Code and Updates

Hello Travelers,
The server is still online for the time being and has not been updated to the newest version of minecraft. Sometime in the future I will be updating the server to the current version of minecraft. I am very much looking forward to the day in which minecraft itself has a modding API and we no longer have to deal with the delays of Bukkit having it's own codebase. The position for assistance is still open and is needed now more then ever in order to help update the server. I would also like to mention that Jim (IbramGaunt00) has created a book to introduce people to the world of Demeter. I hope to soon see this book spawn with every new player who joins the server, but in the meantime you can find a copy in the giant treasure chest in hombase.
- Admin Asher

Winter Solstice

It is that time of the year again and I am quite happy with everything that is going on in life. As most of you have a nice long winter break to look forward to I will remind you once more of the position available to help moderate the server as a sys admin. Also let me inform you that no java experience is required you only have to know how to ssh into a linux machine, and use a text editor. Everything else you will learn as you go. Good Luck and Have Fun
- Admin Asher

We need another sysadmin

Over the past week or so I have been working on writing new plugins for the server, and they are coming along just fine. But the part that I am realizing more and more is that we need someone who is able to learn the configuration settings and the setup and maintenance of the plugins that are actually on the server. I am not able to single-handedly configure and fix all of the problems with the plugins on the server as well as write new plugins or features for plugins that exist. This new sysadmin will be in charge of the final touches of the server.

Certain things they will be in charge of include:
Making the nether render properly on the dynmap
Updating / Upgrading the dynmap

Taking care of mundane features that are not implemented yet:
Renaming plots
Combining plots
Deleting whole plots
Modifying Shop Prices
Adding new items to the shop / maintaining the shopfront
Helping to figure out what current plugins break with each bukkit update

Benefits of taking this job include a salary of $0 an hour, ssh access to the demetermine server, full admin rights on the server, and a yourname@demetermine.com email address.

To apply for this position, comment or send me a short description of why you think you would be a good fit for all or part of this job. Knowledge or willingness to learn about how dynmap works is a requirement.

- Admin Asher

Nice Party of 9

The other day we had a nice group of nine people playing on the server, it brought me much happiness  to see people all together, we were just 6 short of having 15 people playing on the server at once. The server is up to version 1.4.5 for those of you who do not know. Also I would like to announce that the price list bounty has gone up to 2 Million Chips (ingame money). You must price out the entire item list in minecraft for the server to use in the future version of the economy system. Each item needs these three criteria:

Item Name
Sell Price - How much can a player sell it to the shop for
Buy Price - How much can a player buy it from the shop for
Different values may be needed for blocks with different meta data, for example half slabs made of wood should not cost the same as ones made of stone brick, while they have the same block id.

Lastly a warning, item frames are not blocks, they are entities and as a result they can be broken within a protected area. Do not store your valuables in item frames if you fear that others will be able to destroy the frame and take the items. The safest place to store something is in an ender chest.
- Asher

1.4.2 Dev Build Released

Hey players. Bukkit has released a dev build of 1.4.2 which means that the server will be updated soon. However it is quite difficult to continue to maintain the server. Thus I give you, the players, the ability to keep the server alive. With the last round of updates the plugins reached around 5.5 thousand lines of code. I will continue maintaining the server if either one of these things happens:

1) 15 people comment on this post
2) A screen shot of 15 people playing at the same time is posted as a comment
3) $64 is donated to the server (the remaining cost of the servers hardware)

If two of these things happens I will also implements some new plug-ins that people have been asking for as quickly as possible, including bringing back creepers and TNT with no explosions.
Happy crafting
- Asher

[Update]
The server is currently down for maintenance, it should be back up by Monday

[Update]
The server is now running 1.4.2

1.4.x

With 1.4.x having just come out I remind people not to upgrade to 1.4.x until Bukkit comes out with a supporting build. Hopefully that will be soon.
- Asher

Demeter Events

A new idea was given to me today. It was similar to an idea before but now it is more well rounded. It is called 'Events'. Every so often a new separate world will be created, each event world will have a specific task to complete and once you do you get a reward, however only one player or one group of players can win each event. The first event will be a dungeon. Any player can clear a room but only the players that get to the end first will get a prize. Once the event is over all the players will be teleported back to the main world, any user can enter or leave the event world at any time. When you go to the event world your inventory is set aside and you are given a new inventory, when the event is over the inventory you collected in the event world will be placed in your mailbox. Oh ya, did I mention the mailboxes? Any item you buy at the shop that cannot fit in your inventory will appear in a mailbox, you can also send items to other players via the mailbox. You can collect items from your mailbox if you are in the shop world but you can view your mailbox at any time. It costs money to send items to people though so you cant use it as extra inventory space. If anyone wants to help with writing these plugins feel free to contact me. Also don't forget to comment on this post about what you think about these plugins.
- Happy Crafting
Asher

