Monthly Archives: January 2013

Skyblock protections and bugfixes

First one’s easy… Iron Golems are now added to the Animal Protection plugin. This means only players that are members on the same island as you can kill them.

Second one’s been in Bukkit for a while, and seems it got worse with the 1.4.6 update. It’s the bug that makes you fall through your island randomly, especially when getting out of MobArena.

So I’ve finally found a way and written a plugin that will solve this bug. Let me know on the forums if falling through your skyblock still happens.

Last but not least, wheat growth seemed a bit on the slow side. Increased it a bit, so now it should grow about twice as fast as it used to. I’ll still keep an eye on this, and if it seems too fast it will be toned down a notch.

PVP disabled in unprotected areas

We said many times that PVP was not allowed anywhere except in PVP arenas like FFA. We’ve had it all the time in the /rules, but seems people need them enforced. So, rather than start issuing bans for this thought we’d do it differently.

Now PVP is disabled on all areas, including those that are not part of an active island. Yes, you can no longer be shot at, or stabbed at, while doing the skyblock scavenger hunt.

You can still die though in many ways, so you shouldn’t carry with you anything you can’t afford to lose. Stay safe, play hard!

Skyblock World Protector

As you read in another post on Skyblock Scavenger Hunt, we’ve recently introduced Dragon Eggs and Beacons in the game world. Since both of them are very expensive items, a new type of protection has just been added. Just like we did with Animal Protect, meet World Protector…

Say you have just bought a Beacon from The Scavenger at spawn. You place it down somewhere on your island. The beacon remembers who placed it down so only you can remove it. Even if you have other players added to the same island, they cannot remove it.

In addition to Beacons, the following expensive items also remember who placed them and only that person can mine them back: Diamond Blocks, Gold Blocks, Iron Blocks and Dragon Eggs.

So, in a nutshell, only the person that places a block of the above types anywhere can remove it, not even players from the same island can.

Keep reading, there’s more great news…

Dragon Eggs used to teleport away when a player interacted with them in any way, except using a Silk touch pickaxe. This functionality is in-game, and even in single player. However, it appears that not all players were aware they used to teleport away and an egg or two has been lost.

The World Protector now prevents Dragon Eggs from teleporting away.

Since only the owner of those blocks can remove them – so nobody can steal them – and since they’re very expensive (in terms of in-game virtual currency) we will not be giving replacements under any conditions for the following blocks: Beacons, Diamond Blocks, Gold Blocks, Iron Blocks or Dragon Eggs.

Do not keep these items in your inventory, do not place them in chests where anyone else but you have access to. So put them in an Enderchest, or in a Lockette protected chest on your name only.

Since existing blocks of the above types that have already been placed don’t know who placed them, they can only be removed by heatseeker0. If you want to move your already placed beacon, let me know and I’ll help.

To sum up: these expensive items are protected by World Protector when placed, and you should put them in an Enderchest if you don’t want to place them as blocks. We will not replace these items under any conditions!

We care about you, and aim to give you a safe play experience no other Minecraft Server has. Enjoy 🙂

Skyblock Scavenger Hunt

Many changes over the past week. Instead of making many smaller posts about each one, I’ll try to sum them up below. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage (tea or non-alcoholic if you’re a minor!) and let’s get started.

First a small but convenient update: if you’re a skyblock island owner, you can now change your /island home as you see fit. As long as it’s on your own island (this is both a rule, and enforced in the plugin). To set your new home do /island sethome. The new home is smarter and better. It will remember your exact position and the way you looked when you did sethome.

You’ve cried about them, we didn’t like it. And you were right! Doing /island delete or /island clear no longer deletes your inventory. The 4 hour cooldown between doing these still remains for now.

Other big changes in the skyblock plugin will come over the next week or so. Until then, keep reading…

Animal Protection Updates

  • Crafty as always, you’ve figured you can fish poor hapless sheep and other livestock out from their pens. Not anymore. Fishing anything else than fishes in a pool of water will not do anything now.
  • Throwing eggs at a cow? Ever tried that in real life? I wouldn’t if I were you… and now the cows and other animal in-game don’t have to bath 4 times a day to get rid of yolk because of you. Eggs are now harmless to all animals.

Final 1.4.7 Update Push

With about 12 plugins updated, brought up to date or otherwise sped up, this was  a big one. The result? Enchanted books, all new enchantments and fireworks can now be made in game.

Player Ran Shops

You’ve asked for it, we promised a while ago and now’s time to deliver. Player made and ran shops have showed up on skyblock. With tens of shops already running and making their owners small fortunes – or losing them one due to poor pricing or planning – there’s a whole new dimension of the game to explore.

Some enjoy learning on their own, some others would like to be shown how to start. Expect a tutorial post on player shops in a day or two.

Saving the best for last… the big one: Skyblock Scavenger Hunt

There are over 12000 (yup, you read that right, 12 thousand!) unprotected islands out there, up for grabs. It’s up to you to build bridges, fly, enderpearl or ask a friend for a teleport and start gathering up resources.

All of them are basic starter islands, many filled with lava or other hazards. So don’t expect to find diamonds in there, but there’s a chance you can grab a bucket or two from a long forgotten chest. And most important of them all: dirt.

I’d start collecting dirt sooner than later if I were you. With 12K islands there’s plenty for everyone to pick, but dirt will soon be used for something else too. And I bet you’re going to want it! A lot of it!

Check out /spawn for a new villager soon.

Happy hunting! 🙂

More MobArena changes

After bravely spitting gallons of water in many heroic battles, the squid in the Pyramid arena got tired of it all! With the money earned he bought himself a nice quiet pool of water and is now catching tan on a remote, secluded skyblock island.

The position didn’t stay open for long though. Battle in the Pyramid arena, survive if you can, and you soon should discover a vicious, venomous foe.

Did you enjoy the near constant thunder coming from all 3 arenas? You’ll have to find it elsewhere because it got removed. The lightning ability, after constantly annoying players for one too many months, got replaced by other boss abilities.

The cow and ghast got together, ate some lily pads and after chatting for a while became smarter. Seeing as the fireballs they threw did more damage to them than to players they figured it’s best they use something else.

Fight in the arenas to discover all the changes.

Skyblock fixes and enhancements #3

Holidays have passed, and now it’s time to get busy again with a big round of bugfixes and enhancements.

MobArena has been receiving the most attention in this update:

  • Skeletons have found their bows, and are now firing arrows as they were always supposed to. In addition, there’s a chance their bows are enchanted and fire more powerful blows (knockback and fire arrows are two of the possible enchantments).
  • After much searching in the Nether, zombie pigmen stumbled upon a long forgotten stash of golden swords and decided to take them to battle. Since they found their weapons they’re more ballsy and immediately attack any players that are nearby.
  • Tired of waiting for that person that’s always AFK? “Hit the damn iron block” sounds familiar? Well, we’ve listened and now each arena battle starts automatically – if there’s at least 1 person ready – 60 seconds after the first person joins that arena.
  • Want to fight in the arena, but don’t fell like spectating to see when the battle’s over? Each arena announces when it is open, and you can join. Watch for messages like this one in chat:

If you’ve been used to farming the outer walls of the Pyramid Mob Arena, or teleported players there to take advantage of the PVP free zone to kill them, this has changed. That area is now protected and PVP is disabled in the entire Pyramid zone.

Several plugins have been optimized for speed, or otherwise modified to get them ready for the upcoming fireworks and enchanted books update. Soon(tm).