I have been working for the last many days on a new game concept that is supposed to solve some issues with the current environment on the server:

– the game is quite easy. Once you have a couple of torches you only die if you accidentally fall into lava etc, but the mobs are not really a challenge
– the public area gets raided for the most valuable materials in a short time
– the whole concept of exploring new lands as in single player does not exist

In order to fix these issues, I need the ability to expand the map. On the current map this conflicts with the existing and possible future lots. If I want to make stuff harder, such as restricting certain tools or commands, I need to open a new world. These things do not work on a per region basis. Also, since the public area is quite small, I would need to reset it every 2-3 weeks. Some people build cool stuff there however, so I prefer to not reset it.

So the only solution is a new world. This new world should be as hard as possible to make sure that people do not use it to build elaborate stuff. People should go there to get stuff not because its easy but because stuff can be found there. So how dangerous will it be there?

– There will be no fire. No torches, no nether rack, no burning wood. No lava, no pumpkins. Only glowstone from the nether.

– There will be creepers that explode and destroy your buildings

– There will not be any teleport commands such as /home, spawn or else. You will have to walk, just like in single player mode. If you get lost, you better build a compass or look at your coordinates.

– There will be no map. So you will not be able to look out for places others went to and find sand there etc.

As an add-on I created a mob-fortress with a whole lot of mobspawners and treasure inside. The place will be protected so you will have to fight normally through the building to get in. You will need 2-4 people to conquer it and get out alive. I will place the building in random intervals in random places and announce it in a vague way where to find it.

When will this happen? I hope this week. I need the update to the worldguard plugins which is in the world since a month now.

The current public area will stay as it is for everyone to build in and for new players to get some basic resources, but not anymore to get sand etc.

I hope this all will ad new drive to the server. Since this all requires a lot of work from my side, I will not be install any other additions in the near future, since I want to make sure all works fine with this one.

[UPDATE]Regarding the nether, the current issue is the same why I do not open the DarkLands yet. I am unable to give different lot protection there from the normal world. Once this changes, I am happy to make the nether a huge public area, maybe with a protective shelter in the center. It can also be endless.

That said, I have to mention two things: Due to a tool that I have now that measures the CPU clock in comparison with the in-game clock I can tell that the nether and the new world do not cause any lag. But on the other hand, I do not have experience with 10 people being in each world at the same time. All lag in the past 2 weeks has been caused by the server hoster or specific actions on my side that put a heavy load on the server (resetting lots, removing the water from bigdlol’s lot yesterday etc). If I see that the use of the new worlds causes lag, the first solution would be to limit them in size and to reset them more often. If you want to help keeping the server healthy and fast, don’t run for 5 hours into the horizon just for the kicks. Mine the staff that is near the spawn points first.[/UPDATE]