (Seconds/Minutes/Hours)> <world> <Radius (Blocks/Chunks/Regions)>

Command Usage

Examples:

/pregen 4 10s world default

• Pre-generates the overworld
• 4 async parallel processes loading chunks
• Prints logs every 10 seconds
• default pre-generates to the world border of the selected world. You can use this if you set your world border manually using /worldborder set #

/pregen 6 5s world 1000b

• Pre-generates the overworld
• 6 async parallel processes loading chunks
• Prints logs every 5 seconds
• 1000 block radius (1000 / 16) = 62.5, rounded to 62 chunks, then squared to get total chunks, 62x62 = 3844 chunks that will need to be processed

/pregen 2 2m world_nether 500c

• Pre-generates the nether
• 2 async parallel processes loading chunks
• Prints logs every 2 minutes
• 500 chunk radius, squared to get total chunks, (500 * 500) = 250,000 chunks that will need to be processed

/pregen 1 12h world_the_end 100r

• Pre-generates the end
• 1 async parallel process loading chunks
• Prints logs every 12 hours
• 100 region radius. 1 region is (32 * 32) chunks. To get the radius, multiply (32 * 100) = 3200, squared to get total chunks, (3200 * 3200) = 10,240,000 chunks that will need to be processed

Command Settings

ParallelTasksMultiplier

• Recommendation: Stay below your thread count (can be exceeded if desired, but exceeding your thread count will cause a chunk backlog, and the Total time won’t reflect accurately).
• Function: Limits the number of parallel chunk load tasks.

Performance Examples:

• ParallelTasksMultiplier = 6:
  • Command: /pregen 6 5s world 100c
  • Chunks per second: Avg. ~100 ± 4 (on a 5600x CPU, depending on server activity and other system tasks)
  • Time: Finished in 1 Minute 39 Seconds

• ParallelTasksMultiplier = 12:
  • Command: /pregen 12 5s world 100c
  • Chunks per second: Avg. ~200 ± 4 (on a 5600x CPU, depending on server activity and other system tasks)
  • Time: Finished in 49 Seconds

Summary:

• Load Management: Determines the load on your server. Scales linearly ~ 17-18 chunks per ParallelTasksMultiplier.
• Small Number: Lower load, fewer chunks per second. Good if you just want to run it in the background.
• Large Number: Higher load, faster chunk processing.
• Best Practice: Start at 1 and increase by 1 until you encounter constant overload or reach your thread count.

World

• Determines which world you want to pre-generate.
• Tab autocomplete will fetch all the vanilla worlds on the server and show them to you.
• Then you can choose which world you want to process.

Radius

• Determines the radius of chunks that will be pre-generated.
• The supported units are blocks, chunks, and regions.
• To use it, add the letters b, c, or r next to the actual number.
• For example, 20000b is a 20,000 block radius, 500c is a 500 chunk radius, or 30r is a 30 region radius.

Commands:

• /pregen: /pregen <ParallelTasksMultiplier> <PrintUpdateDelay in (Seconds/Minutes/Hours)> <world> <Radius in (Blocks/Chunks/Regions) or default> Pre-generate any of the dimensions: overworld, nether, and end.
• /pregenoff: Turn off the pre-generation process for all worlds, or /pregenoff [world] to turn it off for a specific world.

Permissions:

(Default OP)

• chunker.pregen: Grants permission to use the pre-generation command with customizable parameters.
• chunker.pregenoff: Grants permission to disable pre-generation using the /pregenoff command.
• chunker.*: Provides access to all Chunker commands.

settings.yml

# Configuration

# auto_run: Set to true if you want pre-generation to start automatically when no players are on the server.
# Acceptable values: true or false

# task_queue_timer: Determines how fast chunks are queued up. A value between 50-70 is recommended for modern AMD 5000 series and Intel 13th Gen CPUs in the Overworld,
# Adjust based on performance needs.

# parallel_tasks_multiplier: Sets the number of async tasks running concurrently. 'auto' will distribute the tasks based on your thread count.
# You can also set a specific integer value (e.g., 2, 4). It's recommended to stay below your total thread count.
# Example with 'auto' and 12 threads:
# world: 
#   parallel_tasks_multiplier: 4
# world_nether: 
#   parallel_tasks_multiplier: 4
# world_the_end: 
#   parallel_tasks_multiplier: 4

# print_update_delay: How often to print information (s-Seconds, m-Minutes, h-Hours). Default is 5s (5 seconds).

# radius: Defines how far the pre-generator should run (b-Blocks, c-Chunks, r-Regions) or 'default' to pre-generate until the world border.

# Settings
world:
  auto_run: false # Acceptable values: true or false
  task_queue_timer: 60 # Acceptable range: positive integer
  parallel_tasks_multiplier: auto # 'auto' or a positive integer value
  print_update_delay: 5s # Format: [value][s|m|h]. Example: 5s, 2h, 1d
  radius: default # Format: [value][b|c|r]. Example: 100b, 1c, 10r, or 'default'

world_nether:
  auto_run: false
  task_queue_timer: 60
  parallel_tasks_multiplier: auto
  print_update_delay: 5s
  radius: default

world_the_end:
  auto_run: false
  task_queue_timer: 60
  parallel_tasks_multiplier: auto
  print_update_delay: 5s
  radius: default