[DRD] Dynamic Render Distance

Dynamic Render Distance

Keeps your game smooth by lowering the render distance only when your FPS really drop, then bringing it back up to your own Render Distance as soon as your PC can handle it. No flicker, no world reload, no manual tweaking.

Why DRD

• Your setting is never touched. The Render Distance you pick in Video Settings stays as it is. DRD only limits what is drawn, and your own distance is always the maximum.
• No flicker. A change never makes the world disappear and reload. Drops slide one chunk at a time.
• VSync and FPS limits handled. DRD reads the real cap of your game: your Max Framerate, and your screen refresh rate when VSync is on. With VSync at 60 Hz, 60 FPS is perfect, not "too low".
• No false alarms. DRD pauses when the game itself limits FPS: minimized or unfocused window, loading screens, and the game's AFK limiter on versions that have one. FPS measured while chunks rebuild after a change are ignored.
• No yo-yo. If raising the distance makes FPS fall again, that level is blocked for 5 minutes.
• Client-side only. Nothing to install on servers. The server keeps sending chunks up to your own distance, so they are already there when DRD raises it again.

How it works

Every 5 seconds, DRD averages your FPS and compares it to your target.

• Target = the lowest of your Target FPS, your Max Framerate, and your screen refresh rate if VSync is on.
• Below the target minus the Tolerance: the distance goes down. The further below, the bigger the drop (about 1 chunk per 7% under the target, up to Max Drop).
• At 97% of the target or more: the distance goes up by 1 chunk, up to your own Render Distance.
• In between: nothing changes.
• After each change, DRD waits 10 seconds before measuring again.

Example with the defaults (Target 60 FPS, Tolerance 15%): an average of 48 FPS is 20% under the target, so the distance drops by 3 chunks. Between 51 and 58 FPS, nothing changes. From 58 FPS, it climbs back one chunk at a time.

Settings

All settings are in Options > Video Settings: at the end of the vanilla screen, or on DRD's own page in Sodium's video settings. The config button in Mod Menu (Fabric) or in the Mods list (Forge / NeoForge) opens the same screen.

Advanced settings (only in config/dynamic-render-distance.json): checkIntervalTicks (100 = 5 s), cooldownTicks (200 = 10 s), increaseStep (1). Out-of-range values are corrected automatically.

Updating from an older version

The old settings (Min FPS, Max FPS, Max RD, Decrease Step) are gone. Your config file is rewritten with the new settings on first launch. Your maximum is now simply the Render Distance you choose in Video Settings.

Compatibility

• Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, Minecraft 1.18.2 to 26.3 (see the Versions tab for each loader). NeoForge 1.20.1 uses the Forge file.
• No required dependency. Optional: Sodium, Mod Menu.
• Tested with the vanilla renderer, Sodium, and Iris shaders.
• If another mod replaces the world renderer in a way DRD cannot handle safely, DRD stays idle instead of risking a flicker.

Used in the Legends Reborn: Medieval modpack.

One big base, a crowded village or a storm of mobs is enough to drag your FPS down. The usual fix is to lower your render distance for the whole game, or to stop and move the slider every time.

Dynamic Render Distance does it for you. When FPS drop below your target, it shortens what the game renders. When FPS come back, it brings the distance back up to your own setting. Nothing reloads, nothing flashes.

What it does

• Keeps your target FPS: you choose the FPS you want (60 by default). If VSync or your Max Framerate is lower, that cap is used instead.
• Reacts to how bad it is: the drop follows how far FPS are below the target, about 1 chunk per 7%, up to 8 chunks at once. It slides one chunk at a time so it stays smooth.
• Comes back on its own: the distance goes up again once FPS reach 97% of your target.
• Leaves your setting alone: your Render Distance slider and options.txt are never changed. Your setting is the ceiling, and the mod only works below it.
• Reloads nothing: a distance change rebuilds no chunks, with or without Sodium.
• Waits when you are away: it pauses while the window is minimized, unfocused or AFK-limited.

Works with

• Sodium and Embeddium: optional. Without them the mod works the same way.
• Bobby: the limit also applies to Bobby's chunks, on servers too.
• Distant Horizons: far LODs follow the same limit, through the Distant Horizons API. Its own settings are not changed.
• Servers and ServerCore: a distance changed from outside no longer reloads your chunks. In singleplayer, ServerCore no longer overwrites your slider. On a dedicated server, ServerCore keeps all its features.

Settings

In Options > Video Settings. On Fabric, also in a Dynamic RD tab with Sodium, and in Mod Menu.

Advanced values are in config/dynamic-render-distance.json: checkIntervalTicks (100), cooldownTicks (200) and increaseStep (1).

Compatibility

• Fabric: Minecraft 1.18.2 to 26.3. Requires Fabric Loader 0.16.14 or newer.
• Forge: Minecraft 1.18.2 to 26.3.
• NeoForge: Minecraft 1.20.2 to 26.3. On 1.20.1, use the Forge file: it runs on NeoForge too.
• Install it on the client only. A server does not need it.

Used in the Legends Reborn: Medieval modpack.