It's been a while since I've made a news post adressing the status of the server. Since I'm back in action, now seems like a good time!


Server updated to 1.7.10

The server has been updated today to Minecraft 1.7.10. This should eliminate the annoying block lag that some of you have been suffering from in the past few weeks, along with player skins being lost ("I'm Steve!") when you died or moved through portals. Some other bug fixes are included as well. Please let me know if any other issues show up.


1.8 is being released soon

Mojang currently plans to release version 1.8 on September 2. As usual, the server will take some time to be ready for an upgrade, so please stay with us on 1.7.10 in the meantime!

To do that, in the game's launcher, click the "Edit Profile" button then make sure that the "Use version" field is set to "release 1.7.10" (or any version between 1.7.6 and 1.7.10). Hit the save button, and you'll be good!


Bukkit troubles

Some of you have heard of troubles related to the Bukkit project, which is the base of the server software that we currently use. The current situation will leave us with a working 1.8 version, so the upcoming update will happen as usual. The path beyond that is currently unclear, but that's for me to worry about. Just keep on playing and having fun, and I'll ensure that things keep on working in the future!


Second server status

Still in the planning stages is a second server for the Creeper's Lab, in Survival mode (sorry, Creative fans!), using mods. While this has been taking more time than expected, several steps related to this have been taking in the past months, including the new website layout and some plugin updates. I don't want to rush the process, as I want to take the time to do it right. I've got several good ideas that I'm looking to implement. More details will be posted once things are set in stone!


More coming later

Always. :-) Thanks for playing with us!

The increased challenge of the Wither Ball got the best of our participants: no one survived the onslaught! As this was a last-man standing competition, we got the following winners:

First place: SerenityBlack
Second place: tranxalive
Third place: BossMasterLink

After everyone died, the doors were reopened and everyone got to rush in until all five withers were truly dead and gone. Regular Spider Dome activities then followed!

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this event a success, and of course to Skreelink for running it!

Carnage! Mayhem! Prizes! This all sounds good, right?

Skreelink has decided to ready up a sequel to last month's Wither Waltz. Once again, the basic goal is to enter a fight with multiple contestants and withers, and try to leave victorious. Higher challenge, more valuable prizes, and everyone who enters gets to keep something!

This will happen this Saturday, during Events Night. The doors will be locked at 10pm Eastern Time, so be sure to get to the Spider Dome beforehand. If too few participants show up, the event will be postponed. Here are the full details!

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Hello and welcome mortals!

You've been invited to a Wither's Ball... Now some of you were around during the waltz, now's the time for some real fun.

As you know, the Waltz involved everyone being locked in the Spider Dome with two withers, this event will be similar but with a couple of changed things, since it seemed to go a bit fast last time.

Rules:

1: Melee weapons will be provided, leave your smite swords at home, you have friends.
2: Armor will be provided, some players can't afford shiny Protection IV diamond armors.

The above two are to keep things even between players.

3: Personal bows ARE allowed, they'll only save you 'til the withers drop the floor anyway.
4: Potions ARE ALLOWED this time. You provide your own.
5: Please do not attempt to harm other players.
6: If you die, you cannot return to the arena, please head up to the observation deck.
7: No hiding in corners to let others die, jump in there and fight.
8: You must die, Cthulhu demands it.

Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Now lets talk about some prizes~

1st place: Same as last time, Nether star + iron for pyramid NEW? + diamond block
2nd place: A regular chest full of iron blocks
3rd place: 2 emerald blocks
Participation: Keeping provided special weapon and armor

Winner can decide on trading with second place if they desire the iron more.

This is run as a last-man-standing, and as such, if all the withers are killed with survivors, the Spider Dome will remained locked and regular insanity provided by DrCossack will ensue until everyone is murdered lovingly to dictate rank, no tying for second place this time!

Since there is a short notice for this event, although playes have been jittery since the first one for another, I'm sure word of mouth will get participants quickly!

HOWEVER! In the event that low participation happens, the event will be postponed to allow longer exposure in the news thread... but you guys want carnage now, don't you? So get out there and tell all your MC buddies about it and extend the special invitation to the Wither Ball!

19 players entered the botanical garden contest, 3 have come out with a victory and prizes! Our two judges, Anonymous_SoFar and Dr. Cossack, have visited the gardens and given a note from 0 to 10 to each entry based on how well the botanical garden theme was followed and the overall quality of the work. Without further wait...

THE RESULTS!

First place: MagicMarker101 - enchanted diamond sword for Wither kills
Second place: HimochiKouen and MediaKlepto - potions geared toward PvP + Dr. Cossack head
Third place: cmzangetsu93 - two enderchests!

The full list of entries, along with comments from the two judges, can be found on the results page! Some of you might notice that the scores averages tend to be lower this time around. Part of that is explained by the fact that the judges felt that many entries, while interesting, didn't fit very well with the botanical garden theme. Many would be more appropriate for a city park, most likely!


I'd like to thank everyone who entered! This was a first attempt at smaller scale contests, with smaller building lots and prizes, yet the community has jumped at the opportunity. With that much interest, you can look forward to more contests in the future!

The Creeper's Lab is available on various social networks. We're currently on
Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube. Those various channels are all used differently. Some keep the members aware of ongoing server news, others share screenshots and stories, while a few have a focus on recruiting new players by making them aware that we exist.

Another option to keep in touch is through our forums. The community uses it to share news, discus ongoing server changes, offer suggestions, ask questions, and more. It's also a casual place to talk about everything and nothing, even things unrelated to Minecraft.

To help me understand what you expect out of social media and the forums, I've put together a short, 10 questions survey. This will only take you a minute or two to answer, but will give me a better idea of what you want and how we can make the best possible use of each channel.

Take the survey now!

If you have additional points to make that aren't covered in the survey, you can either reply to this news post or contact me directly.

Thank you for answering!

The name Wither is enough to send a chill down the spine of many players, yet several brave warriors came in tonight to fight TWO of these at the same time! The team worked quickly, felling the two withers in a few short minutes and only had three casualties!

2FortToothKickin, DrCossack, HimochiKouen, iKatze, nikkehammerfist, starfyredragon and UnknownEntity634 all survived and won the second place prize: a diamond block! frogdreck1 managed to land the killing blow, earning the first place prize: a Nether Star and enough iron blocks for a fully powered beacon pyramid. Congrats, everyone!

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this event a success, and thanks to Skreelink for running it!