Direct answer

Elytra travel through ungenerated terrain may saturate chunk generation and sending. A lag spike during new terrain is not proof that wings or player movement are intrinsically expensive.

How to check it

  1. Compare flight through pre-generated terrain with the same route speed in never-explored terrain.
  2. Record chunk generation/load activity and MSPT while one or more players fly in different directions.
  3. Check chunk-loading-basic and related Paper limits only after identifying generation pressure in a profile.

Example: If a player can fly smoothly over an old base but stalls only when exploring new terrain, focus on generation and storage rather than treating Elytra as a problem entity.

What to change

Pre-generate the intended play area during maintenance using a compatible tool, with a clear world border or planned radius. Reduce exploration burst rates only if the server cannot keep up.

Software and version notes

Pre-generation is disk-, CPU- and storage-intensive; monitor free space and back up worlds first. Forcibly teleporting fast flyers can harm gameplay and hide the underlying constraint.

Verify the result

Repeat the route on generated terrain and confirm lower spikes, timely chunk loading and no corrupted/incomplete chunks.

References