Draw distance usually effects whether something is rendered in the distance at all. LOD (level of detail) allows for higher detailed models (higher textured, more polygons) to be swapped with lower detailed versions of the same model as their distance increases. Adjusting an LOD slider would usually determine how far a model can get before it starts progressively swapping to the lower detail ones.
I might be thinking of LOD. Though, it also could have just been something like draw distance. Not like games are 100% consistent.
Draw distance usually effects whether something is rendered in the distance at all. LOD (level of detail) allows for higher detailed models (higher textured, more polygons) to be swapped with lower detailed versions of the same model as their distance increases. Adjusting an LOD slider would usually determine how far a model can get before it starts progressively swapping to the lower detail ones.