Modded server, chunks are invisible until a block is placed

[Cthulhhu]

So I'm doing a modded 1.12.2 world but whenever I spawn in all the chunks and the entire world is just invisible, although for whatever reason I can see some mobs nearby through the invisible chunks, and some chunks really far below the surface like caves and lava. My worlds don't appear like this when I load up a singleplayer world with the same mods, I think this might be because I'm using a few worldgen mods, including Biomes O'Plenty but idk how to enable that for the server. For whatever reason the chunks load as well whenever I place down a block (used gold blocks in the screenshots), but if I break them the chunks are invisible again. Wish I could send the entire curseforge list of mods I'm using but idk how, if needed I can maybe screen record my mods list. 

Any help is greatly appreciated.