Resuming Work

Now that classes have begun I find myself running out of time to write and test new plugins for the server. That on top of the fact that demeter costs time and money to run and maintain puts working on new plugins at a very low priority. However, if you help turn Demeter into a server that can turn a profit then it will provide more then enough motivation to continue working on the plugins and features. The blog is ad supported so if you disable ad-block while viewing the blog or the map that may help increase revenue. Also feel free to click the paypal donate button in the right hand of the screen. If you include your minecraft username with your donation you will receive ingame money, the more you give the more ingame money per dollar you will get. For example if you give $1 you will get 1000 in game money per dollar. If you give $10 you will get 10000 in game money per dollar.

Happy Crafting
- Asher

World Rendering

Some of you may have noticed that thing that you are building in the world are not rendering, for example: sideways logs.

This is in fact the case, there is an update to the world map plugin avalable but because it would require a full render of the world (which can take days) I have decided to wait until I finish a new plugin to generate the world. The world generator plugin will turn the world into a giant circle instead of this haphazard shape we have now, after that is implemented the world map will be upgraded.

Don't be afraid to upgrade to 1.3.2, it should still work with the server.

We also have a group build tomorrow at 5pm. Be sure to join in for great prizes and fun!
- Admin Asher

Group Build: The tower

Our next scheduled build will be Friday the 17th at 5pm.

Prize for Joining:

• 10k Money
• 6 Pairs of Diamond Boots Enchanted with Featherfall (for flying)

Goal: To build a tower to the top of the world from the bottom of the world
Where: Here (again)

Some people have already begun building the tower but the actual event will not begin until Friday
When the event starts just ask to be teleported to the even location.

- Asher

MInecraft 1.3

Bukkit has released a Minecraft 1.3 recommended build. I will be testing our plugins on the server and I will get Demeter running 1.3 hopefully by the end of the day.
- Admin Asher

Edit: Aaand it's up, Enjoy!

100th

This is the 100th post! Also there is new set of upgrades to the plugins that are on the sever.

Ability to Fly
Ability to give money to players
New gamemaster commands to manage players
The shop world has been fixed so that you cannot build or break in it
You can no longer warp from the end or the shop
If you type part of a warp name the server will auto complete the rest


We will also be introducing competition on the server for large rewards. The first competitions will be posted at the bottom of this post, as well as the rules and rewards

Warping

Command: /warp <warp_name>
Click on a teleport activation sign inside of a plot and then it will be added to the list of plots that you can warp to.

Command: /warplist
Lists all of the warps that are on the server, warps that you have activated are hilighted.

Command: /mywarps
Lists all of the warps that you have activated.

Compass Jumping

If you are holding a compass and have at least one feather in your inventory you can click on a block up to 100 blocks away and teleport to the top of the block at the cost of a feather in your inventory.

Flying

Command: /fly
If you are wearing a pair of boots that are enchanted with Feather Fall then you can use the /fly command to enter "fly mode" at the cost of your boots. Fly mode is identical to the creative mode flying, press space twice to start flying, press it twice again to stop. Hold space while flying to move up, hold crouch while flying to move down. Depending on the type of boot you get to fly for different amounts of time. These times may change in the future.

• Leather: 5 minutes
• Iron: 15 minutes 
• Gold: 20 minutes
• Diamond: 30 minutes

Economy

Command: /money
See how much money you have in the bank

Command: /shop
Teleport to the shop world

Command: /grant <player> <amount>
Give an amount of money from your bank to another player

Command: /price [item_id]
Get the price of a certian block, if you dont include the item id it will tell you the price of the blocks you are holding in your hand

Buying and selling

Once you are in the shop, there are three types of signs. The numbers on the signs do not indicate their price but instead indicate the block ID.

[shop]: click it to buy a single item of the displayed type
[shop-stack]: click to buy a full stack of the displayed type
[sell]: click with an item in your hand to sell all of the items in your hand

You can make money by selling blocks to the shop, or by mining and placing blocks on the server.

Plots

Command: /claim <plotname>
Claims a new 8x8 plot where you are standing named "plotname". Four torches are placed at the corners of the plot indicating where it is. Other people cannot build or break anything in the plot.

