Minecraft is all about building, exploring, and having a blast with your friends. But nothing ruins the fun faster than server lag. You’re trying to mine blocks and they come right back, you’re fighting three zombies which you normally have in the bag, and the server freezes long enough for them to take you down. Or the worst, you’re flying with elytra across the void in the end and you rubber band backwards. Or worse, the screen freezes and you plummet.

It’s frustrating, right? Well, fret not! We’ve got a cool tool in our toolbox called the “Observable” mod, and it’s here to help you figure out and kick that lag to the curb on your Minecraft server.

Understanding the Lag Monster

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of using the Observable mod, let’s chat about what that “lag” thing really is. It’s those annoying delays, hiccups, and stutters you experience on a Minecraft server. It happens for all sorts of reasons, like:

1. Hardware Struggles: Sometimes, your server’s hardware just can’t keep up. It’s like trying to drive a Ferrari on a dirt road – not a smooth ride.
2. Server Overload: Too many players or mobs can turn your server into a traffic jam. More folks and creatures mean more lag.
3. Chunk Issues: Loading and rendering chunks of your world can slow things down.
4. Mods Gone Wild: Sometimes, mods or plugins just don’t play nice. They can clash and hog resources, causing lag.
5. Slow Internet: A wonky internet connection can be the culprit. Your actions take a scenic route to the server and back, making everything slower.
6. Tick Troubles: The server’s “tick rate” determines how fast it processes stuff. A slower tick rate means slower action, aka more lag.

Using the Observable Mod Like a Pro

Now, let’s talk about how the Observable mod can be your superhero in the war against lag:

1. Easy Installation:

Get the Observable mod .jar file, upload it to your Minecraft server in the /mods folder and restart it. It’s not necessary to have it installed on the client, so only the players who are OP need to install the client (and you must be OP to use this mod, so not just any player can inspect server performance). Make sure both server and client versions match. There are different versions for the different versions of Minecraft and the different mod loaders.

2. Let It Spy on Your Server:

Fire up your server and play as usual. As an OP, open up the Observable console with the hotkey. By default, they hotkey is ‘r’ though if you are playing on a modpack that installed it, they may have changed the hotkey.

With the scrollwheel, you can change the duration of the test from zero to 60 seconds. Leave it at 30 and just click the “Profile TPS” button. The “Overlay” option will show you in-world view of the tick time for every entity. Very cool!

You’ll see it counting down and at this point, you can hit ‘esc’ to close the window. When it’s finished you’ll see a chat message appear with a URL on it. Click on the URL in the chat window and you’ll see something like this:

3. Dive into the Data:

When it’s finished, if you had the overlay checkbox selected, you’ll see a Matrix-like view of your world showing you every entity. You’ll see what’s might be the lag – maybe it’s those pesky mobs or something mis-behaving block. If an individual entity has a large enough tick time, it’ll appear red over a sea of green. Here’s my base with a ton of machines and automation around. You can see one red block in the distance on the upper left.

This is the red block from above. This Elven Gateway Core is shown red. though 99 micro-ticks per second is not a problem. You can see all the other green entities in the background.

4. Be the Lag-Busting Hero:

Now of course you can fly around and look for red blocks. But just because they’re red, doesn’t mean it’s a problem. This Elven portal has never been an issue!

Better, you can view the web page that the mod hosted for you, which you got in the chat results above. This page has 4 tabs.

The Individual Results tab gives you the time per tick (microseconds per tick). If there’s one mob causing a problem, you’ll see it here. Everything looks good in this case. I’m literally the most tick-consuming thing on the server. There’s a create smart chute somewhere that takes a bit, and a bunch of mobs.

The “Visit” link on the right puts a teleport command in your clipboard which you can paste into chat to go right to the thing you’re looking at!

The Chunks tab shows you what chunks have the most total lag for all the entities in it. This will show you if any given chunk has a bunch of lag in it. This is useful if you have a machine spilling cobble everywhere. Each cobble entity won’t take up much time and show up at the top of the individual results, but if they’re all in one chunk, that’ll show here.

The Aggregate Results tab shows you what entity type is causing the most lag on the server in total. Here you can see that villagers in general are using up the most ticks, though that’s nothing concering.

And the Info tab just gives you info about your server. Versions, mods loaded, etc.

5. Time for Some Tweaks:

Take action to make your server run smoother. This could mean killing mobs or other entities en mass via a console command, or finding a specific block causing issues. In the end, it may be something that you can fix easily like picking up a pile of 32,000 cobblestone, or more drastic like removing a mod from your server entirely.

7. Keep It in Check:

Don’t forget to use the Observable mod regularly to keep tabs on your server’s performance. That way, you’ll catch any lag gremlins trying to sneak back in.

That’s it! Don’t let lag steal the joy from your Minecraft adventures. With the Observable mod, you’ve got a trusty sidekick that helps you spot and beat lag where it lurks. By keeping an eye on your server’s performance, finding trouble spots, and fine-tuning your setup, you’ll be back to building, exploring, and having a blast in your Minecraft world in no time. Say goodbye to lag and hello to a smoother, more enjoyable gaming experience!

8. Get More Help

The Observable mod is just one tool in a toolkit of different ways to figure out what’s causing lag on your server. Another very valuable tool is the Spark Profiler. And don’t forget it you’re using a Minecraft hosting provider, you can always ask their support team to help. I use StickyPiston, and their support team will happily dive into any lag issue. Maybe a little too happily, it’s weird. (Seriously, they’re amazing, you should check them out if you’re not happy with your current hosting or want to stop hosting your own server. I’m a partner! Use code JANGRO to get 20% off forever. I get a small commission to support my content creation and it costs you nothing. )