Mob Cap

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Why have a mob cap?
​Entities are among the most demanding things for a Minecraft server to handle, especially on versions 1.13+. Survival servers with mid-to-high player counts will often deal with thousands of entities. When we have too many entities loaded at once, server lag is inevitable, and the experience is made less enjoyable for everyone. Therefore, we try to limit the number of entities loaded by each player to avoid overloading the server.
How does the mob cap work?
Every 30 seconds, the server checks a 3 chunk range (5x5 area = 25 total chunks) around every player for excess entities.
Range scanned for excess entities
If the server finds too many entities (as defined by the limits below) in an area, it prevents further mob spawning and, in some cases, removes excess mobs.
Spawn Prevention
When an area reaches an entity limit, the server prevents natural (and many other types) mob spawning in that area. However, there are some methods of mob spawning that are not affected by this restriction.
Spawning methods that are not prevented by the entity limit
SPAWNER
SPAWNER_EGG
BREEDING
DISPENSE_EGG
INFECTION (ZOMBIE VILLAGER)
CURED (VILLAGER)
NOTE: Mobs exempted from spawn prevention are not necessarily exempt from removal. For example, the server may remove a blaze shortly after it spawns from a spawner if it exceeds a limit.
Mob Removal
When an area reaches an entity limit, the server removes excess mobs in that area. Only certain types of mobs are subject to removal. Also, certain things are supposed to exempt mobs from being removed, but they currently seem to be buggy and cannot be relied on with confidence.
Characteristics that are supposed to exempt mobs from removal (not reliable)
TAMED
NAMED
SADDLE
BABY
What are the limits?
There are two types of limits, one for groups of mobs and one for individual entities. The server may remove a mob or prevent it from spawning if it exceeds either type of limit. There isn't a cap (outside Minecraft's default) for mobs not listed in individual or group limits.
Mob Groups
There are currently two groups of mobs; "Hostile" and "Passive." Both have a limit of 30. If a mob goes over the total amount of a group limit, it will not spawn. If there are excess mobs from the "Hostile" group, the server removes them. The server does not remove excess mobs for hitting the "Passive" group limit. However, it will still remove certain types of mobs listed in the "Passive" group if they exceed an individual limit.
Hostile Group
BLAZE
CAVE_SPIDER
CREEPER
DROWNED
ENDERMAN
GUARDIAN
HOGLIN
HUSK
PHANTOM
SILVERFISH
SKELETON
SPIDER
STRAY
WITHER_SKELETON
ZOMBIE
ZOMBIFIED_PIGLIN
Passive
BAT
BEE
CAT
CHICKEN
COD
COW
DOLPHIN
DONKEY
FOX
HORSE
LLAMA
MULE
OCELOT
PANDA
PARROT
PIG
POLAR_BEAR
PUFFERFISH
RABBIT
SALMON
SHEEP
SNOWMAN
SQUID
STRIDER
TRADER_LLAMA
TROPICAL_FISH
WANDERING_TRADER
WOLF
Individual Entities
The server will not remove entities for exceeding individual limits unless "Remove Existing?" is "Yes" for them.
Entity
Limit
Remove Existing?
ELDER_GUARDIAN
30
Yes
WITHER_SKELETON
30
Yes
STRAY
30
Yes
PAINTING
60
No
ARROW (Projectile)
30
Yes
SNOWBALL (Projectile)
30
Yes
FIREBALL (Projectile)
30
Yes
SMALL_FIREBALL (Projectile)
30
Yes
ITEM_FRAME
60
No
WITHER_SKULL (Projectile)
30
Yes
HUSK
30
Yes
ZOMBIE_VILLAGER
30
Yes
SKELETON_HORSE
30
Yes
ZOMBIE_HORSE
30
Yes
DONKEY
30
Yes
MULE
30
Yes
EVOKER
30
Yes
VEX
30
Yes
VINDICATOR
30
Yes
Black Market
Last modified 9mo ago
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Contents
Why have a mob cap?
How does the mob cap work?