Command: /expand
When you are standing adjacent to a plot that you own you will expand the claimed plot to another 8x8 chunk. Four more torches will apear on the corners of the new plot.

Command: /darkexpand
Does the same thing as /expand but does not place torches. Useful for claiming area that you have already built in.

Command: /addbuilder <playername>
Adds a user as a builder to your plot. This means that they can build and break blocks on your plot

Command: /removebuilder <playername>
This removes a builder from your plot, meaning that they can no longer build or break blocks on your plot

Command: /addowner <playername>
This will add a user as another owner of a plot. They can build break and expand the plot as if it were their own. Owners cannot be removed from plots


 That should be a comprehensive list of features of the plugins. Now on to the compititions.

Price List
Task: Make a fair price list for all items in the shop (for 1.3)
Reward: 1,000,000 to chosen price list, 1,000 ~ 10,000 to any player who submits a list
Requirements:

• The list must cover every item in 1.3. Including different types of wood, half slabs, stairs, potions, and colored wools
• The list must be based on some sort of system, for example "There are 10 iron ore per 1 diamond ore, so diamond ore costs 1000 and iron ore costs 100"
• The price to buy a diamond is 1000
• Selling prices do not have to be the same as buying prices but if no selling prices is listed the selling prices is half the buying price

Prove you read the blog
Task: Tell Iggystlev that you read the blog ingame
Reward: 10,000 + Diamond Armor
Requirement: type the sentance in alternating caps. Eg: "IgGy I rEaD tHe BlOg"

Fix a bug
Task: submit a pull request that fixes a bug in the plugins to github
Reward: 50,000
Requirements: The pull request must be accepted into the repo

Find a bug
Task: Submit a bug report about the plugins to github
Reward: 5,000
Requirements: It must be a real bug, not a feature request





Build a City
Task: Build a city big enough to get a warp point
Reward: 500,000~1,000,000
Requirements:

• Very few mobs should spawn in the city, walls are preferred
• No, mobs can get to the location that you warp to
• A warp location must be constructed, it cannot just be a corner of a building

As for now that is it. I will soon be posting about our upgrade to 1.3 (we are still running 1.2.5). If bukkit takes a long time to upgrade to 1.3 then we will release the jar files for 1.2.5 so players can roll back a version to play on the server.

- Admin Asher

August 1st

August 1st is the planned release of Minecraft 1.3. When that happens villagers will be able to trade you items. This will most likely cause our world shop structure to change to one where villagers run all of the shops. Hopefully I will find a good way to let them sell things to you using our economy system and not the "emerald" system (it is not very good). At that time the physical layout of the shop will get a redesign and will also be added into the physical plugin instead of just part of it existing in the plugin.

Updating the plugins

After looking over the plugin code I am starting to find that there are a few features that are still not implemented in our minecraft world that should be. I also see that some of the code is very poorly written and needs to be fixed. I will be working on fixing these problems in the coming weeks, also preparing for the 1.3 release of minecraft. Hopefully we will see a quick turnaround for either a new bukkit client or a mod-enabled minecraft server. I recently got a new personal machine that I will be able to record video with, hopefully there will be some video tutorials coming soon on how to use all of the mods.
- Asher

Going Public!

Hello players! Today (hopefully) we will finally be moving the server out from behind the firewall. This means that anyone can connect to it at any time anywhere. It will be pretty cool! I cant wait to start playing a lot again. Unfortunately this means that the server will be going down for a short while today while it is moved and reconfigured.
- Asher

Back Up

We are back online, don't know exactly what happened with the IP stuff but everything is all working fine. Have fun!

Back up for a while!

Demetermine is back up and available for access, it is still behind a firewall so you will need to VPN into campus but in just a month it will be moved to a more permanent home where it can be accessed by the outside world.
- Asher

The server is down

The server has been disconnected and unplugged. Here's hoping that it gets set back up soon!
- Admin Asher

Moving Day

Moving day is almost here, the server may be going down any time between now and tomorrow (Thursday the 17th)  It will probably only be down a few days because instead of waiting two weeks for it to reach its new home Andrew can provide space for it for a short while, this will still mean that the server will be temporarily down for a short while, and then it will go down once more when it gets moved into its final location. Depending on what happens I will make sure to keep you all informed.
- Admin Asher

Fun Plugins

In an attempt to write better code in the future I will be working on making all of the plugins on the server "Feature Complete". So this post is to ask you what features you want to see on the server.

