perf(streaming): cache per-column surface heights to fix move lag spikes

RecomputeTargetSet sampled TerrainSampler.HeightAt (a 169-point biome
blend kernel) 5x per column over the whole render distance on the main
thread every chunk crossing (~1,445 calls = ~250k biome lookups), causing
multi-frame hitches while moving. Memoize each chunk column's (min,max)
surface range, reused across ticks and pruned to the horizontal window, so
each column is sampled once. Exact (no terrain change); spike is amortized
to a thin edge strip per crossing and zero when stationary.

Assets/shaders/chunk.frag

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 in vec2 vUv;
 in float vShade;
 in float vWorldY;
+in vec3 vWorldPos;
 
 out vec4 FragColor;
 
@@ -10,11 +11,25 @@ uniform float u_caveDarkStartY;
 uniform float u_caveDarkEndY;
 uniform float u_caveMinBrightness;
 
+uniform vec3 u_cameraPos;
+uniform float u_fogStart;
+uniform float u_fogEnd;
+uniform vec3 u_skyColor;
+
 void main()
 {
     vec4 texel = texture(atlas, vUv);
+
+    // Y-based cave darkness.
     float t = clamp((u_caveDarkStartY - vWorldY) /
                     (u_caveDarkStartY - u_caveDarkEndY), 0.0, 1.0);
     float brightness = mix(1.0, u_caveMinBrightness, t);
-    FragColor = vec4(texel.rgb * vShade * brightness, 1.0);
+    vec3 color = texel.rgb * vShade * brightness;
+
+    // Distance fog to the sky color, applied after cave darkness.
+    float dist = length(vWorldPos - u_cameraPos);
+    float fog = clamp((dist - u_fogStart) / (u_fogEnd - u_fogStart), 0.0, 1.0);
+    color = mix(color, u_skyColor, fog);
+
+    FragColor = vec4(color, 1.0);
 }

Assets/shaders/chunk.vert

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ layout(location = 2) in float aShade;
 out vec2 vUv;
 out float vShade;
 out float vWorldY;
+out vec3 vWorldPos;
 
 uniform mat4 model;
 uniform mat4 view;
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ void main()
     vShade = aShade;
     // World-space position uses row-vector convention (matches gl_Position below).
     vec4 worldPos = vec4(aPos, 1.0) * model;
+    vWorldPos = worldPos.xyz;
     vWorldY = worldPos.y;
     gl_Position = worldPos * view * projection;
 }

Core/Configuration.cs

@@ -1,9 +1,28 @@
 namespace VoxelEngine.Core;
 
+using OpenTK.Mathematics;
+
 public sealed class Configuration
 {
     public int RenderDistanceHorizontal { get; set; } = 8;
+    // Player-slab half-height in chunks. NOTE: repurposed by the visibility
+    // rework — this is no longer a global vertical load-box. It is how many
+    // chunks load above and below the player's chunk across the whole
+    // horizontal region, so caves at the player's depth render to the full
+    // horizontal distance.
     public int RenderDistanceVertical { get; set; } = 2;
+
+    // Chunks loaded below the lowest surface chunk of each column. Gives the
+    // surface chunk a solid neighbor below (so its buried bottom faces cull)
+    // and covers cave mouths just under the surface.
+    public int SurfaceShellSkirtBelow { get; set; } = 1;
+
+    // Distance fog begins at this fraction of the fog-end distance (fog end is
+    // derived from RenderDistanceHorizontal). 0.7 → fog starts at 70% of the edge.
+    public float FogStartFraction { get; set; } = 0.7f;
+
+    // Sky / clear color, also the distance-fog target color.
+    public Vector3 SkyColor { get; set; } = new(0.45f, 0.65f, 0.95f);
     public int SpawnReadyRadiusHorizontal { get; set; } = 1;
 
     public int MaxGenerateJobsInFlight { get; set; } = 8;
@@ -25,13 +44,26 @@ public sealed class Configuration
     public int? Seed { get; set; } = null;
 
