Chunkmap vs The Explorer's Friend

Chunkmap generates top-down 2D maps of Minecraft worlds from region (.mca) files. Its web viewer lets users upload their own region files, and it covers the Overworld, Nether, and End. The Windows CLI can render individual region files or combine rendered images into a single map. Its rendering modes include textures, heightmap, biomes, temperature, downfall, and inhabited views. The CLI is open source under the MIT license on GitHub, and the product is free. Chunkmap supports offline viewing and links to a Discord community. The project is labeled beta and under development, so it may not work as expected. The beta has only been tested with Minecraft 1.21.x worlds; modded worlds and chunks generated before 1.18 are unsupported. The project README also notes that Nether generation is slower than generation for the Overworld and End. The web version is for uploading and viewing region files, while the CLI provides rendering and map-merging options.

The Explorer's Friend renders a live topographic map of a Minecraft world and serves it from an embedded web server. It runs on a server using Fabric, Quilt, NeoForge, Spigot or Paper, with different builds depending on the platform and Minecraft version. Explored chunks appear as players move through the world; full renders read region files on worker threads without loading chunks. Players can open the map in a browser using vanilla Minecraft clients, without installing a client mod. Separate layers show claims, player positions, markers and Waystones. Claim data can connect to several protection systems or be imported from JSON. Server administrators can disable or round player positions; invisible players and spectators are hidden by default. The server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default and has no built-in account system, so the project recommends a reverse proxy for public maps. Its optional outbound connection downloads the official vanilla client JAR once and verifies it by SHA-1. The MIT-licensed project is free, with live updates, dimension maps and read-only HTTP endpoints.