The current ones to work on are:

• Adding owners to a plot
• Adding workers to a plot
• Removing workers from a plot
• Case un-sensitive input for warp names
• Partial input for warp names 
• Display a list of known warps
• No warping from "The Shop" or "The End"
• Admin Mode
• Place blocks in other players plots
• Invulnerable
• Warp anywhere
• Lightning
• Able to sell all plots that share a name
• Admins can delete single plots
• Animated warp signs
• Automated configuration file creation on first run
• Non-block items in shop
• Damaged items in shop
• Enchantment in shop
• Potions in shop
• Better block prices
• Flying using hunger and feather fall boots
• New way to teleport to the shop to not allow you to avoid combat or environment
• Possibly leave a player character behind that can be killed

Server Downtime

It has been a long time since I last wrote one of these posts. The server will stay running until the end of finals, but then it will be taken down for a short time (hopefully no later then June 7th). However after the server comes back on it will most likely be off campus and not behind the campus firewall.
As we get closer to the downtime I will provide more information about the downtime

- Admin Asher

New Landing Page

There is a new landing page on just plain old demetermine.com that allows you to easily travel to either this blog or the world map. Getting rid of the "IT WORKS!" apache page. Thanks to Jerry (rattomago) for suggesting it.
- Asher

Claimed Plot Visualisation Bug

There is currently a bug when viewing the overworld on the web-map where it may look like some of your claims are missing. I am not sure what is causing this bug however these missing claims are showing up in the nether. They are purely visual bugs as well. Ingame the claims are still intact and functioning.
I will work to try to figure out what is causing this bug quickly
- Asher

Quantum Phase Shift Rift

There seems to be a strange shift of quantum temporal space. As a result we may have some problems with the space time matrix resulting in problems establishing a stable connection to our world. Our top engineers are working to fix this but there may be some changes that you observe within our wonderful world around the time of 5pm tonight.
Good Luck
-Chief Iggystlev

(server is going to be deactivated for a few hours tonight for a merging of worlds throughout time)

Quick Tutorial on how to use the Demetermine server

Hello all and welcome to another thrilling bunch of words that teaches you things

Claiming and expanding land

On Demetermine you can claim plots of land that no one else can build on. While no one else can build or destroy any block in this plot, they can use chests, doors, and activate restone devices you have placed. These plots are laid out on a grid and are 8 x 8 blocks from bedrock to sky. Every plot also has a name.

In order to create a new plot that you control just find a place that nobody has claimed yet and type:

/claim <name>

Where <name> is the name for you plot, names have to be unique and you cannot give a new plot the same name as a plot that all ready exists. When you claim a new plot four torches will be placed on the highest blocks on the corners of the plot.
A new plot costs $5000 from your in-game wallet

After you claim your first plot you can expand it into adjacent plots by walking into an unclaimed adjacent plot and using the command.

/expand

Just like the  /claim command, /expand will place four torches at the highest blocks on the corners of the plot.
An expanded plot costs $1000 from your in-game wallet.

If you don't want to type out /expand you can use the alias

/ex

When expanding sometimes you don't want torches to appear on the corners of your plot. In order to do this you can use the command.
 

/dark-expand

Otherwise it functions the same as the /expand command. Just like expand, if you don't want to type out /dark-expand you can use the alias 

/dx

Money and Economy

Each player has an in game wallet, in order to see how much money you have you can type

/money

You can get money by mining blocks, placing blocks, and selling block to the shop. Each block you sell to the shop has a static price that you can view by holding the block in your hand and typing

/price 

The Shop

The in game shop is where you can buy and sell blocks and items in the game. In order to go to the shop you type the command

/shop

Once you are done shopping type /shop again to teleport back to where you used to be

The shop is made up of different signs that do different things. The first sign is the sell sign, there are four of them located above each of the four arches. When you click this sign it will sell everything you have in your hand and give you the money for it.

 The other two signs are the shop and the shop-stack signs which let you buy a single item or a stack of items when you click on them.

Cities and Warping

When a an admin deems a large plot to be qualified as a city or dungeon that plot will get a warp point. In order to be able to warp to any warp point you first need to find the activator sign. When you click an activator sign it will say

Teleport for Cityname ACTIVATED

once you see that you can use the command

/warp <Cityname>

To warp to that city's warp point at any time. When you do warp you have to not move for 5 seconds while the warp animation plays. This prevents you from using warping to run away from mobs or escape other players that are trying to kill you.

Overworld Map

There is an overworld map that contains the claimed regions and locations of online players. In order to view it go to

http://demetermine.com:8123

It is run using the Bukkit plugin dynmap
the map renders whenever you place or destroy a block, the changes should be reflected in the map less then 5 minutes after you place or destroy a block.