     // -- Cave generation tuning --
+
+    // Spatial frequency of the 3D simplex cave-density field; higher = smaller,
+    // more frequent pockets.
     public float CaveNoiseFrequency           { get; set; } = 0.03f;
+    // Density cutoff below which a solid voxel becomes air; higher = more cave.
     public float CaveNoiseThreshold           { get; set; } = -0.3f;
+    // Edge length (blocks) of a worm-spawn grid cell; one worm candidate per cell.
     public int   WormCellSize                 { get; set; } = 64;
+    // Per-cell chance out of 1000 that a worm spawns; 300 = 30%.
     public int   WormSpawnProbabilityPermille { get; set; } = 300;
+    // Number of trace steps (≈ blocks) a worm travels.
     public int   WormMaxLength                { get; set; } = 80;
+    // Worm tunnel radius bounds; interpolated + sine-modulated along the path
+    // to form bulges/chambers.
     public float WormMinRadius                { get; set; } = 1.5f;
     public float WormMaxRadius                { get; set; } = 3.5f;
+    // Ceiling: caves carve only at or below this world-Y ("no caves above").
+    // Default 127 = world top (WorldHeight - 1) → no effective ceiling. Lower it
+    // to keep caves away from the surface (removes surface cave mouths).
+    public int   MinCaveY                     { get; set; } = 127;
 
     // -- Cave lighting (fog-distance darkness) --
     public float CaveDarkStartY    { get; set; } = 72f;   // WorldConstants.SeaLevel + 8

Core/Game.cs

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ public sealed class Game : GameWindow
     private WorldGenerator _generator = null!;
     private ChunkStreamer _streamer = null!;
     private Player _player = null!;
+    private double _logAccumSeconds;
 
     public Game(Configuration cfg, GameWindowSettings gameSettings, NativeWindowSettings nativeSettings)
         : base(gameSettings, nativeSettings)
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ public sealed class Game : GameWindow
         Log.Information("Game starting with seed={Seed} renderDistanceH={H} renderDistanceV={V}",
             this._cfg.Seed, this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal, this._cfg.RenderDistanceVertical);
 
-        GL.ClearColor(0.45f, 0.65f, 0.95f, 1.0f);
+        GL.ClearColor(this._cfg.SkyColor.X, this._cfg.SkyColor.Y, this._cfg.SkyColor.Z, 1.0f);
         GL.Enable(EnableCap.DepthTest);
         GL.Enable(EnableCap.CullFace);
 
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ public sealed class Game : GameWindow
             this._cfg,
             this._world,
             this._generator.Generate,
+            this._generator.SurfaceHeightAt,
             mesher,
             this._registry,
             new ThreadPoolJobExecutor(),
@@ -119,15 +121,38 @@ public sealed class Game : GameWindow
         this._shader.SetFloat("u_caveDarkStartY",    this._cfg.CaveDarkStartY);
         this._shader.SetFloat("u_caveDarkEndY",      this._cfg.CaveDarkEndY);
         this._shader.SetFloat("u_caveMinBrightness", this._cfg.CaveMinBrightness);
+        float fogEnd = this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal * Chunk.Size;
+        this._shader.SetFloat("u_fogEnd", fogEnd);
+        this._shader.SetFloat("u_fogStart", fogEnd * this._cfg.FogStartFraction);
+        this._shader.SetVector3("u_cameraPos", this._player.Camera.Position);
+        this._shader.SetVector3("u_skyColor", this._cfg.SkyColor);
         this._texture.Use(TextureUnit.Texture0);
 
-        this._streamer.DrawAll((pos, renderer) =>
+        Matrix4 viewProj = this._player.Camera.GetViewMatrix() * this._player.Camera.GetProjectionMatrix();
+        Frustum frustum = Frustum.FromViewProjection(viewProj);
+
+        int drawn = this._streamer.DrawVisible(
+            pos =>
+            {
+                Vector3 min = new(pos.X * Chunk.Size, pos.Y * Chunk.Size, pos.Z * Chunk.Size);
+                Vector3 max = min + new Vector3(Chunk.Size);
+                return frustum.Intersects(min, max);
+            },
+            (pos, renderer) =>
             {
                 this._shader.SetMatrix4("model", Matrix4.CreateTranslation(
                     pos.X * Chunk.Size, pos.Y * Chunk.Size, pos.Z * Chunk.Size));
                 renderer.Draw();
             });
 
