Server mechanics

Overview

Servers work differently than single-player Minecraft, meaning there is no way to pause them, and the world is always running, even when you are not playing; this means adverse, destructive things could happen while you are offline. The changes below are to help mitigate some of the more destructive things that can occur otherwise.

Server availability & restarts

I strive to keep the server online 24/7; however, sometimes, I need to take it down for maintenance or updates. The server also restarts nightly at 11:30 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST) or 12:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) to ensure it runs smoothly. The server will provide 30-, 15-, 5-, and 1-minute warnings. If you are playing at that time, you will be disconnected, but the server will be back online in a few minutes. It is safe to join again after the restart.

The server status can also be seen on the navigation menu of this website. It is updated every few moments.

Render distance

To preserve server resources, the render distance in the game is limited to 10 chunks. Chunks are 16 square blocks and span the full height of the world.

Time and beds

Beds can be used to change the time of the current world but will not impact other worlds. As long as one person sleeps in your current world, time will advance to daytime for everyone. Keep in mind, just like in single-player Minecraft, beds do explode in the Nether and the End, so be careful!

Player-versus-player

Player-versus-player combat is disabled by default, so you cannot hurt other players, and they cannot hurt you with weapons.

Lag

Servers can experience lag, which means that the game may not respond immediately to your actions, or blocks may disappear after you place or break them (and return to your inventory if applicable). Sometimes, the lag is caused by slowness in your connection to the server; at other times, it occurs when the server is handling a large number of requests simultaneously. This most often occurs when placing or breaking many blocks at once. Try again, and it should resolve itself.

Fire spread

Fires can be ignited by you or lightning, but they will not spread to other blocks or cause damage to the world. This means you can use fire for lighting or decoration, but it will not cause large fires that destroy large areas of the world.

Explosions

Player-induced explosions (such as using TNT, damaging end crystals, or using beds in the Nether or The End) will occur and damage blocks as usual; however, mob explosions will not damage blocks.

Mobs

In general, mobs behave like they do in single-player Minecraft, but they are less destructive to the world. Learn more about them in the mob behavior guide.