Compass jumping

Compass jumping allows you to teleport to the top of a stack of blocks that you are looking at. In order to do it you need to be holding a compass in your hand and you need to have feathers in your inventory. Each time you jump a feather is used up. You can only teleport 200 blocks at a time, if you try to go farther the compass will not find a block to teleport to.


And I believe that is it. If there are any questions post them as comments so that everyone can see the answer to them. Happy crafting.

- Admin Asher

Changes to the shop

There are now more items that you can buy at the shop.
There are also a second set of signs for buying a whole stack of a single item.
Not all the items displayed are available to be purchased because the shop plugin is not yet able to edit meta-values for the block when you buy them.
- Asher

Upgrades and Updates (Finally)

So here are the notable things to note:
Server is running 1.2.5
Warping Works (more below)
Billy's Plots have (almost) been fixed (missed one)
Shops now have a [shop-stack] sign that will buy you a whole stack of an item


How warping works:
only admins can create warps
You can only warp to places that you have clicked the activator sign for
Activator signs currently have [teleport] written on them but that will soon change
Type /warp <warpname> to warp
after 5 seconds you will warp
if you move before your 5 seconds is up you don't teleport and you cant teleport again until that 5 seconds is up, movement counts even if a mob hits you or you look around
/claim now costs 5000 instead of 1000, but /expand still costs 1000
Players should no longer be able to destroy blocks in the shop

Remember to report any and all bugs on the github issues list

- Admin Asher

Minecraft 1.2.5

Though the server is running 1.2.4 it still seems to work with 1.2.5 so go ahead and update. The server itself will be upgraded to 1.2.5 over the weekend (along with some other plugin updates)

Apologies with updates

The updates did not go out when scheduled, there were a few problems unrelated to the server that I had to take care of at home. The updates may go out later this week, but most likely they will happen this weekend.
- Asher

Scheduled Downtime

The first scheduled downtime of the server!

Friday March 30th from 8am to 1pm
Downtime may be longer or shorter depending on the complexities of the update

I am so exited. All the other downtimes were because the hardware failed!

What is the reason for this downtime?
Glad you asked!

I will be updating the server with some new plugins and Ill be cleaning up some broken plots (people who used claim instead of expand). As an attempt to fix this I have changed the price of the claim command.

/claim will now cost $5000 instead of $1000

Warping! There will be four warps available when the server comes back online.

• Homebase
• Graveyard
• Tirrell, The Port City
• Caelum, The Sky Tower

Warping does not cost anything but takes 6 seconds of not moving to warp. You will only be able to warp to places you have activated (by clicking the activation sign).

- Asher Glick, Administrator

Our next Big Build!

Our second build is here!

Caelum: The Sky Tower

You can find this are on the map: here

Just like last time there will be chests full of materials to use when building the tower.

The build will be on Saturday March 31st.

A super special prize will be given to those who attend the build (it's a secret)

- Asher Glick, Administrator

Rednering the World

We have now upgraded to 1.2.4 so in order to fix some bugs on the map caused by biomes changing I have ordered the server to re-render the entire world. If you notice a little lag in the server for the next few hours it is because it is generating a brand new map. After it is done then the map should look good and not have glitches in it.
- Asher

Warp plugin

I have been working on a warp plugin and it is functional but it needs a little bit of refining. Plan to see it on the server within the week however. If you type
/warp <cityname>
then you will get teleported to that city after 6 seconds of you not moving. That time might be decreased to 5 seconds or something in between but that will change later.

The admin side of the warp plugin is also not complete so admins cannot create warps just yet.

Keep building and expect to see cool things in the future.
- Asher

(also, thanks to Josh for helping debug these plugins)

Economy and other Plugin Updates

I am currently working on updating and shining the plugins on our server, the first thing to note is that you can now sell items at the shop! Because all items (other then apples and dragon's eggs) are $2 all items will sell for $1. You sell an item by holing the item stack in your hand and clicking the [sell] sign in the shop. After a few other bugfixes and once flying is added in the shop will gain semi-correct prices for their items (hopefully by the end of tonight).
Keep playing!
- Asher Glick

Survival Map #2

So I sorta forgot to mention the impromptu survival map 'sky block' started on our server. We have since finished the map and have started another: 'Salty Awakening'.

