So what i have noticed by playing in several servers, is that some farm that work in singleplayer don't work in multiplayer because of some limitations made to improve the smoothness of the gameplay. There are designs that work obviously, but almost all of the most efficent farms don't work, and since there is a much higher demand for goods, that creates a problem. Less productive farms and higher number of items needed, that is if you own a shop in a server with an economy and a shopping district at least.
So what put limits to the farms designs that one can use, is the fact that outside a certain range, (in the case of the last server i have played in it was 32 blocks) the mobs move real slow, like every section of their movement pattern have something like a few seconds delay, that is if they have a reason to move, like an iron golem or a turtle egg. Not sure how it works but anyway outside of the 32 blocks radius they won't be active, which means everything like spawning and moving of the mobs has to happen in a sphere between 24 and 32 blocks from the player. I have a farm in singleplayer that produces 16.000 gunpowder per hour and it wouldn't work in multiplayer because of this, same for the gold farm, iron farm etc.
So does any of you knows why is this so necessary in a server? I can have those farms work without lag on a laptop and 2GB of allocated ram, but it isn't possible to have it work in a dedicated server with only 5 players that has 32GB ram and crazy hardware compared to my 8 years old laptop, how is that possible?
Thank you for helping me understand this matter.
This below in an example of a farm that works on singleplayer (16k gunpowder per hour) but doesn't work on a server with the mob activation range plugin.
I don't know about mobs moving slowly, that might be a glitch.
But the 32 block radius is built into Minecraft and applies to single player as well, if the mobs spawn close to a drop most may step off before they freeze but the ones that don't will freeze.
Perhaps the slower movement you see on servers means more mobs freeze before they get to the edge?
So you should use a redstone system to flush or push the mobs off the spawning platforms.
But the mob cap should be the main problem, it does increase with the number of loaded chunks but if other players are near dark caves and not hunting mobs then the caves will fill with mobs and the mob farm will use up the mobs that spawn there.
Thank you all for the answers, but that is not what is happening, regarding the first answer from Webrosc that is not what is happening, i know about the mob cap and i tested the farm while being on my own, and it spawns like crazy, but they just dont move because they are outside of the mob activation range, regarding the second answer from Hexalobular, the mob activation range it is not the same as singleplayer, in singleplayer they will still move at normal speed if they have a reason, like a cat will make creepers move, a turtle egg will make zombie pigman move, even outside of the 32 blocks range.
And finally, yes palin it is a spigot plugin, and i wonder how necessary it is, since those farm work perfectly on my crappy laptop with 2GB ram, and the server im talking about is a dedicated one with 32GB ram, I don't remember all the other components but i have reason to believe they are waaaayyy better than my laptop, also don't forget that is all for like 2 to 5 people online at the same time. Thanks again i hope this clarify my question. BTW with the plugin entities that are further away than 32 in this case, owner can choose the distance, beyond the range will have reduced ticks on them which make the server performance increase, but also breaks the most efficent farms, again i need to ask myself how necessary it is.
minecraft has a mob cap, when in single player the mob cap is centered around you the player and you get to use all of said cap to spawn in the mobs for the farm.
when on a server the cap is shared with all the other players, so if there are 10 people on the server, and mobs are around everyone, you are likely to only get 10% of the cap
do note that really the numbers won't divide neatly per player, it will vary, could end up that 1 player sees 90% of mobs rest of players only see the left over 10%
I don't know about mobs moving slowly, that might be a glitch.
But the 32 block radius is built into Minecraft and applies to single player as well, if the mobs spawn close to a drop most may step off before they freeze but the ones that don't will freeze.
Perhaps the slower movement you see on servers means more mobs freeze before they get to the edge?
So you should use a redstone system to flush or push the mobs off the spawning platforms.
But the mob cap should be the main problem, it does increase with the number of loaded chunks but if other players are near dark caves and not hunting mobs then the caves will fill with mobs and the mob farm will use up the mobs that spawn there.
Ok after a bit of research i found out what it is, it's the spigot entity-activation-range, which i set on a 2GB server to high enough to have my farms work, so ye, probably not necessary to keep it lower than that on a 32GB dedicated server, thank you all for the answers anyway :).
So what i have noticed by playing in several servers, is that some farm that work in singleplayer don't work in multiplayer because of some limitations made to improve the smoothness of the gameplay. There are designs that work obviously, but almost all of the most efficent farms don't work, and since there is a much higher demand for goods, that creates a problem. Less productive farms and higher number of items needed, that is if you own a shop in a server with an economy and a shopping district at least.
So what put limits to the farms designs that one can use, is the fact that outside a certain range, (in the case of the last server i have played in it was 32 blocks) the mobs move real slow, like every section of their movement pattern have something like a few seconds delay, that is if they have a reason to move, like an iron golem or a turtle egg. Not sure how it works but anyway outside of the 32 blocks radius they won't be active, which means everything like spawning and moving of the mobs has to happen in a sphere between 24 and 32 blocks from the player. I have a farm in singleplayer that produces 16.000 gunpowder per hour and it wouldn't work in multiplayer because of this, same for the gold farm, iron farm etc.
So does any of you knows why is this so necessary in a server? I can have those farms work without lag on a laptop and 2GB of allocated ram, but it isn't possible to have it work in a dedicated server with only 5 players that has 32GB ram and crazy hardware compared to my 8 years old laptop, how is that possible?
Thank you for helping me understand this matter.
This below in an example of a farm that works on singleplayer (16k gunpowder per hour) but doesn't work on a server with the mob activation range plugin.
I don't know about mobs moving slowly, that might be a glitch.
But the 32 block radius is built into Minecraft and applies to single player as well, if the mobs spawn close to a drop most may step off before they freeze but the ones that don't will freeze.
Perhaps the slower movement you see on servers means more mobs freeze before they get to the edge?
So you should use a redstone system to flush or push the mobs off the spawning platforms.
But the mob cap should be the main problem, it does increase with the number of loaded chunks but if other players are near dark caves and not hunting mobs then the caves will fill with mobs and the mob farm will use up the mobs that spawn there.
Just testing.
Don't forget server may install plugins that modify mob behaviour to improve lag.
First time i use the quote so i messed up a little, anyway the reply is the one below
Thank you all for the answers, but that is not what is happening, regarding the first answer from Webrosc that is not what is happening, i know about the mob cap and i tested the farm while being on my own, and it spawns like crazy, but they just dont move because they are outside of the mob activation range, regarding the second answer from Hexalobular, the mob activation range it is not the same as singleplayer, in singleplayer they will still move at normal speed if they have a reason, like a cat will make creepers move, a turtle egg will make zombie pigman move, even outside of the 32 blocks range.
And finally, yes palin it is a spigot plugin, and i wonder how necessary it is, since those farm work perfectly on my crappy laptop with 2GB ram, and the server im talking about is a dedicated one with 32GB ram, I don't remember all the other components but i have reason to believe they are waaaayyy better than my laptop, also don't forget that is all for like 2 to 5 people online at the same time. Thanks again i hope this clarify my question. BTW with the plugin entities that are further away than 32 in this case, owner can choose the distance, beyond the range will have reduced ticks on them which make the server performance increase, but also breaks the most efficent farms, again i need to ask myself how necessary it is.
Ok after a bit of research i found out what it is, it's the spigot entity-activation-range, which i set on a 2GB server to high enough to have my farms work, so ye, probably not necessary to keep it lower than that on a 32GB dedicated server, thank you all for the answers anyway :).