I’ve decided to compose this short piece regarding the recent events surrounding the update on 2b2t.
2b2t is a Minecraft anarchy server, which translates to no rules. It stands as one of the oldest Minecraft servers globally, launching shortly after multiplayer functionality was introduced. For many years, the server remained on version 1.12 due to performance and stability issues with newer updates.
Just a few days ago, 2b2t transitioned to version 1.19. In its twelve years of operation, there had been minimal to no administrative intervention—until that day. With the update to 1.19, chunks were trimmed, and numerous item stacks were reset to one (to soft-reset the economy).
Several servers, including Server26, engage in chunk trimming or pruning. Chunks have a counter indicating the number of gameticks they’ve been loaded since creation. With each tick they are loaded, the counter increases by one, representing the in-game age of the chunk. This metric is used when deleting chunks that have only been loaded for a brief period. For Server26, the standard is approximately five minutes. Hence, during updates requiring chunk pruning, only chunks loaded for less than five minutes are affected.
This invasive administrative action was unparalleled on 2b2t and left many players in disarray, causing significant division within the community.
2b2t was something thousands of players took for granted, myself included, despite not being a regular player. It remained a constant in the evolving landscape of Minecraft, enduring updates and terms of service changes. However, much to the astonishment of many, that fateful day it changed.
This led me to reflect on the server I established. Now eight years old and committed to never resetting, I noted parallels between the two servers (though ours does have rules 😉).
What can I, lerokko, ensure for server26?
In short: nothing.
Everything must end someday (memento mori, carpe diem). Thus, I technically offer no guarantees. The server could vanish next month or thrive for another half-century. I am just trying my best every day to keep it up and running.
Furthermore, Server26 takes pride in never resetting its map. Chunk pruning has occurred in the past and will likely happen again, catastrophic errors or disasters could compromise the map or result in data loss. Now I am trying my best to prevent that with off-site backups but I also do not want to jinx anything here. But if there is one thing I can guarantee it is that as long as the current map is playable it will be the main map that Server26 runs on.
Meaning I will try my hardest to avoid adding any mining or farming world to the server. The community and will work their ass off to find workarounds to avoid resorting to those. But promising is something I can not do in regards to that. Predicting how Minecraft and multiplayer will look 10 years form now (in 2033) is impossible.
The “freedom” of an 18+ server might also be something we have to say goodbye to in the future. I will try to run server26 as an 18+ server as long as I can but in light of the new TOS and Usage Guidelines it may not be the server you know today. Even if the server has to be whitelisted content unsuitable for minors may just outright be banned and could put the server in jeopardy (this just a worst-case speculation on my part). It would result in a server that has only 18+ members but which contents (gambling, drugs, vulgarity) have to be appropriate for ages 10 and up (which is stupid but hey if my hand will be forced it what we have to do.).
So this is something I can not fully guarantee for the indefinite future.
Alright, a speedround:
- P2W: duh… fuck that shit
- Always be free to play: I can not guarantee that. Although extremely unlikely but not impossible. (To clarify this could mean you have to pay for access to the server, no P2W)
- Vanilla: there is no hard line in the sand but the meta of the game should stay as close to the real thing. (What that means? I give you an example. Someone posts a castle made out of gold blocks online. Wow impressive! Well, if you can buy gold for 100 coins and sell sugar cane for 1 coin on the server that is build it become way… less. Impressive. I want people that look at what has been built here to be able to tell how much of a feat, how much effort it took to do something, merely by looking at it, because it should not be easier to do than in the default game.)
Oh wow good speedround lerokko, totally not rambled yourself into a wall of text with the last one…
Let me close with a point I made at the very beginning. I can not guarantee Server26 will be here forever. It wont. I can just elongate the inevitable and try to have as much fun while doing so. Enjoy my life and the time with the people I met here (on Server26 and on this beautiful marble) but as long as server26 is up I will try my darnedest to keep the features I mentioned above.
I just want all players to be in the clear about what it is you can rely upon, what you can trust will be there for you in the future. And how that future on Server26 will look. No surprises, even if I stop being the admin and pass the baton one day, but that’s a story for another post 😊