It can be found in the same place as the last: demetermine.com:25555

Only 4 people can be on a time in order to preserve the processor ability, enjoy!
- Asher

Bukkit 1.2 dev Build

We are now using the 1.2.3 bukit dev build. I have updated all of the plugins that need to be updated, so now using Version 1.2.3 is OK go ahead an update your game!

The First Build

Our first build, sounds fund don't it? Now that the time is almost here I will be explaining the rules of the build in the following sections:

What are we building?
We are building Tirrell: The Port City!

Where are we building?

Right here

So this is a port city, what should we build?
I am glad you asked! It is a city but it is also a port so here is a list of things to build

• Houses
• Roads
• Docks
• The big wall protecting residents from the outsiders
• The gate in the big wall protecting.... etc
• Docks
• Ships at the docks
• Teleport location
• and a small train station outside where the rail tracks will go

Will this be time lapsed and put on youtube?
Yes, I will be running a camera to time lapse the build, but feel free to do the same

I don't have enough materials to build an entire city, what do I do?
Chests full of tools and materials will be provided at the build site

I don't want to build scaffolds for all of the tall buildings, can I fly instead?
Yes, everyone who want to help will be allowed to fly and given the ability to do so


Why don't you just put us all in creative mode?
To try to prevent people from breaking everything by accident. However I may still put everyone in creative mode


It is very hard to see at night, will you make it stay constantly day?
No, the time cycle will progress normally so be sure to place plenty of torches

What items are we getting to build the city?

• Logs: 5 chest full = 270 stacks = 17280 logs ( = 69120 planks)
• Redstone: 1 chest full = 54 stacks = 3456 Redstone dust
• Wool: 1 chest full = 54 stacks = 3456 Blocks of Wool
• Torches: 1 chest full = 3456 Torches
• Stone: 9 chests full
• Cobblestone: 3 chests full
• Iron ingots: 1 chest full
• Dyes: 1 chest full
• Random: 1 chest
• Misc. 1 chest:
• trees: 2 stacks
• bookshelves 7 stacks
• glass: 45 stacks

If you have any questions feel free to comment
(the chests are encased in bedrock right now, don't take stuff from them)

Also DO NOT UPGRADE TO 1.2 YET bukkit does not have a 1.2 version out and I am working as hard and as fast as I can to make sure all the plugins will work for 1.2.

- Admin Asher

A good idea

So, with nobody responding to the last post for a week Kevin had a good idea. Group builds. This will be a time in which we will pick something to build and build it. The schematics will be hosted on the forum page most likely. And the builds will be during the weekends. I will also record the build and put it through a time lapse so that we can see it later on Youtube.
- Asher
meanwhile I will be finishing up the Teleport plugin and adding a fly plugin (using featherfall boots)

Future of the server

Should I continue running the server? In the last two months the advertisements have made exactly $0, there are only one to three players on at a time, there have been no forum posts, and no comments on the blog for a month. So as the players of the server I ask if I should continue with it.
-Asher

Slight changes on the server

- Mining blocks gives you a greater reward again
- The old version of the world map will no longer render (saving processor time)

I am still working on the shop system at this moment in time, I am not sure how to structure the tables for items however. After I do some upgrades I will probably continue developing the plugins actively.

- Asher

Bit more comprehesive Info

A few updates of what is possible at this time:

Regions can be purchased and expanded. In order to purchace a plot simply stand in a plot that nobody has claimed yet and type

/claim <plotname>

where <plotname> is the name of a plot that has not been taken yet

in order to expand a region you type

/expand

while standing next to a plot that you own. This will automaticly expand your claim into the adjacent plot.

Plots will automaticly appear on the map when you purchase them

Both of these require $1000 of in-game money

if you want to see how much money you have you can type
/money
and it will tell you how much money you have

If you want to buy things you can use

/shop

to teleport to the shop
In order to buy something you left click on a sign and it will take $2 and give you your item. These prices are temporary and will change
in order to go back to where you were after leaving the shop you can type

/shop

again.
If the server crashes or is restarted while you are in the shop, even if you are logged out, you will be spawned at the spawn location when you try to return

Lastly if you want to teleport around you can get a compass. Every time you left click on a block, up to 200 blocks away, you will teleport to it at the cost of a feather from your inventory.

The Future:
Over time the block prices for will be determined and the prices will change in the shop

Warping will be created, allowing you to teleport to cities that you have already been to


The ability to add other people to your plots using commands


Plot outlines to show where plots end if there are adjacent plots

A smarter expand command that will claim the plot according to whichever plot is closest, instead of whichever plot is north/west of the current.