+        this._logAccumSeconds += args.Time;
+        if (this._logAccumSeconds >= 1.0)
+        {
+            this._logAccumSeconds = 0;
+            Log.Information("Rendered {Drawn} / {Renderers} chunks ({Tracked} loaded)",
+                drawn, this._streamer.RendererCount, this._streamer.TrackedCount);
+        }
+
         this.SwapBuffers();
     }
 

Game/Player.cs

@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ public sealed class Player
     public Player(Configuration cfg, Vector3 spawnPosition, float aspectRatio)
     {
         this._cfg = cfg;
-        this.Camera = new Camera(spawnPosition, aspectRatio) { Fov = cfg.Fov };
+        this.Camera = new Camera(spawnPosition, aspectRatio)
+        {
+            Fov = cfg.Fov,
+            FarPlane = (cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal + 1) * VoxelChunk.Size,
+        };
     }
 
     public void Move(Vector3 delta) => this.Camera.Move(delta);

Rendering/Camera.cs

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ public sealed class Camera
     public float Yaw { get; private set; } = -90f;   // degrees; -90 looks down -Z
     public float Pitch { get; private set; }         // degrees
     public float Fov { get; set; } = 60f;            // degrees
+    public float FarPlane { get; set; } = 100f;      // world units
     public float AspectRatio { get; set; }
 
     public Vector3 Front { get; private set; } = -Vector3.UnitZ;
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ public sealed class Camera
 
     public Matrix4 GetProjectionMatrix() =>
         Matrix4.CreatePerspectiveFieldOfView(
-            MathHelper.DegreesToRadians(this.Fov), this.AspectRatio, 0.1f, 100f);
+            MathHelper.DegreesToRadians(this.Fov), this.AspectRatio, 0.1f, this.FarPlane);
 
     private void UpdateVectors()
     {

Rendering/Frustum.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+using OpenTK.Mathematics;
+
+namespace VoxelEngine.Rendering;
+
+// View-frustum for culling chunk AABBs. Built from a world→clip matrix in this
+// engine's row-vector convention (clip = worldPos * view * projection, matching
+// the chunk vertex shader). Planes point inward; a point is inside when it is on
+// the positive side of all six.
+public readonly struct Frustum
+{
+    // Each Vector4 is (a, b, c, d) for plane a*x + b*y + c*z + d = 0, normalized.
+    private readonly Vector4 _left, _right, _bottom, _top, _near, _far;
+
+    private Frustum(Vector4 l, Vector4 r, Vector4 b, Vector4 t, Vector4 n, Vector4 f)
+    {
+        this._left = l; this._right = r; this._bottom = b;
+        this._top = t; this._near = n; this._far = f;
+    }
+
+    // `vp` maps a world-space row vector p to clip space via p * vp. In that
+    // convention clip.x = p · column0, clip.w = p · column3, etc., so each plane
+    // is a combination of vp's columns (Gribb–Hartmann, row-vector form).
+    public static Frustum FromViewProjection(Matrix4 vp)
+    {
+        Vector4 c0 = vp.Column0, c1 = vp.Column1, c2 = vp.Column2, c3 = vp.Column3;
+        return new Frustum(
+            Normalize(c3 + c0),  // left:   clip.w + clip.x >= 0
+            Normalize(c3 - c0),  // right:  clip.w - clip.x >= 0
+            Normalize(c3 + c1),  // bottom: clip.w + clip.y >= 0
+            Normalize(c3 - c1),  // top:    clip.w - clip.y >= 0
+            Normalize(c3 + c2),  // near:   clip.w + clip.z >= 0 (GL NDC z in [-1,1])
+            Normalize(c3 - c2)); // far:    clip.w - clip.z >= 0
+    }
+
+    // True if the axis-aligned box [min,max] is at least partially inside.
+    public bool Intersects(Vector3 min, Vector3 max)
+    {
+        return InsideOrCrossing(this._left, min, max)
+            && InsideOrCrossing(this._right, min, max)
+            && InsideOrCrossing(this._bottom, min, max)
+            && InsideOrCrossing(this._top, min, max)
+            && InsideOrCrossing(this._near, min, max)
+            && InsideOrCrossing(this._far, min, max);
+    }
+
+    // The box is fully outside a plane only if its most-positive vertex (the
+    // corner farthest along the plane normal) is still behind the plane.
+    private static bool InsideOrCrossing(Vector4 plane, Vector3 min, Vector3 max)
+    {
+        float px = plane.X >= 0 ? max.X : min.X;
+        float py = plane.Y >= 0 ? max.Y : min.Y;
+        float pz = plane.Z >= 0 ? max.Z : min.Z;
+        return plane.X * px + plane.Y * py + plane.Z * pz + plane.W >= 0f;
+    }
+
+    private static Vector4 Normalize(Vector4 p)
+    {
+        float len = new Vector3(p.X, p.Y, p.Z).Length;
+        return len > 0f ? p / len : p;
+    }
+}

