Minecraft players can now use ender pearls to load chunks
Minecraft is getting a ton of great changes like most players have always wanted. While the recent 24w37a snapshot has added many updates, the modifications to ender pearl behavior are literally a game-changer for players who are into building redstone machines and automated farms.
This article explains these changes and how they impact gameplay experience. While ender pearls could earlier be used as a teleportation device, they can now be used more technically.
Ender pearls can now load chunks in Minecraft
The 24w37a snapshot gave ender pearls the ability to load chunks even if the player is not present in that specific area. For players who are not aware, chunks are specific areas, usually with a 16 by 16 size. As the game is procedurally generated, Minecraft cannot load everything all at once as it would tank the performance. So it loads the game in small “chunks” based on the player’s position.
When someone is walking around, the game loads specific regions around the player while other far-off regions remain static. While this is fine for most players, it might be a problem for someone who has redstone farms and other contraptions built all across the map.
Since the game does not load the chunk the player is not present in, it means that the redstone machine will not work if the player goes out of the load distance. While there is a complicated workaround using nether portals, that is a hassle, to say the least. Thankfully, a simple ender pearl can now solve this problem.
Players can place an ender pearl in a stasis chamber and no matter how far they go away from this chunk, it always remains loaded. This means that whatever redstone contraption is built here will be operational as long as the ender pearl is there or the player is alive in the game. Dying results in the ender pearl not working and players will then have to place the pearl again.
A stasis chamber is a simple water chamber that keeps the ender pearl floating. This chamber is made by making a 6-block deep hole in the ground and then placing a block of soul sand at the bottom. Finally, filling up the area with water and properly throwing in the ender pearl will keep it floating. The changes come with the snapshots and players can download it to try it for themselves.
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