Direct answer

This is not an activation radius. Pufferfish documents the approximate update-interval calculation as distance squared divided by two to the power of activation-dist-mod. Raising the modifier makes distant mobs update more often; lowering it makes them update less often.

How to check it

  1. Check how far the entity is from its nearest player, and confirm DAB is actually active.
  2. Observe whether affected farms slow only when the player moves farther away.
  3. Record the generated activation-dist-mod and keep start-distance and max-tick-freq unchanged for the test.

What to change

Change the existing value cautiously. The Pufferfish Host guide describes 8 as a historical common default, but recommends not pushing it aggressively low:

dab:
  activation-dist-mod: 8  # historical example, not a global preset

If villagers or farm mobs appear unresponsive, test a higher modifier before increasing a global tick budget or changing unrelated spawning rules.

Compatibility and safety

A higher modifier does not spawn extra mobs; it merely permits more AI work. The official guide was published years ago, so treat its default and tuning ranges as historical guidance.

Software and version notes

The Pufferfish Host knowledgebase is historical configuration documentation. Check current pufferfish.yml and the changelog of your exact Pufferfish build before applying example values.

Verify the result

Test behavior at a fixed distance and monitor entity/AI cost. Compare against the previous number under the same workload.

References