Direct answer
Dropped items consume entity and tracking work. A lower despawn time can cut accumulation, but it can also destroy legitimate player loot.
How to check it
- Use a supported Paper entity count or targeted observation to locate item concentrations in grinders and collection systems.
- Profile during the period when thousands of drops build up, not immediately after cleanup.
- Check whether hopper throughput, unloaded chunks or plugin-spawned drops are the actual cause.
Example: If valuable death drops disappear under a shorter despawn rule, that setting is not a successful performance fix even when the entity count falls. Evaluate collection systems first.
What to change
Prevent overflow at the source and make collection faster or more reliable. If a supported despawn setting is used, document the new lifetime and test player recovery windows.
Software and version notes
Despawn settings may distinguish ordinary items and custom dropped entities by platform. Aggressive cleanup scripts can remove valuable items or bypass protection plugins.
Verify the result
After a representative farm run, verify the item entity count is bounded and players can still recover drops from deaths and mining.