How do I set a world border and expand it later?

A world border limits how far players can travel. On a server that matters for two reasons: the world file stays small (every explored chunk is stored forever) and players stay close to each other. The border is set with the /worldborder command and can be grown gradually as your community expands.

Setting a border

1. Go to the game panel and click your server.
2. Open the Console tab.
3. Type worldborder set 5000 and press Enter.

The number is the total width in blocks: 5000 means 2500 blocks in every direction from the centre. In-game, operators use the same command with a slash. A red wall now appears at the edge; players cannot pass it and are pushed back.

Setting the centre

By default the centre is at coordinate 0, 0. To put it at your spawn, use worldborder center 250 -120 with the X and Z of your spawn. Check the current coordinates with worldborder get (size) and by standing at spawn and pressing F3.

Expanding or shrinking over time

To enlarge the border by 2000 blocks, run worldborder set 7000 (the new total width). Add a time in seconds and the border moves gradually: worldborder set 7000 600 grows it over ten minutes. Shrinking works the same way and is popular for events: worldborder set 100 1800 pulls the border to 100 blocks over half an hour, exactly like a battle royale. With worldborder add 1000 you add blocks relative to the current size.

Damage and warning

• worldborder damage amount 0.2: damage per second per block outside the border (default 0.2).
• worldborder damage buffer 5: how many blocks past the border players can be before damage starts (default 5).
• worldborder warning distance 10: players see a red vignette when they are within 10 blocks of the border.
• worldborder warning time 15: the warning when a moving border will reach them within 15 seconds.

Per world and per dimension

The vanilla border applies to the Overworld, Nether and End together, with the Nether scaled 1:8 (a 5000-block Overworld border is 625 blocks in the Nether). If you want a different border per world, for example a small creative world next to a large survival world, set it while standing in that world; on Paper each world keeps its own border. Plugins such as WorldBorder or Chunky add round borders and per-world settings.

Pre-generating the world

A border makes it possible to generate all chunks in advance so nobody lags when exploring. Install Chunky, run /chunky worldborder followed by /chunky start and let it work while the server is quiet. Do this at night or before launch; generation is CPU-heavy. How that helps performance is in our blog article on TPS and lag.

Sensible sizes

• Small friend server (5 to 10 players): 3000 to 5000 blocks.
• Community server (20 to 50 players): 10000 to 20000 blocks.
• Grow in steps of a few thousand blocks when the map feels full; growing is easy, shrinking with builds outside the border is not.

Before shrinking a border on an existing map, make a backup; builds outside the new border become unreachable. Stuck? Open a ticket.