Chunk loaders in Minecraft: All you need to know

Every world in Minecraft is pretty much infinite. Each world is divided into chunks that are 16 blocks wide, 256 blocks tall, and 16 blocks long. When fully filled, a chunk has 65,536 blocks in total.

When playing Minecraft, only a few chunks are loaded into the player's vicinity, including the chunk they are standing on. Players can choose to have the game load more chunks by increasing the render distance.

Everything to know about chunk loaders in Minecraft

What is a chunk loader?

A chunk loader is a redstone contraption that is meant to keep a chunk loaded even if the player isn't close to it.

When a player moves away from their automatic farms, those farms stop yielding items after a while. But with the help of a chunk loader, players can keep them from stopping production even if they are thousands of blocks away.

Many streamers use chunk loaders for efficiency because they don't cause noticeable lag even on multiplayer servers.

How to make and use a chunk loader

Chunk loaders are quite easy to make. They keep throwing an item through the Nether portal and then back to the Overworld. This cycle of an item traveling back and forth keeps the chunk loaded.

The items required to make a simple chunk loader are:

10-14 Obsidian blocks for the Nether portal
Flint and steel for activating the portal
Two redstone comparator
Two redstone torch
Two redstone lamp
Building blocks
Eight droppers
Four rails
Four hoppers
Four observers
Four minecarts with hopper

Once the player has chosen the chunk they want to build a chunk loader in, they must then follow the steps below.

Step 1) Create a Nether portal that is two blocks above the ground. Place hoppers connected to temporary solid blocks as shown. On the hopper, place two rails and the two minecarts must then be placed on these rails with hoppers next to each other.

Step 2) Place three droppers facing downwards and one facing the portal. All of them will need to be on top of each other as shown.

Step 3) Place the comparator, redstone torch, redstone lamp, and observers as shown in the image above. The second observer will need to be facing the redstone lamp.

Step 4) Go through the portal and create the same contraption in the Nether. Cover all openings on both sides.

To use this chunk loader, simply place any item in the lowest dropper. If the redstone lamp is going on and off, the chunk loader is working perfectly.