for some reason this this isnt working, it is still leaving multiple orbs. this used to work on 1.16, but now i have upgraded it to 1.18.1 its not?
i have downloaded the 1.18.1 version of this mod yes

Going to need a log file and more info, like what version of Clumps are you using? are you on Forge or Fabric?

latest.log

Logs attached (Latest)
i am using [Clumps-forge-1.18.1-8.0.0+5.jar (most recently updated 1.18.1 version), i am also using the forge version.

Can you please show a screenshot of orbs being close together but not clumping together?

Those orbs are nowhere near close enough to each other to merge.

Prior to 1.17, the area was a 2x2x2 radius around the orb, so it would look in:

XXXXX
XXXXX
XXOXX
XXXXX
XXXXX

With X being the space to look and O being the orb

With 1.17, vanilla added their own xp merging (although at a much rarer chance than Clumps), and they used a 1x1x1 radius, like so:

XXX
XOX
XXX

I think having the same range as vanilla is better than the old range, so I will not be changing it.

if 1 block away isn't close enough, i dont think there is any point me having this mod then.

1 block away is close enough and in your image those orbs aren't 1 block away, they are maybe 1.5 to 2 blocks away.

Having more range will also allow orbs to clump through walls, which could cause issues.

I don't care if you use the mod or not, but by not using it, you're still going to deal with vanilla's own 1 block distance as well as their stricter merging criteria.