The Bug:

Render and simulation distance on realms and servers can be set beyond the maximum limit that the server or realm allows despite having no impact.

Back in November of 2021, MC-7949 was reopened and assigned to slicedlime. This ticket was regarding how the "Difficulty" button could be accessed and utilized within the in-game options menu on multiplayer servers despite it doing nothing. So why is this relevant? The reopening and assigning of this report imply that buttons should not be accessible to players in situations where they have no impact, hence my reasoning for creating this report.

In Minecraft: Java Edition realms, the render distance is set to 12 and the simulation distance is set to 9. This information is sourced from this tweet by cornerhard. Having these values able to be set above the limits that the realm allows through the use of the in-game video settings menu, creates confusion for the player and misleads them due to the fact that altering these options has no impact. The same thing can be seen with servers.

To conclude, if the maximum render or simulation distance on a server or a realm is, for example, 16, this should be made clear to the player and they should not be able to set the given option to a higher value through the use of the in-game video settings menu, as this wouldn't have any impact.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Join a realm or a server that limits the render or simulation distance to a certain value.
2. Navigate to the video settings menu and attempt to change your render or simulation distance to a value above the maximum limit of what the server or realm allows.
3. Take note as to whether or not you're able to do so and if it has an impact or not.

Observed Behavior:

Render/simulation distance on realms/servers can be set beyond the maximum limit that the server/realm allows despite having no impact.

Expected Behavior:

Render/simulation distance on realms/servers would not be able to be set beyond the maximum limit that the server/realm allows. For example, if a server allows the maximum render distance of 18, the users' render distance slider within the video settings menu should be limited to a maximum of 18 chunks. This would prevent players from being misled as well as minimalizing confusion.