Direct answer
Projectiles impose movement, collision and tracking work in flight. Their count and velocity matter more than an arbitrary global entity limit.
How to check it
- Observe the firing rate and projectile type in a combat arena, dispenser grid or custom weapon event.
- Sample spark while many projectiles are in flight and examine plugins that listen to projectile-hit or damage events.
- Compare the projectile burst with a no-fire baseline while keeping the same players and nearby mob counts.
Example: A custom minigame gun firing twenty projectiles per click can load its hit-handler plugin as well as the physics engine; check both before changing projectile lifetime.
What to change
Reduce unnecessary automatic firing and costly plugin checks performed per projectile. For cosmetic trails, lower effect update frequency if supported.
Software and version notes
Do not disable all projectile behavior on a live PvP server. Despawn changes affect only part of the projectile lifecycle, and third-party custom projectiles may use their own entity types.
Verify the result
Confirm hits, damage, shields and retrieval mechanics remain consistent, then compare peaks.