Locked chests and chest shops using signs and chests

Redstone signs for creating toll roads and the like

Feel free to ask any questions
- Admin Asher

Plugin updates

I have updated the plugins on the server to a newer version. Here is how to use the current plugins on the server.

Buying Claims:

/claim <claim name>

currently you cannot expand your claim or add new people to it but this will be added soon

Shopping:

/shop

will teleport you to and from the shop. At the shop click on a sign to purchase items

Teleporting:
Warping still does not work however jumping does

If you have a compass you can click on any block (up to 200 blocks away) and teleport to the top of that block. Each jump will use a feather.

Known bugs:
you can jump to the top of the nether, you cant get back
when you try to buy an item from the shop but your inventory is full it still charges you

You can submit bugs on the forum or as comments on the blog
-Asher

A few things while you wait

The map will soon get a region display so you can see the regions that have been bought

You will be able to expand your claims using the /expand command. This will expand the claim that you are closest to. It will be just like buying a new claim but the claims will have the same names

New commands for silent claiming and expanding /sclaim and /sexpand ... not sure I like the names but that all I got for now. These commands will not place torches on the corners of the plots.

Lastly, a temporary sign system for buying and selling blocks in the shop.

-Admin Asher

New plugins

I feel that the plugins are at a stage where you can use them nearly to their full capacity. As a result I have moved them over to the game server and removed all of the old plugins. For now the structures from the old world are un-accessable in-game but in the near future we will go through the old world and take everything that we want to keep.
- Asher

Progress Report #3

Teleport Plugin:
   - Teleport 'Jump' with the compass and a feather [100%]
   - Teleport 'Warp" with the compass and a feather [0%]
   - - - Warps and Activators Saved on server [100%]
   - - - Warps can be placed by  admins [0%]
   - - - Activators can be placed by admins [0%]
   - - - Player activations are saved on server [100%]
   - - - Players can activate warps [50%]
(features of this plugin are being debated on how warps should work)

Land Plotter:
   - Blocks on other players plots cannot be placed or destroyed [90%]
  - - Lava buckets are causing problems
   - Plots can be bought with names [100%]
   - Plots can be expanded [0%]
   - Other players can be added and removed from plots [0%]
   - Dynmap region overlay [0%]

Economy Plugin:
   - Player has a stored money value [100%]
   - Player can buy blocks [0%]
   - Player can sell blocks [0%]
   - Player gets money from Mining and Placing blocks [100%]
   - Players get money from killing mobs [100%]
   - External shop world created [100%]
   - Item click box, for buying items [10%]

The plugins are almost at the point where they can be transferred over to the real server, just a few more functions to go. Then we can all get on and create the shop.
Don't forget to help decide block prices at the forum

Block Prices and Creature Bounties

The prices for each block and the bounties for each creatures need to be determined
You can discuss the block prices on the forum post -> Block Prices
and the creature bounties can be found on the other forum post -> Bounties

As of right now all of the prices are up for discussion. In order to bias your view correctly you should know that you get $1 (ingame) for each block you mine, $1 for each block you place, and $1 for each minute you are online.
- Asher

Progress Report #2

For this progress report I just wanted to focus on the three high importance plugins
Teleport Plugin:
   - Teleport 'Jump' with the compass and a feather [100%]
   - Teleport 'Warp" with the compass and a feather [0%]
   - - - Warps and Activators Saved on server [100%]
   - - - Warps can be placed by  admins [0%]
   - - - Activators can be placed by admins [0%]
   - - - Player activations are saved on server [100%]
   - - - Players can activate warps [50%]
(features of this plugin are being debated on how warps should work)

Land Plotter:
   - Blocks on other players plots cannot be placed or destroyed [10%]
   - Plots can be bought with names [100%]
   - Plots can be expanded [0%]
   - Other players can be added and removed from plots [0%]
   - Dynmap region overlay [0%]

Economy Plugin:
   - Player has a stored money value [100%]
   - Player can buy blocks [0%]
   - Player can sell blocks [0%]
   - Player gets money from Mining and Placing blocks [100%]
   - Players get money from killing mobs [0%]
   - External shop world created [100%]
   - Item click box, for buying items [10%]

Once these plugins are finished (or finished enough), the worlds will be switched and these plugins will replace the ones on the server now. So far it is only about 1000 lines of code, but now is the hard part I think.

The source code can be found on bitbucket if you would like to download it yourself

If my endevor to make fake custom block types that are quarter blocks and make them look like items works out (and I believe it will) then the method of buying items will be amazing.

