5 min read · Feb 2, 2022
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VERY IMPORTANT : IF THIS ARTICLE MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH EXPLANATION , INTERESTING ENOUGH OR IS TOO LONG >> CLICK HERE << TO LEARN THE FULL , EASY, EXPLANATORY WAY TO DO IT!
DETAILS:
Below is a list of the finer details to this method:
- Works on the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft
- (Consoles / Nintendo Switch / Xbox / Windows 10 / Mobile / Minecraft Pocket Edition)
- Done completely without the use of resource packs, texture packs, cheats, mods, or external websites
- Most of the time people use resource packs or external websites to find chunk borders. This method relies only on in-game video settings and easily obtainable blocks.
- Works on Realms as well as single player worlds
- This method relies on client side video settings, so you are able to do this whether you are on a Realm or in a single player world.
- Done at a low resource cost
- You need leaves. That’s it.
CHUNKS EXPLAINED:
What are Chunks:
A chunk is a 256 block tall 16×16 segment of a Minecraft world. Chunks are the method used by the world generator to divide maps into manageable pieces. Essentially, the game divides the entire world in 16x16 block sections and does certain processing based upon these sections.
Only when a Chunk is loaded into memory does the game allow activities such as mob spawning, tree growth, water flowing, etc. In other words, your farms and redstone builds will only work when the Chunks they are built in are actively in the game’s memory. This is why it is so important to Chunk align such things, so the entire farm can be processed by the game simultaneously. You don’t want parts of your builds to not function just because they cross over into a Chunk that isn’t loaded.
- Visualization of a single Chunk: Image
- What happens when a Chunk is loaded into memory: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ticking_area#Behavior
What is Simulation Distance:
So what determines when a Chunk is loaded into active memory? A user’s simulation distance is the range away from the player that Chunks will be loaded into active memory. So if you have a simulation distance of 4, all Chunks within a 4 Chunk radius from the player will be loaded in active memory.
This radius moves with the player, so the game is constantly loading and unloading Chunks as the player moves throughout the word. In the case of 4 chunk simulation distance, imagine you are always carrying a 144 block wide hula hoop and anything within that hula hoop is loaded into memory.
A player’s simulation distance is sometimes referred to as a ticking area, so don’t be confused when people use these terms interchangeably. Ticking area is a predefined range you can set via commands that acts like the players simulation distance, but does not move with the player. The reason people use this interchangeably is because there is more documentation on Ticking area for the Bedrock Edition of the game than there is on simulation distance, and therefore easier to grasp the concept.
- Minecraft Documentation on Ticking Area for Bedrock Edition: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ticking_area
- Visual representation of simulation distance set to 4: Image
THE MECHANICS USED:
Fancy Graphics:
Fancy graphics is a video setting option that enables higher quality graphic effects for certain aspects of the game. In our case, we are only concerned with the Fancy Leaves option. Fancy Leaves determine whether or not blocks of Leaves are transparent. Non-transparent Leaves are easier for the game to render, and therefore better for computers with less processing power.
The Fancy Leaves option is interesting, because it does not automatically impact all blocks of Leaves throughout the world. This option will update Leaves as Chunks are updated. To be specific, toggling the Fancy Leaves option will only convert already placed blocks of Leaves when a block is placed or removed from the same Chunk or an adjacent one.
We are going to find Chunk borders by abusing this update mechanic. By placing leaves across 3 Chunks, and only updating one of the edge Chunks, we will have a distinct break between the middle and other edge Chunk. If we can use this to find two Chunk edges, we can outline the Chunk and find other nearby Chunks.
- Visual representation of the Fancy vs. Fast Leaves update mechanic: Gif
- Minecraft documentation on Fancy Graphics & the Fancy Leavesvideo setting: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Options#Graphics
- Minecraft documentation on the difference between Fancy & Fast Leaves: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Leaves#Usage
THE TUTORIAL:
- Gather 1.5 stacks of Leaves (any kind)
- Place a line of Leaves 40 blocks long
- This line will be guaranteed to cross at least 3 Chunks, since Chunks are only 16 blocks long
- Go 7 blocks in from either end of your line of Leaves
- Starting at this 7th block, place another line of leaves 40 blocks long perpendicular to your first line
- Toggle the Fancy Leaves video settings option
- Place any block next to the last block of Leaves in one of the lines
- Do not place a block on the end near the intersection of your two lines!
- You should now see a portion of this line’s Leaves have changed graphics.
- Mark out this border using some other type of block
- Go to the other line of Leaves and repeat steps 5–8
- You should now have two borders marked out
- Connect these borders & identify the other two borders knowing that a Chunk is always 16 x 16
- You can now identify other nearby chunks using the 16 x 16 knowledge in conjunction with knowing this Chunk’s borders
TLDR:
From a code perspective, Minecraft Bedrock Edition divides the world into 16x16 block sections called Chunks. Only Chunks loaded into active memory process events such as water flowing, crops growing, or redstone. Chunks are loaded into active memory when they are within a player’s simulation distance. A player’s simulation distance is a circle of chunks around a player that moves (loading and unloading Chunks) as the player moves.
To find these 16x16 chunks, you need to identify their borders. To identify Chunk borders, we can exploit the Fancy Leaves video setting. Graphic changes to Leaves are only processed when there is an update to the Chunk they are in, or an update to an adjacent Chunk. Therefore, if we build a line of Leaves at least 36 blocks long and place a block next to the end of said line, only 2 Chunks worth of Leaves should update their graphics. Wherever there is a gap between these graphic changes is a Chunk border. Create two perpendicular lines of leaves to find two Chunk borders, and then fill out the rest of the 16x16 border by connecting those two points.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- World Download of map used for the Video Guide above:
- MediaFire Link:http://www.mediafire.com/file/84ysbycrre30101/Find_Chunks_w__Leaves_Vid_-_RR.mcworld/file
- (Beware fake Download links!)
- jx67’s original video detailing this method:
- [MCBE]Find Chunkborder Using Video Setting — universal, no cheating
- Minecraft Documentation on Chunks:
- https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Chunk
- Visualization of a single Chunk:
- https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Chunk.png
- Minecraft documentation on Ticking Area:
- https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ticking_area
- Minecraft Documentation on Fancy Graphics & the Fancy Leavesvideo setting: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Options#Graphics
- Minecraft documentation on the difference between Fancy & Fast Leaves: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Leaves#Usage
- Chunky 1.8.0 Chunk Visualizer Resource Pack used in the video:
- MediaFire Link:http://www.mediafire.com/file/6k4dodarmcjrcb5/1.8_Chunk_visualizer_cross_platform.mcpack/file
OUTRO:
I hope you learned a little bit about Chunks, and now you have no excuse to not Chunk align your builds! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.
