The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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My world hasn't been spawning mobs as often as it should in the most recent snapshot. My mob farm 128 meters up in the sky got one skelly in 10 minutes.
And before you say they are spawning in the caves, I tested mob spawns in a superflat world and got roughly half the monsters I usually got back in 1.7.
Anyone else get this problem? I don't wanna report a bug is nobody else gets it too.
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It appears that turning up the render distance to 10 chunks seems to help somewhat. The game tries to put mobs in unloaded chunks out of distance (inevitably not) causing lower spawns within short render distances.
Yes and no. They only spawn more if you spend a large amount of time in a chunk. It's regional difficulty. Time is measured in hours, so we're talking In Real Lifedays before the pre-1.6.2 spawns start happening.
Feel free to pm me about any concerns,corrections,or questions.
I do redstone, pvp, light map making, enjoy sweet tea, and I'm a Leo.
If I helped, Up-vote my post please. Quote me if you require my attention.
The Wiki doesn't say anything at all about regional difficulty affecting how many bombs spawn, only a fixed mob cap of 79 hostile mobs, and regional difficulty (and difficulty in general) only affects the chance of mobs spawning with armor, picking up items, and so on. I've never noticed any differences either while playing, except again, mobs getting more/better armor and so on. As far as I can tell, the only mob spawning that does depend on difficulty is zombie pigmen from Nether portals in the Overworld, and for other factors, the spawn rate of slimes in swamps (moon phase).
Most likely, if your mob farm is 128 meters above you (not at y=128), it is mostly outside the immediate despawn radius. Note that it is a sphere, not a cube (unlike most things in the game), so unless you are right under it it will be all outside the 128 meter zone (e.g. if you are 100 meters away horizontally it will have to be near ground level to be within range). Do also take note that mobs more than 32 meters away will despawn after 30 seconds, with a half-life of about 28 seconds thereafter, so they need to be collected before then (unless they are holding something, then they only despawn if you change difficulty to Peaceful; note also that mobs holding items don't count towards the mob cap).
Another possibility is a bug in 1.7 (at least 1.7.4) where mob spawn rates are very low if your render distance is less than 10 chunks, a problem which only previously affected multiplayer servers, as until recently the number of loaded chunks in singleplayer (the view distance of the internal server) was independent of render distance (as seen in the MultiplayerChunkCache value in 1.6.4 and earlier, which was always 441 (21x21), corresponding to 10 chunks from the one the player is in).
Yes and no. They only spawn more if you spend a large amount of time in a chunk. It's regional difficulty. Time is measured in hours, so we're talking In Real Lifedays before the pre-1.6.2 spawns start happening.
Edit: This has been this way since 1.6.2
I don't think regional difficulty affects the rate at which mobs spawn, at all. At least, not according to this chart, it doesn't. Mobs which do spawn are more likely to spawn with equipment. Mobs which spawn with equipment are more likely to have enchantments, and the enchantments can be higher level. Skeletons and zombies are more likely to have the ability to pick up dropped items, zombies are more likely to have the ability to spawn reinforcements, and spiders are more likely to spawn with status effects. But nowhere does it say anything about mobs just spawning more often, or in higher numbers.
note also that mobs holding items don't count towards the mob cap).
Really? That I did not know. So you can't "spawn-proof" an area by herding 79 egg-wielding zombies into a holding cell, thus filling up the cap and preventing anything else from spawning?
Another possibility is a bug in 1.7 (at least 1.7.4) where mob spawn rates are very low if your render distance is less than 10 chunks
Ah, so that explains why only some of us have the problem. Last I heard it was "thought to be performance-related," I guess that would kind of be the same thing, if those of us with poorer performance kept the render distance down low to compensate. So you are saying I can get my old spawn rates back in 1.7.4 (I've been playing 1.6.4 still, because of this) just by increasing my render distance? I hope my computer can handle it...
Really? That I did not know. So you can't "spawn-proof" an area by herding 79 egg-wielding zombies into a holding cell, thus filling up the cap and preventing anything else from spawning?
Yes; this is also a big problem with chicken jockeys, which can even accumulate into the thousands(!) on large multiplayer servers (see the fourth comment; more recent ones also indicate that the issue wasn't completely fixed in the new snapshots - why not just disable egg-laying? All they need is a flag that is set to disable the egg-laying code if the chicken is spawned as part of a chicken jockey).
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
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I probably wasn't clear on my understanding on regional difficulty. It is correct (to my knowledge) separate from mob spawning, so neither affect one another.
Is it 128 above ground level or just y=128. If it is the latter, then mobs can spawn underground as you are not far away enough from caves.
If caves were the cause, then how come I had dozens of hostile mobs around at night when I started my current world (which puts vanilla caves, especially in 1.7+, to shame)? They also started spawning pretty much right after the sun set, due to the despawning after 30 seconds/when over 32 blocks away rule.
More likely, the former is the cause; hostile mobs immediately despawn if they are more than 128 blocks away, and in a spherical radius, so again, you want your farm to be much closer to the surface, say 64 blocks, and you still need to be close enough to keep them within the 128 radius sphere.
Here's a basic illustration I made of the problem if the mob farm is 128 blocks above you:
As you can see, only a small area (highlighted in red) can spawn mobs, and none at all if you move just a block down.
I didn't quite explain my farm that well.
