LOD Server Support

Distributes LOD (Level of Detail) chunk data from servers to connected clients over a custom networking protocol. Built primarily as a multiplayer backend for Voxy — clients request distant chunks in batches, the server reads them from disk or memory and streams the data back, enabling Voxy to render terrain far beyond the vanilla render distance on multiplayer servers.

Supports both Fabric and Paper servers. The client is always a Fabric mod.

Demo Video: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/721fb344-890e-4e03-ab36-539444427f7b

How It Works

Without LSS, Voxy can only build LOD data from chunks the client has already loaded — limiting distant terrain rendering to areas the player has personally visited. LSS moves this work to the server:

1. Client connects and performs a handshake with the server
2. Server sends session config (distance limits, rate limits, generation settings)
3. Client scans outward in an expanding spiral, batch-requesting chunks it doesn't have cached
4. Server reads chunks from disk (or generates them on demand), serializes the raw MC section data (block states, biomes, lighting), and streams it back
5. Client receives the section data and feeds it directly into Voxy's rendering engine via rawIngest
6. After initial sync, the server pushes notifications when chunks change so clients stay up to date

The result: players see fully rendered terrain out to hundreds of chunks on multiplayer servers, without needing to explore the world first.

Installation

Fabric Server

1. Place lod-server-support-fabric.jar in the server's mods/ directory
2. Install the Fabric mod and Voxy on all clients
3. Restart the server — config is generated at config/lss-server-config.json

Fabric Client

1. Install Voxy and place lod-server-support-fabric.jar in the client's mods/ directory
2. Join a server running LSS — client config is generated at config/lss-client-config.json

Paper Server

1. Place lod-server-support-paper.jar in the server's plugins/ directory
2. Install the Fabric mod and Voxy on all clients
3. Restart the server — config is generated at plugins/LodServerSupport/lss-server-config.json

Requirements

Fabric Server

• Minecraft 1.21.11
• Fabric Loader 0.14.22+
• Fabric API
• Java 21+

Paper Server

• Paper 1.21.11+
• Java 21+

Client (both platforms)

• Fabric Loader 0.14.22+
• Fabric API
• Voxy

Commands

Server (Fabric and Paper)

• /lsslod stats - Show per-player transfer statistics
• /lsslod diag - Show detailed diagnostics (config, bandwidth, queue depths)

Client (Fabric only)

• /lss clearcache - Clear the local column cache, forcing all chunks to be re-requested from the server

Configuration

Server (Fabric and Paper)

Server config is generated on first run:

• Fabric: config/lss-server-config.json
• Paper: plugins/LodServerSupport/lss-server-config.json

Setting	Default	Description
enabled	true	Enable LOD distribution
lodDistanceChunks	256	Max LOD distance in chunks
bytesPerSecondLimitPerPlayer	20971520	Per-player pre-compression bandwidth cap (20 MB/s)
bytesPerSecondLimitGlobal	104857600	Total pre-compression bandwidth cap (100 MB/s)
diskReaderThreads	5	Thread pool size for async disk reads
sendQueueLimitPerPlayer	4000	Max queued sections per player
syncOnLoadRateLimitPerPlayer	800	Sync-on-load requests per second per player
syncOnLoadConcurrencyLimitPerPlayer	200	Max in-flight sync requests per player
generationRateLimitPerPlayer	80	Generation requests per second per player
generationConcurrencyLimitPerPlayer	16	Max in-flight generation requests per player
enableChunkGeneration	true	Generate missing chunks on demand for LOD data
generationConcurrencyLimitGlobal	32	Max chunks generating server-wide at once
generationTimeoutSeconds	60	Timeout for pending chunk generation
dirtyBroadcastIntervalSeconds	10	Interval for pushing dirty column notifications to clients

Paper-specific: The config also includes an updateEvents list of Bukkit event class names used for dirty chunk detection. /lsslod commands require the lss.admin permission (or op).

Client

Client config is generated at config/lss-client-config.json on first run.

Setting	Default	Description
receiveServerLods	true	Enable receiving LOD data from the server
lodDistanceChunks	0	Max LOD request distance in chunks (0 = use server limit)
offThreadSectionProcessing	true	Process received sections off the render thread

License

MIT