How Big is a Chunk in Minecraft? | Minecraft Chunk Analysis

If you are a Minecraft player for some time now and have been wondering how big is a chunk in Minecraft, we are about giving you a well-anylyzed answer to that now.
You probably have seen the term several times on the loading screens and the F3 menu, but what do chunks exactly mean, and how large are they?

What are Chunks in Minecraft?

Chunks generate with the help of the map seed, which means that the chunks are always the same if you would use the same seed again, as long as the map generator and version number remain the same.

So, How Big is a Chunk in Minecraft?

A chunk is a 256-block (384-block‌) tall 16×16 segment of a world. Chunks are the method used by the world generator to divide maps into manageable pieces.
They are used by the game’s world generation code to break the game world into segments that are easier to map out for the game engine. In total, chunks measure in at 65,536 blocks.

Spawn chunks, a 16×16 set of chunks around the world spawn, are always loaded, so you can use that to your advantage when making automatic farms.
Since Minecraft worlds are 30 million blocks in each cardinal direction and contain an extreme amount of chunks, the game loads only certain chunks in order to make the game playable. Unloaded chunks are unprocessed by the game and do not process any of the game aspects.
For Java, loading starts when a chunk receives ticket. All loaded chunks originate from the ticket. Each load ticket has three properties: Level, Ticket type, and (optionally) Time to Live. Levels are numbers that determine what load type the chunk is.

Here load levels range from 22 to 44 in regular gameplay, while only 22 to 33 are relevant.
Also, load levels less than 22 are valid but only possible with a modded game.
While load levels above 44 are not possible in vanilla.

For a given chunk, only its lowest level matters. (Lower levels = higher load type.) There are four chunk load types; each load type has different properties. This excludes unloaded chunks.

Different Ticket types

There are different ticket types, which come from various sources and activate chunks with different load types.

Player ticket

This ticket is caused by the player and is assigned level 31. A player ticket is given to each chunk within an area surrounding the player as defined by the formulas described below and propagates as described in the table above.
In single-player, the chunk loading distance is one less than the render distance, as configured in Options. It follows the formula (2r – 3)2 = AoC where r is the selected render distance, and AoC is the area of chunks that are assigned an original player ticket (level 31 – entity ticking). The minimum AoC is 9, which means that there is no difference between having the render distance set to 2 or 3.
For example, in a single-player game with a render distance of 5 chunks, an area of 7 × 7 chunks centered around the player has a load type of entity ticking (level 31) the immediately enclosing chunks —. The strip of chunks at the outer edge of a 9 × 9 perimeter surrounding the player — have ticking (level 32), and the next enclosing chunks (11 × 11 perimeter) are border chunks (level 33).

In multiplayer, the chunk loading distance is equal to the view-distance, as configured in server.properties. It follows the formula (2v + 1)2 = AoC where v is the configured view-distance, and AoC is the area of chunks that are assigned an original player ticket (level 31 – entity ticking).
For example, in a multiplayer server with a configured view-distance of 5 chunks, an area of 11 × 11 chunks centered around the player has a load type of entity ticking (level 31), while the immediately enclosing chunks —. The strip of chunks at the outer edge of a 13 × 13 perimeter surrounding the player — have ticking (level 32), and the next enclosing chunks (15 × 15 perimeter) are border chunks (level 33).

Forced ticket

Start ticket

Propagation of start ticket

Ticket created by the world spawn for the chunk it is located at (“spawn chunks”). Its position can be changed by a /setworldspawn command. It has a level of 22, the lowest in the game. They are active whenever the player is in the overworld and are otherwise permanently active.

Portal ticket

Ticket created when an entity is teleported through nether portal, given to chunk at the other side of the portal. It has a level of 30, so it is stronger than the player/force loaded ticket.
It expires after 300 game ticks (equivalent to 15 seconds). Because they are created each time an entity passes through the portal, it is possible to create a “chunk loader”. Perpetually keeping chunks loaded without the player being near, which can be used for various in-game mechanics such as farms, but can create lag.

Dragon ticket

Ticket created at the start of the battle with ender dragon and is given to the 0,0 chunk (the one with exit portal). It has a Level of 24. It expires after no more players participate in the battle, or the dragon dies.

Post-teleport ticket

Ticket created when entity is teleported either by going through the end portal or using teleport or spreadplayers commands. The teleport command has a Level of 32, whereas, for the spreadplayers and end portal, it has a Level of 33. It expires after 5 game ticks.

Temporary ticket

Ticket created when an arbitrary piece of game code calls “getChunk”. If the game code says the chunk should be loaded, it places this ticket on that chunk.
The load level depends on what kind of chunk the game attempts to load (a fully world-generated chunk or not). It is always level 33 (border) or greater. In many cases, it involves world generation in some way.
For example, when a generic mob wandering AI is executing, it asks if a certain block has a solid top surface. As part of that check, that chunk has an “unknown” ticket with level 33 placed on it. It expires after 1 game tick.

Light ticket

Unknown, possibly world-generation related.