Rendering/Shader.cs

@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ public sealed class Shader : IDisposable
     public void SetFloat(string name, float value) =>
         GL.Uniform1(this.Location(name), value);
 
+    public void SetVector3(string name, Vector3 value) =>
+        GL.Uniform3(this.Location(name), value.X, value.Y, value.Z);
+
     private int Location(string name)
     {
         if (this._uniforms.TryGetValue(name, out int location)) return location;

VoxelEngine.Tests/CameraTests.cs

@@ -40,4 +40,12 @@ public class CameraTests
         var camera = new Camera(Vector3.Zero, 1.5f);
         Assert.NotEqual(Matrix4.Identity, camera.GetProjectionMatrix());
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void FarPlane_ChangesProjection()
+    {
+        var near = new Camera(Vector3.Zero, 1f) { FarPlane = 100f };
+        var far  = new Camera(Vector3.Zero, 1f) { FarPlane = 200f };
+        Assert.NotEqual(near.GetProjectionMatrix(), far.GetProjectionMatrix());
+    }
 }

VoxelEngine.Tests/ConfigurationTests.cs

@@ -74,4 +74,15 @@ public class ConfigurationTests
         Assert.Equal(32f,   c.CaveDarkEndY);      // SeaLevel (64) - 32
         Assert.Equal(0.15f, c.CaveMinBrightness);
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Defaults_HaveVisibilityAndCaveCeilingConstants()
+    {
+        var c = new Configuration();
+
+        Assert.Equal(1, c.SurfaceShellSkirtBelow);
+        Assert.Equal(0.7f, c.FogStartFraction);
+        Assert.Equal(new OpenTK.Mathematics.Vector3(0.45f, 0.65f, 0.95f), c.SkyColor);
+        Assert.Equal(127, c.MinCaveY);
+    }
 }

VoxelEngine.Tests/FrustumTests.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+using OpenTK.Mathematics;
+using VoxelEngine.Rendering;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace VoxelEngine.Tests;
+
+public class FrustumTests
+{
+    // Camera at the origin, default yaw -90° → looks down -Z.
+    private static Frustum MakeFrustum()
+    {
+        var cam = new Camera(new Vector3(0, 0, 0), 16f / 9f);
+        return Frustum.FromViewProjection(cam.GetViewMatrix() * cam.GetProjectionMatrix());
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AABBInFront_IsVisible()
+    {
+        var f = MakeFrustum();
+        Assert.True(f.Intersects(new Vector3(-2, -2, -22), new Vector3(2, 2, -18)));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AABBBehindCamera_IsCulled()
+    {
+        var f = MakeFrustum();
+        Assert.False(f.Intersects(new Vector3(-2, -2, 18), new Vector3(2, 2, 22)));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AABBStraddlingCamera_Intersects()
+    {
+        var f = MakeFrustum();
+        Assert.True(f.Intersects(new Vector3(-2, -2, -5), new Vector3(2, 2, 5)));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AABBFarToTheSide_IsCulled()
+    {
+        var f = MakeFrustum();
+        // Far along +X at a depth in front of the camera — outside horizontal FOV.
+        Assert.False(f.Intersects(new Vector3(1000, -2, -5), new Vector3(1004, 2, -1)));
+    }
+}

VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/ChunkStreamerTests.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using System.Linq;
 using OpenTK.Mathematics;
 using VoxelEngine.Core;
 using VoxelEngine.World;
@@ -44,7 +45,8 @@ internal sealed class EmptyMesher : IChunkMesher
 
 public class ChunkStreamerTests
 {
-    private static (ChunkStreamer streamer, World.World world, List<FakeRenderer> created) CreateStreamer(Configuration cfg)
+    private static (ChunkStreamer streamer, World.World world, List<FakeRenderer> created) CreateStreamer(
+        Configuration cfg, Func<int, int, int>? surfaceHeightAt = null)
     {
         var registry = new BlockRegistry();
         var store = new InMemoryChunkModificationStore();
@@ -59,7 +61,8 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
             return r;
         };
         Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> generate = _ => new VoxelChunk();
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        Func<int, int, int> height = surfaceHeightAt ?? ((_, _) => 8);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, height, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
         return (streamer, world, created);
     }
 
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         int localIndex = (5 * VoxelChunk.Size + 6) * VoxelChunk.Size + 7;
         store.RecordEdit(pos, localIndex, registry.Stone.Id);
 
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, (_, _) => 8, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
         streamer.Tick(pos);
 
         Assert.Equal(registry.Stone.Id, world.GetBlock(5, 6, 7).Id);
@@ -232,7 +235,7 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         var executor = new SynchronousJobExecutor();
         Func<float[], IChunkRenderer> factory = m => new FakeRenderer(m);
         Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> generate = _ => new VoxelChunk();
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, (_, _) => 8, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
 
         var pos = new Vector3i(0, 0, 0);
         streamer.Tick(pos);
@@ -348,7 +351,7 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         };
         Func<float[], IChunkRenderer> factory = m => new FakeRenderer(m);
 
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, (_, _) => 8, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
 
         streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0));
         Assert.Equal(1, generateCalls);
@@ -382,7 +385,7 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         };
         Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> generate = _ => new VoxelChunk();
 
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, generate, (_, _) => 8, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
         var pos = new Vector3i(0, 0, 0);
         streamer.Tick(pos);
 
@@ -419,4 +422,72 @@ public class ChunkStreamerTests
         Assert.Null(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 3, 0)));
         Assert.Null(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 1, 0)));
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Tick_LoadsSurfaceShell_AndExcludesAirAboveSurface()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration
+        {
+            RenderDistanceHorizontal = 0,   // single column at the player
+            RenderDistanceVertical = 0,     // slab is just the player's chunk
+            SurfaceShellSkirtBelow = 1,
+            MaxGenerateJobsInFlight = 100,
+            MaxMeshUploadsPerFrame = 100,
+        };
+        // Surface at worldY 40 → chunk Y 2. Shell = [2-1, 2] = {1, 2}. Slab at
+        // player Y=0 = {0}. Union = {0, 1, 2}. Chunk Y 3+ is air above surface.
+        var (streamer, world, _) = CreateStreamer(cfg, surfaceHeightAt: (_, _) => 40);
+
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0));
+
+        Assert.NotNull(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0))); // slab
+        Assert.NotNull(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 1, 0))); // shell skirt
+        Assert.NotNull(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 2, 0))); // shell surface
+        Assert.Null(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 3, 0)));    // air above surface — not loaded
+        Assert.Null(world.GetChunk(new Vector3i(0, 5, 0)));    // air above surface — not loaded
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecomputeTargetSet_CachesSurfaceHeights_OnlySamplesNewColumns()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration
+        {
+            RenderDistanceHorizontal = 1,
+            RenderDistanceVertical = 0,
+            SpawnReadyRadiusHorizontal = 1,
+            MaxGenerateJobsInFlight = 100,
+            MaxMeshUploadsPerFrame = 100,
+        };
+        int calls = 0;
+        var (streamer, _, _) = CreateStreamer(cfg, surfaceHeightAt: (_, _) => { calls++; return 8; });
+
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0));
+        int afterFirst = calls;                 // 9 columns × 5 samples = 45 (spawn-check reuses cache)
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(1, 0, 0));   // overlaps 6 columns; only the cx=2 strip is new
+        int newCalls = calls - afterFirst;
+
+        Assert.Equal(45, afterFirst);
+        Assert.Equal(15, newCalls);             // 3 new columns × 5 — cached columns are not re-sampled
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void DrawVisible_DrawsOnlyChunksPassingPredicate_AndReturnsCount()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration
+        {
+            RenderDistanceHorizontal = 1,
+            RenderDistanceVertical = 0,
+            MaxGenerateJobsInFlight = 100,
+            MaxMeshUploadsPerFrame = 100,
+        };
+        var (streamer, _, created) = CreateStreamer(cfg);
+        streamer.Tick(new Vector3i(0, 0, 0));   // 9 columns, all chunk Y 0, non-empty meshes
+
+        int drawn = streamer.DrawVisible(
+            pos => pos == new Vector3i(0, 0, 0),  // only the centre chunk "visible"
+            (_, r) => r.Draw());
+
+        Assert.Equal(1, drawn);
+        Assert.Equal(1, created.Sum(r => r.DrawCount));
+    }
 }

