Choosing Between the Distant Horizons Plugin and the Mod

Players setting up multiplayer worlds often wonder whether they need the Distant Horizons Plugin, the Distant Horizons mod, or both. Because each handles a different part of Level of Detail (LOD) rendering, where you place them depends on whether you are joining a game or hosting one.

Client vs. Server Roles

The Distant Horizons mod is what actually enables LOD rendering inside your Minecraft client, allowing you to see distant terrain beyond your standard vanilla render distance. However, on a multiplayer server without server-side support, each player's client has to bear its own rendering load as they travel.

The Distant Horizons Plugin runs strictly on the multiplayer server. It does not draw distant terrain on its own; instead, it supports players using the Distant Horizons mod by synchronizing LOD chunks between the server and connected clients. This cuts down on unnecessary client-side rendering load and improves client performance in multiplayer environments.

Setting Up Your Multiplayer Connection

1. Enable the Distant Horizons mod on your personal Minecraft client so your game can render LOD chunks.

2. Run the Distant Horizons Plugin on the multiplayer server so it can synchronize LOD chunks between the server and players.

3. Join the server normally with your modded client; your game will automatically request synchronized LOD chunks in worlds where LOD requests are permitted.