Chunk lag has a recognizable pattern: the server runs smoothly most of the time, then stutters specifically when a player explores into terrain that has never been generated before. This is one of the more fixable causes of lag, because it is largely preventable rather than something you have to constantly manage.
Why new terrain generation causes stutter
Generating a brand-new chunk, terrain, caves, structures, decoration, is genuinely expensive work, and doing it in real time while a player is actively exploring competes directly with everything else the server needs to do that same tick. This is different from loading an already-generated chunk from disk, which is comparatively cheap.
Fix 1: pre-generate your world ahead of time
Chunky generates a defined area of your world in the background, well ahead of when players actually reach it, so the expensive generation work happens on your schedule rather than live during someone's exploration. This is the single most effective fix for chunk lag specifically, run it once (or periodically as your world border expands) rather than dealing with generation stutter indefinitely.
Fix 2: lower view-distance
view-distance in server.properties (default 10) controls how many chunks around each player stay loaded. Each additional chunk of radius adds a meaningfully larger number of total chunks to keep in memory, not a linear increase, dropping to 6-8 is a common, safe reduction that most players will not even notice visually.
Fix 3: lower simulation-distance
simulation-distance controls how far out chunks are actively ticked (entities, redstone, crops growing), separately from how far they are visually loaded. This has an even more direct performance impact than view-distance since it is tied to active processing, not just rendering, reducing it from 10 to 5 can cut associated entity processing dramatically.
Fix 4: check for chunk-heavy plugins
Some plugins (large item-transport systems, certain world-editing tools used carelessly) can force-load chunks that would otherwise unload, keeping far more chunks active than players are actually near. A spark profiler session will show this directly if it is happening.
A note on world border growth
If your community is actively expanding into new territory regularly, consider running Chunky periodically to stay ahead of exploration rather than only pre-generating once at world creation, this keeps the "new terrain" stutter from ever recurring as the map grows.
Getting the settings right from the start
A server.properties generator can help set sensible view-distance and simulation-distance values without guessing. Tick Hosting's panel makes running Chunky and adjusting these settings straightforward on every plan, including the free tier. Get started on Tick Hosting's plans page.