VoxelEngine.Tests/Streaming/StreamingIntegrationTests.cs

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public class StreamingIntegrationTests
         var mesher = new ChunkMesher(atlasWidthPixels: 128, atlasHeightPixels: 32);
         var executor = new SynchronousJobExecutor();
         Func<float[], IChunkRenderer> factory = m => new FakeRenderer(m);
-        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, gen.Generate, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
+        var streamer = new ChunkStreamer(cfg, world, gen.Generate, gen.SurfaceHeightAt, mesher, registry, executor, factory);
         return (streamer, world, store);
     }
 

VoxelEngine.Tests/WorldGen/CaveCarverTests.cs

@@ -183,4 +183,20 @@ public class CaveCarverTests
         Assert.True(bothEmpty || bothCarved,
             $"seam mismatch: c1={airC1Seam}, c2={airC2Seam}");
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Carve_RespectsMinCaveY_NoCarvingAboveCeiling()
+    {
+        var cfg = new Configuration { MinCaveY = 20 };
+        var carver = new CaveCarver(seed: 42, Blocks, cfg);
+        Chunk c = MakeStoneChunk();
+
+        // Chunk Y=2 → worldY 32..47, all above MinCaveY=20 → must stay solid.
+        carver.Carve(c, new Vector3i(0, 2, 0));
+
+        for (int x = 0; x < Chunk.Size; x++)
+        for (int y = 0; y < Chunk.Size; y++)
+        for (int z = 0; z < Chunk.Size; z++)
+            Assert.Equal(Blocks.Stone.Id, c[x, y, z]);
+    }
 }

World/Streaming/ChunkStreamer.cs

@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
     private readonly Configuration _cfg;
     private readonly IWorld _world;
     private readonly Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> _generate;
+    private readonly Func<int, int, int> _surfaceHeightAt;
+    // Per chunk-column (cx,cz) surface (min,max) height range, memoized so each
+    // column's samples are taken once and reused across ticks. Pruned to the
+    // horizontal window each recompute so it stays bounded.
+    private readonly Dictionary<(int cx, int cz), (int min, int max)> _surfaceRangeCache = new();
     private readonly IChunkMesher _mesher;
     private readonly BlockRegistry _registry;
     private readonly IJobExecutor _executor;
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
     private Vector3i _spawnAnchor;
 
     public int RendererCount => this._renderers.Count;
+    public int TrackedCount => this._tracked.Count;
     public bool IsReady(Vector3i pos) => this._ready.Contains(pos);
     public bool SpawnReady => this._spawnReady;
 
@@ -51,6 +57,7 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
         Configuration cfg,
         IWorld world,
         Func<Vector3i, VoxelChunk> generate,
+        Func<int, int, int> surfaceHeightAt,
         IChunkMesher mesher,
         BlockRegistry registry,
         IJobExecutor executor,
@@ -59,6 +66,7 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
         this._cfg = cfg;
         this._world = world;
         this._generate = generate;
+        this._surfaceHeightAt = surfaceHeightAt;
         this._mesher = mesher;
         this._registry = registry;
         this._executor = executor;
@@ -85,9 +93,20 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
         this.UpdateSpawnReady();
     }
 
