Is there a distance limit for minecart tracks?

The limit the minecart will go is the edge of loaded chunks.

In multiplayer mode, a grid with a default inradius of 10 (for a total of 21x21 or 441) chunks is loaded around each player and sent to the player by default, although this can be configured to be between 3 and 15, usually only lowered with a poor connection home server. (Source: Chunk on Minecraft Wiki)

In vanilla Minecraft, if a minecart hits an unloaded chunk, it will stop.

Mods like Railcraft provide items like Anchor Minecart that will keep chunks around it loaded, effectively eliminating the requirement for it to travel infinitely, independently of the presence of players in its perimeter.

Limit

Yes there is a limit, minecarts will only go until the end of the chunk, but they will not stop. Minecarts only pause at the end of a chunk, and when the chunk is loaded it will keep the same momentum and will continue to move.

Solutions

Mods

• Railcraft

Vanilla

• /forceload
• Chunk Loader

Notes

Minecarts will lose momentum once you log out. If it pauses at a chunk and you log out then go back into the game the minecart will be frozen. If you are on a server that will keep running once you log out then it will be fine.