Setting Up a World Border

Minecraft worlds are basically infinite, but your server’s CPU definitely isn't. Setting a World Border is the best way to keep your players grouped together and stop someone from lagging the server by flying 100,000 blocks into the sunset. It’s a simple "fence" that keeps your community, and your performance, inside.

The Basic Commands

You’ll need to be an Operator (OP) to use these. You can type them in the game chat or directly into the server Console.

Command	What it does	Example
`/worldborder center <x> <z>`	Sets the middle of your world.	`/worldborder center 0 0`
`/worldborder set <size>`	Sets how big the world should be.	`/worldborder set 5000`
`/worldborder get`	Displays your current limit.	`/worldborder get`

Why Size Matters

If your world is too big, your backups will take hours and your server will feel empty. If it's too small, players will run out of resources. Here’s what we usually recommend:

5,000 blocks: Perfect for a small group of friends (SMPS).
10,000 blocks: The "sweet spot" for most active communities.
20,000+ blocks: Only recommended if you have a massive player base and plenty of disk space.

Pro Tips for Performance

Pre-Generate: Once you set your border, use a tool like Chunky to build the entire area in advance. This completely removes "exploration lag."
The Dynamic Border: You can make the border grow slowly over time (in seconds). For example, /worldborder set 10000 86400 will grow the border to 10k blocks over exactly 24 hours. It’s a great way to keep people together during a server launch!

Want to see what's outside the border? Check out our World Trimming guide to clean up any chunks that got generated by accident.