-    public void DrawAll(Action<Vector3i, IChunkRenderer> drawCallback)
+    // Draws every loaded chunk for which `isChunkVisible` returns true. Returns
+    // the number of chunks actually drawn (passed the visibility test). The
+    // visibility predicate lives with the caller so the streamer stays free of
+    // any rendering/Frustum dependency.
+    public int DrawVisible(Func<Vector3i, bool> isChunkVisible, Action<Vector3i, IChunkRenderer> draw)
     {
-        foreach (var kvp in this._renderers) drawCallback(kvp.Key, kvp.Value);
+        int drawn = 0;
+        foreach (var kvp in this._renderers)
+        {
+            if (!isChunkVisible(kvp.Key)) continue;
+            draw(kvp.Key, kvp.Value);
+            drawn++;
+        }
+        return drawn;
     }
 
     public void Dispose()
@@ -104,18 +123,8 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
             this._spawnAnchorSet = true;
         }
 
-        int h = this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal;
-        int v = this._cfg.RenderDistanceVertical;
-
         var target = new HashSet<Vector3i>();
-        for (int dx = -h; dx <= h; dx++)
+        this.CollectTargets(p, this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal, target);
-        for (int dy = -v; dy <= v; dy++)
-        for (int dz = -h; dz <= h; dz++)
-        {
-            int cy = p.Y + dy;
-            if (cy < 0 || cy >= WorldConstants.WorldHeightChunks) continue;
-            target.Add(new Vector3i(p.X + dx, cy, p.Z + dz));
-        }
 
         foreach (var pos in target)
         {
@@ -143,6 +152,83 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
             this._tracked.Remove(pos);
             this._pendingUnload.Enqueue(pos);
         }
+
+        this.PruneSurfaceCache(p);
+    }
+
+    // Drop cached surface ranges for columns outside the current horizontal
+    // window so the cache stays bounded as the player explores.
+    private void PruneSurfaceCache(Vector3i p)
+    {
+        int keep = this._cfg.RenderDistanceHorizontal + 1;
+        List<(int cx, int cz)>? stale = null;
+        foreach (var key in this._surfaceRangeCache.Keys)
+        {
+            if (Math.Abs(key.cx - p.X) > keep || Math.Abs(key.cz - p.Z) > keep)
+                (stale ??= new()).Add(key);
+        }
+        if (stale != null)
+            foreach (var key in stale) this._surfaceRangeCache.Remove(key);
+    }
+
+    // Fills `into` with the chunk positions to load for a viewer at chunk
+    // `center`, over a square horizontal region of Chebyshev radius `radiusH`.
+    // Per column the loaded Y-range is the union of the surface shell and the
+    // player slab, clamped to the world's vertical bounds.
+    private void CollectTargets(Vector3i center, int radiusH, HashSet<Vector3i> into)
+    {
+        int v = this._cfg.RenderDistanceVertical;
+        int skirt = this._cfg.SurfaceShellSkirtBelow;
+
+        for (int dx = -radiusH; dx <= radiusH; dx++)
+        for (int dz = -radiusH; dz <= radiusH; dz++)
+        {
+            int cx = center.X + dx;
+            int cz = center.Z + dz;
+
+            (int minH, int maxH) = this.SurfaceHeightRange(cx, cz);
+            int shellBot = ChunkMath.FloorDiv(minH, VoxelChunk.Size) - skirt;
+            int shellTop = ChunkMath.FloorDiv(maxH, VoxelChunk.Size);
+            ChunkStreamer.AddColumn(into, cx, cz, shellBot, shellTop);
+
+            ChunkStreamer.AddColumn(into, cx, cz, center.Y - v, center.Y + v);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void AddColumn(HashSet<Vector3i> into, int cx, int cz, int loCy, int hiCy)
+    {
+        int lo = Math.Max(0, loCy);
+        int hi = Math.Min(WorldConstants.WorldHeightChunks - 1, hiCy);
+        for (int cy = lo; cy <= hi; cy++)
+            into.Add(new Vector3i(cx, cy, cz));
+    }
+
+    // Min/max terrain surface height across a chunk column's 16×16 footprint,
+    // sampled at the four corners and the centre (catches slope spread cheaply).
+    private (int min, int max) SurfaceHeightRange(int cx, int cz)
+    {
+        if (this._surfaceRangeCache.TryGetValue((cx, cz), out (int min, int max) cached))
+            return cached;
+
+        int x0 = cx * VoxelChunk.Size;
+        int z0 = cz * VoxelChunk.Size;
+        int x1 = x0 + VoxelChunk.Size - 1;
+        int z1 = z0 + VoxelChunk.Size - 1;
+        int xm = x0 + VoxelChunk.Size / 2;
+        int zm = z0 + VoxelChunk.Size / 2;
+
+        int h0 = this._surfaceHeightAt(x0, z0);
+        int h1 = this._surfaceHeightAt(x1, z0);
+        int h2 = this._surfaceHeightAt(x0, z1);
+        int h3 = this._surfaceHeightAt(x1, z1);
+        int h4 = this._surfaceHeightAt(xm, zm);
+
+        int min = Math.Min(Math.Min(h0, h1), Math.Min(Math.Min(h2, h3), h4));
+        int max = Math.Max(Math.Max(h0, h1), Math.Max(Math.Max(h2, h3), h4));
+
+        (int min, int max) range = (min, max);
+        this._surfaceRangeCache[(cx, cz)] = range;
+        return range;
     }
 
