All servers have been upgraded to Minecraft 1.11.2 tonight. While 1.11.1 is also compatible, there are multiple reports of it being unstable, so it's highly recommended that you switch to the latest version!

Enjoy!

Now that Christmas is just behind us, 2017 is quickly approaching in just a few short days. What better way to put 2016 behind us than a New Years Eve raffle?

If there was one thing 2016 was actually good for (albeit sadly so) it was bans, and some of those ignorant cretins shining examples had some real treats stashed away! What could be waiting to divvy up? Could it be gold or diamonds? Armor, weapons, or tools? Or perhaps even the most precious of materials; COAL?! It could be any or all of that, or even more.

Entering your name into the drawing is simple:

Drop by any of the servers on the Creeper's Lab network (including Miranda) at any point between 12:00:00AM and 11:59:59PM EST Saturday, December 31st for your name to be included in the random selection of up to 10 winners. Depending on the number of participants the maximum number of chests may be reduced by up to half - after all, not everyone can be a winner! (I'm not that nice.)

Once everyone's names have been gathered up we'll announce the lucky few shortly after the ball drops here on the east coast USA, and will deliver the prizes accordingly. Those not online in the event of their name being drawn will have their chest marked and set aside for when they next login.

EDIT: As it's come to my attention that a few people may not be home and won't have access to their computers, the raffle drawing will extend to IRC participants as well. Feel free to pop into the chatroom for a chance to win!

Please be aware that entry is limited to only those with Player status or above. If you're not yet registered and are interested in doing so, you can find all the necessary information in this forum thread or by typing /register in-game.

Good luck to everyone, and happy holidays!

~ Media

Merry Christmas to all those on Creeper's Lab and the Netizens of Miranda.

On this joyous holiday I hope everyone is getting to spend time with their families and enjoying themselves. If you have the time to drop by, or you are alone this holiday, I've prepared a little something.

As my Christmas Present to you, for today only, the door to the Super C is OPEN. This means access without paying the regular iron ingot. Furthermore, I've placed a sign somewhere inside with a "Raffle Code" that you must find, then PM a screenshot of to me (Masterlink) on the forums.
Finding this code ensures you play on the world and are eligible. Finding and PMing this code puts you in a raffle for all the current collected iron and diamonds from the Super C. If you catch me in IRC, you may PM me a link to your entry there, just ensure not to put it in the public chat.
I will draw the name tomorrow and place your prize in a chest outside the Super C.

As an additional bonus, I've enabled Contractor's Evening for the day, so along with your free access to the upper portion of the Super C, you may get to stacking on your tall builds.

I hope this gives the players with some alone time a place to be together and get the mind working on things.

To everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, no matter which one you celebrate.


RESULTS: GingeKoda won the raffle, you may find your prize in a chest at the entrance of the Super C.
- Masterlink

One.one-one.one.

That's the new Minecraft version as released by Mojang some hours ago. This new version is not compatible with the base 1.11, and we're not ready to update yet, so please stay on 1.11 for now so you can play with us! Since this new update has some core changes that require plugins updates, and that many of us will be busy with the upcoming holidays, we won't be switching for a week at least.

The lobby alone has been updated tonight to be compatible with the newest version, so we'll be able to catch people using the wrong one and tell them how to switch back.

UPDATE: 1.11.2 fixes problems with 1.11.1 and is in the same situation. The lobby works for that as well.

I've enabled today the gamerule to limit the number of entities on the server, known as maxEntityCramming. This is a new setting introduced in 1.11, which I've set to a value of 50. This means that, within a small enclosure, any mobs over that limit will automatically suffocate and die. This is put into place to prevent runaway mob farms from piling up and lagging the server for everyone.

Note that this automatic check doesn't change anything on what we expect from you: all players still need to keep an eye on their mob farms and prevent them from piling up too much. Thank you for keeping everything running smoothly for all players!

It seems things have been a bit quiet and complacent lately.... So how about we spice it up a bit this Holiday season?

There's been a lot of new players, and there's a few things they need to learn... As such, this holiday month, I invite you to the renovated Spider Dome this Saturday (December 10th) at 10EST/9CST for a special surprise. Some of you should recognize this, to others, this will be a new and fun experience. I would suggest you come prepared for battle, but that's just my thoughts.

There might be some things to pass around, depending on how many players show up... So I suggest you all try to show up and bring some friends! Never know, it IS the holidays after all.

I thank MediaKlepto and HimochiKouen for their work on the Spider Dome and the current remodel (I encourage you to come see, it's pretty). I hope everyone will attend and enjoy themselves. To get to the Spider Dome, follow your nearest Time Gate or TARDIS to > PVP > Spider Dome.

And they're back for a fourth year!

For those who don't know, I'm sending for the holidays a real, custom Christmas card in the mail to whoever wants one, anywhere in the world. All you need to do is submit your name and full postal address, including country!

You have two ways to claim yours. Go to Laurasia and visit the holidays park in the Residential District (north from the Community Center). You'll find a giant mailbox in said park. Get a book from it, write your address, then submit it! Alternatively, if you're unable to come on the server, you can enter your mailing address on this special page tied to the forums.

