How to see chunk borders in Minecraft Java Edition

Minecraft blocks of space are known as chunks. Mojang loves the number 64, that's the number of most items that can be in a stack, and a chunk is a 64x64 block.

Chunks are a base measurement in Minecraft. In world settings, the render distance can be changed by chunks. The standard is 6 chunks, but can go up to 8 chunks. This means things that are 8 chunks in the distance will be visible to the player.

sometimes i just wish that my 400€ laptop could handle minecraft with 9 chunks render distance

— alina (@alliumleaves) June 25, 2021

There are good reasons to know what chunk a Minecraft player finds themselves in. Currently only Java Edition has this feature, adding to the list of unique features that set Java apart from Bedrock. Here's how to do it.

Chunk borders in Minecraft: Java Edition

there is something wrong with things growing at chunk borders... @Minecraft pic.twitter.com/pIfZXSNpjb

— Erendis Near ∜² (@Erendis42) June 12, 2021

Dying in Minecraft is never fun. Losing a bunch of levels that players have worked hard to get is painful, especially when, no matter what, seven levels is about the maximum that can be recouped. Losing items is the absolute worst, though, especially with a good sword, pickaxe or other weapon. Not being able to find the loot in time is an experience every Minecraft player is familiar with, but that none want to relive.

Items in Minecraft have a five minute life when they're dropped. Five minutes from the drop they will be despawned and never come back. It is imperative to find them within that time frame. The five minute timer starts when players enter the chunk where the items are in. If players don't know when chunks begin and end, it can make this difficult task even harder.

Items after death. Image via Jira Minecraft

In Bedrock, there's no way of doing this, so remembering coordinates or landmarks is the only way to find out they're close and start the timer before their items are gone. The only other way is if somehow the chunks don't load immediately, but that rarely happens with pre-explored chunks.

Chunks not loading. Image via Reddit

Fortunately, in Java, there's a feature that allows players to know the beginning and end of chunks. This still requires them to remember locations and even coordinates, but once they get close they can do one simple thing to find out when exactly they've crossed over into the chunk and started the timer: press F3 and G together and the chunk borders will be highlighted.

That's it! If only Bedrock could implement such a simple and useful feature. For more Minecraft content, subscribe to our YouTube channel!