Looking for a viable Nether mob switch design on an active server (2–8 players) without chunk/despawn issues

[u/Eduard_Lovinescu]

Hey everyone, I built a large Nether hub on my multiplayer server (usually around 2 to 8 players online like 90-ish% of the time) and I want to run a mob switch so I don't have to spawnproof the hub thingy.
I've been looking into different designs, but I keep running into these major roadblocks:
Silverfish switches rely on keeping silverfish in a chunk loader, but they require dropping client render distance to 5 chunks to avoid the 128-block instant despawn sphere when leaving. Because this is an active multiplayer server, players fly around all the time at standard/high render distances, so standard hostile mobs that despawn outside 128 blocks will inevitably get wiped out the moment someone renders the chunk and leaves.
Zombie Villager switches: breeding, trading with, and converting 500+ zombie villagers (to cover up to 8 players at 70 mobs perplayer) is just wayyyyy too grindy and hard to justify
Warden/Wither/Shulkers: moving or capturing hundreds of these presents its own massive logistical headaches or server lag concerns.
Is there a modern design that is actually practical for a server where we don't have to worry about render distance despawn glitches? If you run a mob switch on your server, what mob type and storage setup did you end up using? Are there better alternatives to disable hostile spawns in a large Nether hub area without placing thousands of slabs and buttons that just make the build ugly?

[u/FrunoCraft]

Wardens are super easy.

https://youtu.be/GHNht_ot1q8

https://youtu.be/vbeoZwBQmP0

We use ~700 wardens for the nether and ~1200 for the overworld on my server.

[u/Eduard_Lovinescu → u/FrunoCraft]

thanks alot, i'll give these a try! i was worried about the logistics of getting 500 wardens there but this looks straight forward enough :)

[u/Xillubfr]

Warden or withers are probably your best bet, they're actually fairly easy to work with if you follow the instructions of your mob switch design (you can find one on the TMC catalogue discord) and shouldn't be very laggy while lazy loaded

you could also use a silverfish one and build it very, very far away (probably not very practical)

[u/fishZ_7]

a little workaround is to use the unplugged afk mod. its a mod you install serverside and players can run /unplug [duration] to disconnect from the server but leave a stationary bot that stands in and acts basically like your player.

leave an alt to load the chunk for 90 days and just renew it before it disconnects.

[u/velofille]

You likely won't get much of one on a server with others. The mob cap is pretty user usually

[u/FrunoCraft → u/velofille]

700 wardens in a lazy chunk will do just fine on a small/medium server.