I am also experimenting with individual block information, so two players might be looking at the same sign but it will say different things.

I like the features that bukkit gives us, and I hope that there will be more soon. Otherwise I will have to start using more craftbukkit native code. Still cool but more complicated. Also more likely to change without notice.

- Admin Asher

Economy System Money "cap"

As a fair warning to everyone if you 9.22337204 quadrillion (9.22337204 × 10¹⁸) dollars in the bank your money will break and you will suddenly have -9.22337204 quadrillion dollars in the bank, good luck

Progress Report #1

Teleport Plugin [50%]:
   - Teleport 'Jump' with the compass and a feather [100%]
   - Teleport 'Warp" with the compass and a feather [0%]
   - - - Warps and Activators Saved on server [100%]
   - - - Warps can be placed by  admins [0%]
   - - - Activators can be placed by admins [0%]
   - - - Player activations are saved on server [100%]
   - - - Players can activate warps [50%]
  

Frozen Block Plugin [15%]:
   - Blocks are unaffected by all conditions [20%]
   - Blocks are saved on server [10%]

Land Plotter [6%]:
   - Blocks on other players plots cannot be placed or destroyed [10%]
   - Plots can be bought with names [0%]
   - Plots can be expanded [0%]
   - Other players can be added and removed from plots [0%]
   - Dynmap region overlay [0%]
   - Hi-res plot renders can be bought and uploaded to the site [0%]

Toll sign [0%]:
   - Players are able to place toll signs for arbitrary ammounts of money [0%]
   - Other players can pay the toll to have the sign act as a stone button [0%]
   - Players are able to change and destroy toll signs [0%]

Economy Plugin [0%]:
   - Player has a stored money value [0%]
   - Player can buy blocks [0%]
   - Player can sell blocks [0%]
   - Player gets money from Mining and Placing blocks [0%]
   - Cities give discounts on specific blocks [0%]

Map Plugin -> Dynmap

P.S. the server is back online if you guys want to play (old plugins, not sure what bukkit version, Ill update it soonish)

How the server works

There are a few things about the server now.
Economy, the world now uses an economy system!
you can:
- buy and sell blocks and items
- give money to each other
- create signs that require people to pay you money in return for a red-stone event

Teleporting:
there are two types of teleporting, jumping and warping
- Jumping can be done by holding a compass and clicking on a block (up to 200 blocks away) every jump consumes one feather from your invintory
- Warping allows you to teleport to any city you have activated. It consumes your compass. Each city has a teleport pad with a sign on it. if you right click the sign with a compass once then you activate the city. If you right click the sign with a compass again then your compass will point to that city instead of wherever it was pointing before.
type /warp <cityname> to warp to a city you have activated

 Protecting Your Land
Land is devided up into 8x8 chunks which you can buy and name with your currency
Each one can only be built on or destroyed  by you or people you allow

Stand in a chunk and say /buy <plotname> and 4 torches will be placed at the corners of the chunk and you will have bought it, every time you enter it it will say "entering <plotname>"
stand in a chunk and say /add <playername> and the player will be added as a
stand in a chunk adjacent to a chunk you own and say /expand and the new chunck will be added to the size of your last one
stand in a chunk and say /own to see who owns the chunk
restone events will still work within chunks
players who have not been added to the chunk cannot place, destroy, or burn any block within the chunk

Admin abilities
Admins have the basic abilities to "kick" "ban" "server message" etc. as well as designate new cities using /warp set and /warp activator inside a owned chunk, once both of these are done the city is added to the list of cites and can be accessed by any player
Admins also have the ability to "freeze" blocks, meaning that they ignore the rules of physics in minecraft. And example that I plan to use is the "frozen powered rail" which is a powered rail (with power) that is floating over a chasm so that you need a minecart in order to cross.

Edit: As I was developing the warp plugin I decided that the activator does not need to be near the warp point. it does not even have to be in the same world in fact. You could have an activator in the nether that teleports you to a city in the middle of a void in the regular world

Unfortunate Spout

Spout seems to be having quite a few bugs with the server, causing crashes and severe server warnings. So for now we will not be using it, though it has so much potential. I do hope that the future of Minecraft will have something like this built in. Most of the mods we will have are going to be custom and each person's individual builds and cities are going to be able to be protected via an economy system (which can also be used to buy and sell blocks). The server should be up and running on the 21st after we get back on campus.
- Asher

New Software

I don't want to get too ahead of myself but this new stuff is awesome and I think you are all going to like it.

Except for Fred, he is banned.

I'll post more about it later
-Admin Asher