Reducing Redstone Lag

[leaf26]

As an avid redstoner, I know from experience how one of the main sources of lag is large redstone contraptions. So much so that the default reaction is "redstone causes lag." Here are some reasons why and ways to improve the impact on the server.

Block Updates - Activating redstone will update blocks and block-light levels. First, avoid BUD farms. The number of block updates per growth in tileable BUD farms is huge, and there's no need to activate upon every growth.

Light Updates - The lighting updates from the redstone torches are also a massive source of lag. You can improve it by adding glowstone, sea lanterns, or jack-o-lanterns, or by filling in the air blocks near the contraption.

Hoppers - Hoppers are always searching for entities to absorb. You can reduce lag caused by hoppers by placing empty containers on top of your long hopper lines to make the hoppers stop searching. I'd recommend droppers.

Minecarts - Minecarts add data and calculations. Use few minecarts.

Self-Shutoff - Use contraption designs that turn themselves off, like a farm that stops running when the chest is full. This way, it's not always causing block updates. Modifying a farm to do exactly this doesn't involve a lot of knowledge.

 

[Hi1307]

Why should I help reduce redstone lag when clearlag is not doing justice to me by constantly clearing my animals in my barn.

 

[leaf26]

Why should I help reduce redstone lag when clearlag is not doing justice to me by constantly clearing my animals in my barn.

When I first joined Pika, one of the biggest problems was farms. I was told to break a 20-chicken farm because helpers blamed a singular redstone clock as the main source of lag, when there were players sitting on a "10k sheep farm" and several giant sugarcane farms. The moral of the story is that most players don't know why or how redstone affects the server. Unlike the entity clear bug, lag is a long-term issue.

On a side note, I've been reading up on plugins that could delete overpopulated animal farms automatically. Check to see if clearlag is actually the cause.