Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Spawn Chunks in Minecraft: Removed in 1.21.9
Spawn chunks were a Java Edition area around the world spawn that stayed loaded even with no player nearby, so farms built there kept running. Java 1.21.9 removed them; players with permission now use /forceload to keep chunks loaded. Bedrock never had spawn chunks and uses ticking areas instead.
What did spawn chunks do?
Normal chunks freeze when no player is close: machines, crops and furnaces stop. Spawn chunks stayed loaded, so redstone clocks, item sorters and some farms kept working while you were far away. Their size came from the spawnChunkRadius game rule, 2 by default. Chunk loading in general: chunks and ticks.
What did spawn chunks not do?
- Mobs only spawned near players, so mob farms there did not run on their own.
- Hostile mobs more than 128 blocks from a player still despawned.
- Entities stopped being processed after 300 ticks with no player or forceloaded chunk in that dimension.
How did you move them?
/setworldspawn moved the world spawn, and the spawn chunks moved with it; see spawnpoint commands.
What replaces spawn chunks?
On Java, /forceload add <x> <z> keeps a chunk loaded, /forceload remove <x> <z> stops it, and /forceload query lists them. It needs operator permission, so on a server ask an admin. Old farms in the spawn area need forceloading or a player nearby after updating.
What does Bedrock use?
Bedrock uses ticking areas, set with /tickingarea, to keep areas running with no player close. Edition differences: Minecraft editions.
Frequently asked questions
Do spawn chunks still exist?
No. Java 1.21.9 removed them; /forceload does the job now.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.