I did take a look at server logs a few weeks ago and was
very surprised to see that played did, indeed, connect since January. My previous server activity criterion, however, was already triggered by an absolute lack of players for at least 30 straight days before the new year, so I was debating scaling back and shutting it down. But it doesn't seem like it's ready to do so.
So here is the first part of news - I
did roughly install 1.8 fully on the server, so its new additions can be utilised too!
However. we have had to switch from Essentials (which has had no dev builds of any kind since September) to CommandBook as the primary command plugin. Among this and other changes, the following issues are already noted:
All warps and home locations are removed. I went and re-enabled world ones and Hakutown, but that is about it thus far. Working build found!Logblock is having issues due to a server switch (will resolve that with host later) Issue fixed, but logs are completely wiped until now.Some commands are different between Essentials and Craftbook (eg. /warps list), and there are new commands too. Back to Essentials.- No new AdvWorlds yet.
- The 1.1 worlds have mysteriously disappeared! I don't have a backup on my end either, so maybe it's lost to the ages....
Second piece of information - due to the previous criterion being matched (and with the assistance of the plugin switch),
I am deciding to move on to a new set of worlds and start anew at the end of the month. Now, I know, the whole new world system was meant to address such concerns and encourage activity, but I am highly of the opinion we should restructure this further to better entice new activity. I won't abandon them
entirely though - all worlds will be backed up and shared, the Creative ones and the museum are likely to exist as-is, and schematic imports for certain projects are in consideration.
Several other things I have noted these past few days:
- The alternate stone and sandstone double slab recipes are unusable; blame Mojang for disallowing double slabs to be held as items. They can still be on the world map, however; if you want to use those, build with normal stone/sandstone double slabs then ask me to change them over.
- Fireproof wood slabs no longer have an item texture, so you get a giant purple-black chequerboard block when you hold them. The crafting recipe and world placement remain fine.
- Player protections do not always obey name changes, especially if they were made pre-1.7.5. Solution would be to change name back or to ask me to modify said permissions.
- Spawns are per-world now, but I think that is easy to change.
- Minecarts despawn immediately upon dismount - maybe something is overly sensitive?
- I've investigated the possibility of personal mini-worlds with the impending refresh, whose rules and generation could be customised to some degree. If limited at 256x256 blocks (for a size comparison, that would cover much of inner Hakutown), I think it's a very manageable proposition when it comes to HDD space; however, RAM utilisation is the biggest issue given our paltry setup.