20

I am wondering if anyone has discovered a way to increase the view distance to a much larger range. I can see strange blocks in the distance floating on the edge of what is visible, and the highest setting is not very far:

Screenshot
(Note that this screenshot was added later by another user and doesn't reflect the version of the OP.)

Ever played Mario Galaxy or Sunshine? Stuff in the distance, so far away, was still rendered. I think the PC could do this no problem, so I just need a way to tweak the client.

Improve this question
5
  • 4
    Most games render things far away with separate lower-polygon models, and lower-resolution textures, which I don't think minecraft (being developed by one person, from scratch) does. Also, figuring out what NOT to render is inherently more difficult in minecraft - in, for instance, Mario Galaxy, the answer to that question can be precomputed when making the map, while it obviously can't in minecraft. Because of this, it might not run as well as you think it should.
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 6:17
  • 1
    I've seen them do it though but it was outdated. And it yo usay it 'obviously can't in minecraft' but that just means 'as it is now' because they could always change the code.. I'm not sure how you're coming up with this limitation. Really we just need the client to request more data from the map or map server, it may require the generation of more tiles when traveling, but I am hard pressed to think that this engine cannot be optimized to pre-render much more terrain.
    – MetaGuru
    Commented Oct 12, 2010 at 14:10
  • 2
    I'm afraid my first instinct was to reply "Squint!".
    – Stu Pegg
    Commented Jan 16, 2011 at 2:03
  • i mean if you want to rightclick on the file... there's always 'show package contents'... :D
    – Gill P
    Commented Oct 18 at 20:07
  • @MetaGuru, you're entirely correct. Mods like Sodium demonstrate this. Voxels can be culled based upon distance, which Minecraft does not do natively, and which when done, drastically increases performance (anecdotally).
    – RokeJulianLockhart
    Commented Oct 19 at 11:17

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
16
+100

Another way you can edit your render distance without tampering with class files yourself is to download a mod that does it for you. The Enhanced View Distance mod has a 2x render distance and a 1.5x render distance version. Additionally, it offers the Better Cloud Mod.

Here is an image the author of the mod posted while using his mod:

screenshot

Improve this answer
3
  • 8
    why are the clouds considered better? the are so fluffy, not blocky anymore...
    – Zommuter
    Commented Apr 14, 2011 at 6:24
  • 2
    I guess they consider 'realistic' synonymous with 'better'... though one then has to wonder why they're messing around with Minecraft of all things.
    – Rushyo
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 15:26
  • bleaurgh the texture pack
    – Gill P
    Commented Oct 18 at 20:08
18

Yup, you can edit your class files (an advanced mod, for sure) and make the distance beyond 512 blocks, the current value for "far".

...and there's a tutorial on world of minecraft for doing just that.

Improve this answer
9
  • 1
    Unfortunately, that tutorial refers to an older version of minecraft. Since then the obfuscated class names have changed.
    – yatima2975
    Commented Oct 11, 2010 at 9:38
  • 1
    There's a thread going around on the mapping & modding forums that is attempting to track the current contents of the class files, even though they'll change again soon. Either way, just greping for '512' should narrow it down to a file or two.
    – authenticgeek
    Commented Oct 12, 2010 at 0:18
  • I did that, and I think you may also want to look at class fr, and the number 400...
    – yatima2975
    Commented Oct 12, 2010 at 10:35
  • @yatima did you have luck with this? I grepped for 400 and did not find it in the fr.class, can you add more details?
    – MetaGuru
    Commented Oct 12, 2010 at 15:38
  • He may mean line 400, I think the default 'far' distance is 512.
    – authenticgeek
    Commented Oct 12, 2010 at 15:44
11

Since this question has been asked and answered, the state of Minecraft mods has moved on. The current gold standard in graphic improvement mods is Optifine, which is featureful, customisable, easy to install, regularly updated to address bugs and maintain compatibility with the latest version of Minecraft, and widely compatible with other mods.

Among its many features is an improved rendering engine which improves performance, and an improved draw distance that takes advantage of the rendering cycles that are saved by the improved renderer. The highest setting is now Extreme, which doubles the draw distance of the original Far, and it can be adjusted even more, in 1-chunk increments, so that you can find the perfect balance of distant visibility and performance.

The new Video Settings menu with Optifine installed. The render distance is set to "Far +80"

Improve this answer
0
2
Increased Render Distance

Per a comment on an issue in the Sodium GitHub repository, multiple options exist now:

  1. All Blocks Rendered
    C2ME for Fabric

    Unfortunately, this is in alpha.

  2. Visible Blocks Rendered (LoD)

    feedback.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/community/posts/360069365812-Optimizing-Minecraft-with-LOD formally requests that the method by which at least the last 2 modifications in the aformentioned list achieve this be added to vanilla. However, it's had no official response.

    However, until then, the undermentioned modifications exist:

    1. Distant Horizons

      This significantly modifies the rendering architecture. It doesn't handle additional modifications well.

    2. Voxy

      This utilizes LoDs like Distant Horizons does. However, it's been significantly less (well) evaluated.

Caches

Additionally, the undermentioned mods allow the client to render already generated chunks, but doesn't generate new chunks outside of the 32-chunk render distance.

  1. https://modrinth.com/mod/bobby
  2. https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/farsight-fabric
Improve this answer
1
-5

You go to your options, go to video options, and you'll see 'Render Distance'. Yours is probably on 'tiny', so click it until it gets to 'far'.

Improve this answer
1
  • 5
    I'm quite sure the person asking the question has already looked at the options - "The highest setting is not very far"
    – Private Pansy
    Commented Feb 25, 2013 at 0:00

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.