ERROR: My Minecraft Server

When I write about Minecraft, many of you will have no idea what I'm talking about. However, for those who pay attention to PC gaming, Minecraft is the indie hit of 2010 resulting in millions of dollars for its single creator, Notch. The game is a sandbox where you can craft and build pretty much whatever you want using materials and items from the world. I love it.

The view from my place

I broke down and bought it late last year after hearing rave reviews. Once I got tired playing the single player survival mode, I got a server up and running. Playing Minecraft multilayer has reinvigorated the game. Chatting with my brothers about our projects or interesting map features brings more to the game than any feature.

Denis' old fort

When I first got the server up, it was just me. Then Denis and Marc, my two brothers, and Chris, one of Marc's friends, joined up. Playing in a world with other people made a difference. Playing Minecraft SP is such a unique experience. It's called survival mode, and it definitely feels like it. You're alone in this world, you need to collect resources, and protect yourself at night from monsters. You build and you labour and put your heart into huge mega projects, but you're alone in this giant gameworld. You feel isolated, deserted.

More of Denis' old fort

Playing on the server though, offers socialization. You can work with others on projects, you can log into the server and discover a new structure or project, you can explore together, fight together, play together. I feel that it's how the game is meant to be played, that playing on a server with others is standard and playing it alone is the deviation.

Our newest addition, Josh

This is Josh's place after 2 hours, he's been busy

It's been great fun and I've been trying to get more people on. I love how the game is continually updated with new features and items. I've also gotten interested in some mods for the SP survival mode, but that's another post.

The diving tower

Diving tower

I'd like to thank Nick, Joanna's brother, for building the server. It's an old PC with mixed and matched parts running Windows XP. It's currently in the den running 24/7. Never had a server before so it's been fun. Keeping downtime low and uptime high is challenging sometimes and telling people that I have a server makes me feel like a big man. A big man with a server!

The Farm

More of The Farm

So, if you're interested in joining us on the server, let me know and I can send you the IP. You can stake your claim, and build build build.

Marc's Place

Chris' ATAT and the diving tower

My place. It looks small, but beneath it lies an elaborate complex which includes an indoor farm, a lab, an armoury, a pad, mines and a message center