I empty the list of addresses after each year, so be sure to submit your name and address again even if you did so in the past! I also have a limited quantity of cards left over from 2014 and 2015; please include a note if you'd like to receive one of these as a bonus. Note that you can only pick one additional card, not both. The 2016 edition is always included. All cards will be shipped later this month!

It's time for our next seasonal event. Your challenge, this time around, will be to build an ICE CASTLE!

GingeKoda sent the idea my way and prepared a building location with Coneva's help. She also took it upon herself to offer to make handmade gifts to our top three winners, so you'll want to enter this one for sure. This will last for the entire month of December plus the holidays period.

Take it away, Ginge!

---

SEASONAL CONTEST: ICE CASTLES

Kicks off 8pm EST December 1, 2016. Builds must be complete by 1159pm EST Jan 7, 2017.
While the intent is for your structure to represent a castle, you are not bound to a traditional definition; you are encouraged to be creative in defining your own "castle". The majority of the exterior structure must be ice and snow. Glass, Iron and Quartz may be used for decorative additions. The interior may be designed and decorated as the builder sees fit, however anything contained within that is not made from the prescribed material must NOT be visible from the outside. Additionally, as ice and snow hide many things, so too will your castle. Somewhere within your structure is hidden a secret... But not so hidden or so secret that the judges can't find it or don't acknowledge it as your secret.
To assist with this limited material challenge, select materials will be provided to the first three builders to arrive at the site, no earlier than 8 pm EST 1 Dec.
Because it's the holidays, and we are feeling generous, small gifts will be given throughout the contest to all builders, so stay active.
Entries will be judged on: use of prescribed material and creativity.
Top three winners will receive merit points, and a custom crafted replica of their MC mini as either a paperweight, keychain or note holder.
So travel to island Iscapades; can be found by taking the Northern rail from Nether Central to Lily Keep, then switch to rail "Coneva does testifiscience". Upon arrival topside, travel south down the frozen river and take a boat south to the island entrance, you will see it. Select an area within the walls (no larger than 25x25 please) mark it with your sign and GOOD LUCK.

If you are interested in judging, and not building, PM GingeKoda.

Dear Diary,

I thought that I would be safe after escaping from The Disaster. Unfortunately, there's no such luck in this wretched world of today.

Like many others, I barely made it out of Stone Ville. We immediately banded together as a group, no matter what our origins or stories were. We were alive, we needed to survive, and that was enough for us. We walked away, walked and walked... so much walking. I didn't know feet could endure this much. Still, we needed to get far, find something new.

The storm hit without warning. We had been forced to set camp in the middle of everlasting plains, far from the protection of any trees or mountains. It turned into such a mess. Winds with the strength of the Gods ripped through our poor fabrics, and the thunder was so loud and frequent that even shouting didn't allow us to communicate. And the lightning, the lightning... Poor Bob, he never had a chance. He was the first to be stricken, before we could realize what was happening.

Chaos engulfed us, primitive instincts guiding us. Everyone took off running, grabbing whatever limited supplies they could. When the skies finally cleared, after what felt like eons, I realized that I was alone. Alone. I must have gotten confused and ran the wrong way. Some of the elders of our group knew of a location called... I don't remember now. It doesn't matter. It was Blood-something. It apparently had safe walls to protect us, to rebuild. This was lost to me, though. So I resumed walking. So much walking. My feet couldn't even hurt anymore.

At last, I found something. A tremendous place, filled with wonders! Was I dreaming? No, I couldn't be. This was it - safety! I reached it at sunset, looking forward to meet its inhabitants, find shelter, get some rest, be reborn! ... If only I had known... I could have avoided this cursed place. For, as the sun set, I realized something with horror: there were no lights. This marvel was getting absolutely, terribly dark, a mirror of how my mind was clouding after that brief feeling of relief. Something had happened here too. I need to find out what it is.

But, wait. What is this noise? Is there anybody there?

Oh no. NO.

They're coming!

They're coming...

...

---

UHC round 4 is live! Best of luck to everyone involved!

I wanted to set up specific rewards in Merit Points for completing specific objectives, like managing to kill other players, but some last minute thoughts make this impractical for now. I'm hoping to be able to flesh that out by next month.

On a related note, an update to the Merit Points system should be published sometime in the coming month. Stay tuned... and good luck!

Achievements fixes

Some of the achievements weren't working quite right when they were added. Some were identified and fixed quickly, while others took a bit longer. As of tonight, I've reviewed the list and can say that all of them should be running as expected. I had to change three of them to trigger properly; they now read as follows.

Wings!: Find an elytra
Cart Snob: Ride 2 kilometers on a horse
Cart Hater: Ride 50 kilometers on a horse

If you had already scored any of these, you still have them. For anyone else, if you already met the base conditions, you'll automatically score them soon after you connect to any server.


Resource pack updated

The resource packs and addons have been updated for Minecraft 1.11. They contain nothing new, the only change was to remove the warning about incompatible packs. As such, you can redownload them to get rid of the warning, or just carry on with your day.


Forums are back online!

Many of you noticed last week that the forums had been taken offline for several days. This was done to make sure that no messages would be lost during a server transition. This wrapped up last Sunday, and the forums are now back to normal!