How to Add More Tracked Players in Xaero's Minimap

Xaero's Minimap is one of the most feature-rich minimap mods available for Minecraft, and its player tracking system is one of its most useful tools — especially on multiplayer servers. But many players hit a ceiling when they realize the default configuration only tracks a limited number of players at once. Knowing how to expand that limit, and understanding what affects it, can make a significant difference in how useful the mod is for your playstyle.

What Is Player Tracking in Xaero's Minimap?

The mod includes a feature that displays nearby players as icons or dots on your minimap and, optionally, on the world map. This works by reading entity data that the server sends to your client — the same data your game uses to render player models in the world around you.

By default, Minecraft's server-side settings limit how many entities (including players) are visible to a client at any given time. Xaero's Minimap works within those constraints, which means the number of tracked players you see isn't controlled entirely by the mod itself.

There are two layers to this:

1. The mod's own configuration settings — adjustable on your end
2. The server's entity tracking range and limits — set by the server operator

Understanding both layers is what separates a partial fix from a complete one.

Adjusting the Mod's Player Tracking Settings

Xaero's Minimap stores its settings in a configuration file, typically located at:

.minecraft/config/xaerominimap.txt 

You can also access many settings through the in-game mod menu, depending on your mod loader (Forge or Fabric) and whether you have a compatible mod menu installed.

Key settings to look for:

• entityRadarPlayerAmount — This value directly controls how many players the mod attempts to track and display simultaneously. Raising this number increases how many player icons can appear on your minimap.
• entityRadar — A toggle that enables or disables entity radar entirely. This must be set to true for player tracking to function at all.
• entityRadarShowOtherPlayers — Determines whether other players specifically are shown, as opposed to mobs or passive entities.

🔧 To raise the tracked player count, open the config file in a text editor, locate entityRadarPlayerAmount, and increase the value. Save the file and restart the game for changes to take effect.

Some versions of the mod expose this setting through a graphical interface under Minimap Settings → Radar → Player Settings, so it's worth checking there first before manually editing files.

Why the Server Side Matters

Even with the mod configured to track more players, what you actually see is bounded by what the server sends to your client. Minecraft servers use a concept called entity tracking range, defined in bukkit.yml or spigot.yml (for Bukkit/Spigot/Paper servers):

entity-tracking-range: players: 48 

This value (measured in blocks) determines how far away a player needs to be before the server stops sending their position data to your client. If a player is outside that range, Xaero's Minimap simply has no data to display — no matter how high you've set your own config values.

On servers you control or administrate, raising players: in that config can extend how far out the mod can detect others. On public or third-party servers, you're working within whatever limits the server operator has set.

Variables That Shape Your Results 🎮

The number of players you can realistically track depends on several intersecting factors:

Vanilla Minecraft servers don't expose the same level of entity tracking configuration as Spigot or Paper servers. If you're on a vanilla server, you may have less flexibility on the server side.

Single-Player and LAN Worlds

In single-player or LAN games, you effectively control both layers. Since you're running the server locally, entity tracking range is governed by your own game settings, and there's no operator restriction standing between you and the mod config. Raising entityRadarPlayerAmount in those contexts tends to produce immediate, predictable results.

For LAN play specifically, the number of players to track is typically small enough that the default settings are rarely a limitation anyway.

Mod Version and Compatibility Considerations

Xaero's Minimap receives regular updates, and config key names can change between versions. If you're editing the config file manually and a key doesn't seem to be doing anything, cross-reference with the mod's official changelog or community wiki for your specific version. Using an outdated config entry on a newer version of the mod may simply be ignored without any error.

Also worth noting: if you're using Xaero's World Map alongside the minimap mod, the two share some settings but maintain separate config files. Player tracking display on the full world map may have its own set of adjustable parameters.

What "More Tracked Players" Actually Looks Like in Practice

A player on a small private server with 5–10 friends will have a very different experience than someone on a large public server with hundreds of concurrent players. In the latter case, even with every setting maximized, performance considerations — both client-side rendering and server-side data limits — naturally cap what's visible and useful.

Your hardware, your server environment, your Minecraft version, and the specific build of Xaero's Minimap you're running all combine to determine what's achievable. The mod config is one dial among several — and which dial matters most depends entirely on where the current bottleneck is in your setup.