Direct answer

view-distance controls how far terrain is sent to players. It primarily affects chunk load/send, network traffic and memory; simulation radius governs active ticking.

How to check it

  1. Read view-distance and simulation-distance from the actual generated server.properties and check for Spigot overrides.
  2. Observe login and fast exploration performance, outbound traffic and chunk load rate rather than judging only standing-still TPS.
  3. Compare a busy spawn with several players spread across fresh terrain to expose chunk send pressure.

Example: Players joining a large lobby can trigger chunk sending even when nobody farms. If sending improves but MSPT remains poor, diagnose the still-active ticking workload separately.

What to change

Change view distance conservatively, test chunk delivery and map visibility, and keep simulation distance independently chosen for gameplay.

Software and version notes

Paper chunk-loading-basic and chunk-loading-advanced settings may further limit send/load concurrency. Lower view distance can reduce visuals without fixing a redstone-heavy tick loop.

Verify the result

Check that distant terrain appears promptly and network/chunk-send peaks improve under similar exploration.

References