My mob farm is essentially the lazy man's XP grinder. I stand at the top (mobs despawn when I get to the 128 meter top) and go do something for 10 minutes, and come back to 60+ mobs that could've only spawned in the farm itself. Then I smack away.
It's the most efficient way to get spawns without going on a crazy torch-cave rage.
I do have an enderman farm though for my main XP. I just need more double chests of rotten flesh for trading.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
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Alrighty then. So the assumption that the render distance must be higher appears to be accurate.
In Thinknoodles' survival he said that the game tries to put mobs in those unloaded chunks out of view distance. Therefore the mobs are not spawned in said chunks, causing low spawning rates.
Regional Difficulty is listed to be maxed withing 50 hours spent in one location (i presume 50 real hours), but how large is the area you have to move out of to reset regional difficulty i.e. how big is the area where the regional difficulty will continue to increase ?
Regional difficulty only affects each chunk seperately.
This means if you spend 50 real hours in a chunk, it will have maximum difficulty but the ones next to it will not be affected.
And before you say they are spawning in the caves, I tested mob spawns in a superflat world and got roughly half the monsters I usually got back in 1.7.
Anyone else get this problem? I don't wanna report a bug is nobody else gets it too.
#########
It appears that turning up the render distance to 10 chunks seems to help somewhat. The game tries to put mobs in unloaded chunks out of distance (inevitably not) causing lower spawns within short render distances.
Edit: This has been this way since 1.6.2
I do redstone, pvp, light map making, enjoy sweet tea, and I'm a Leo.
If I helped, Up-vote my post please.
Quote me if you require my attention.
Most likely, if your mob farm is 128 meters above you (not at y=128), it is mostly outside the immediate despawn radius. Note that it is a sphere, not a cube (unlike most things in the game), so unless you are right under it it will be all outside the 128 meter zone (e.g. if you are 100 meters away horizontally it will have to be near ground level to be within range). Do also take note that mobs more than 32 meters away will despawn after 30 seconds, with a half-life of about 28 seconds thereafter, so they need to be collected before then (unless they are holding something, then they only despawn if you change difficulty to Peaceful; note also that mobs holding items don't count towards the mob cap).
Another possibility is a bug in 1.7 (at least 1.7.4) where mob spawn rates are very low if your render distance is less than 10 chunks, a problem which only previously affected multiplayer servers, as until recently the number of loaded chunks in singleplayer (the view distance of the internal server) was independent of render distance (as seen in the MultiplayerChunkCache value in 1.6.4 and earlier, which was always 441 (21x21), corresponding to 10 chunks from the one the player is in).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
I don't think regional difficulty affects the rate at which mobs spawn, at all. At least, not according to this chart, it doesn't. Mobs which do spawn are more likely to spawn with equipment. Mobs which spawn with equipment are more likely to have enchantments, and the enchantments can be higher level. Skeletons and zombies are more likely to have the ability to pick up dropped items, zombies are more likely to have the ability to spawn reinforcements, and spiders are more likely to spawn with status effects. But nowhere does it say anything about mobs just spawning more often, or in higher numbers.
EDIT: Ah, ninja'd. And also:
Really? That I did not know. So you can't "spawn-proof" an area by herding 79 egg-wielding zombies into a holding cell, thus filling up the cap and preventing anything else from spawning?
Ah, so that explains why only some of us have the problem. Last I heard it was "thought to be performance-related," I guess that would kind of be the same thing, if those of us with poorer performance kept the render distance down low to compensate. So you are saying I can get my old spawn rates back in 1.7.4 (I've been playing 1.6.4 still, because of this) just by increasing my render distance? I hope my computer can handle it...
Village Mechanics: A not-so-brief guide - Update 2017! Now with 1.8 breeding mechanics! Long-overdue trading info, coming soon!
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Yes; this is also a big problem with chicken jockeys, which can even accumulate into the thousands(!) on large multiplayer servers (see the fourth comment; more recent ones also indicate that the issue wasn't completely fixed in the new snapshots - why not just disable egg-laying? All they need is a flag that is set to disable the egg-laying code if the chicken is spawned as part of a chicken jockey).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
If caves were the cause, then how come I had dozens of hostile mobs around at night when I started my current world (which puts vanilla caves, especially in 1.7+, to shame)? They also started spawning pretty much right after the sun set, due to the despawning after 30 seconds/when over 32 blocks away rule.
More likely, the former is the cause; hostile mobs immediately despawn if they are more than 128 blocks away, and in a spherical radius, so again, you want your farm to be much closer to the surface, say 64 blocks, and you still need to be close enough to keep them within the 128 radius sphere.
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
As you can see, only a small area (highlighted in red) can spawn mobs, and none at all if you move just a block down.
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
I didn't quite explain my farm that well.
My mob farm is essentially the lazy man's XP grinder. I stand at the top (mobs despawn when I get to the 128 meter top) and go do something for 10 minutes, and come back to 60+ mobs that could've only spawned in the farm itself. Then I smack away.
It's the most efficient way to get spawns without going on a crazy torch-cave rage.
I do have an enderman farm though for my main XP. I just need more double chests of rotten flesh for trading.
In Thinknoodles' survival he said that the game tries to put mobs in those unloaded chunks out of view distance. Therefore the mobs are not spawned in said chunks, causing low spawning rates.
But don't quote me on that. I'm only half-human.
Regional difficulty only affects each chunk seperately.
This means if you spend 50 real hours in a chunk, it will have maximum difficulty but the ones next to it will not be affected.