     private void DrainCompleted()
@@ -176,20 +262,17 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
     {
         if (this._spawnReady || !this._spawnAnchorSet) return;
 
-        int hs = this._cfg.SpawnReadyRadiusHorizontal;
+        var spawnTargets = new HashSet<Vector3i>();
-        int v = this._cfg.RenderDistanceVertical;
+        this.CollectTargets(this._spawnAnchor, this._cfg.SpawnReadyRadiusHorizontal, spawnTargets);
-        Vector3i a = this._spawnAnchor;
 
-        for (int dx = -hs; dx <= hs; dx++)
+        foreach (var pos in spawnTargets)
-        for (int dy = -v; dy <= v; dy++)
-        for (int dz = -hs; dz <= hs; dz++)
         {
-            int cy = a.Y + dy;
+            if (this._failed.Contains(pos)) continue;
-            if (cy < 0 || cy >= WorldConstants.WorldHeightChunks) continue;
+            if (!this._ready.Contains(pos)) return;
-            if (!this._ready.Contains(new Vector3i(a.X + dx, cy, a.Z + dz))) return;
         }
+
         this._spawnReady = true;
-        Log.Information("Spawn area ready at anchor {Anchor}", a);
+        Log.Information("Spawn area ready at anchor {Anchor}", this._spawnAnchor);
     }
 
     private void InstallResult(ChunkJobResult result)
@@ -214,7 +297,7 @@ public sealed class ChunkStreamer : IDisposable
         }
         // Skip renderer allocation for empty meshes (pure-air chunks above
         // terrain, or chunks whose every face culls). The chunk still counts
-        // as ready — DrawAll's iteration over _renderers naturally no-ops.
+        // as ready — DrawVisible's iteration over _renderers naturally no-ops.
         if (result.Mesh.Length > 0)
         {
             this._renderers[result.Pos] = this._rendererFactory(result.Mesh);

World/WorldGen/CaveCarver.cs

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ public sealed class CaveCarver
         {
             int worldY = baseY + y;
             if (worldY <= 0) continue;
+            if (worldY > this._cfg.MinCaveY) continue;
 
             ushort id = chunk[x, y, z];
             if (id == this._blocks.Air.Id) continue;
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ public sealed class CaveCarver
         {
             int worldY = baseY + y;
             if (worldY <= 0) continue;
+            if (worldY > this._cfg.MinCaveY) continue;
 
             float vx = baseX + x + 0.5f;
             float vy = baseY + y + 0.5f;