Minecraft Setting Idea - The World

The World is the oldest Minecraft server in existence, having been created right after multiplayer was released and running continuously since then. It is populated by every single Minecraft player.

================================================== The Map ==================================================

The World’s maps are closely tied to its history thanks to the evolution of world generation throughout the Minecraft versions it went through. Blurs happen in many locations, however, as players imported new features from the outer realms to their home, located in the older chunks.

-=o=- The Overworld -=o=-

Although complicated by various factors, the World’s Overworld is very generally onion-shaped, with chunks generated with the earliest world generation systems near the center of the world, and those generated with newer systems further out. In reality, the explored area is highly jagged, with furthest points being the end of slowly-extending trails few chunks wide, some locating several hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the center of the world, and few nether dwellers have managed to travel far beyond that; the fastest travelers can travel up to 3 million kilometers in Overworld distance. Most players remained relatively close to the center, and most large towns are located within 1,000 kilometers of the center of the world.
Changes in world generation cause seams to occur in the world as newer chunks do not take the older chunks into account. The result is a sudden transition that may cut surface features in half, creating both hazards, such as cliffs, and opportunities, such as exposed and highly visible ores.

The area surrounding the very center (0,0) are chunks generated since the Alpha period, commonly just referred to as Alpha. The area has few biomes, although some of these biomes, such as rain forests and seasonal forests, have been removed since Alpha and cannot be found naturally in the newer chunks. The game’s first towns, established soon after the creation of the server, are situated here, as well as newer towns. Today, most of these towns remained small towns, best known for their museums and authentic Alpha environment, hence their popularity among the oldest players. A single exception is Icaria, which experienced a massive surge in popularity among the earliest players and grew into Alpha’s major hub town, although nowhere as large as the newer towns located further out. Much of the area has been extensively tunneled and nearly devoid of minerals, hence a very low population of miners.

Past roughly the first ten kilometers is Beta. The world remains somewhat similar to Alpha until the edge, where the biomes were reworked, creating some of the more familiar-looking biomes. Unlike Alpha, however, Beta’s underground is less extensively extracted. There are more big towns in Beta, with some of the first truly large cities, historically or presently, such as Moog. Many cities here are linked to each other and to Alpha towns by railway systems, although the first elements of the Nether Highways, a new, faster mode of transportation, were also built during this period. Again, many of the cities here are now historical reserves, although they boast a larger original population than Alpha, many of whom preserved their original way of life. Hence, Beta cities are regarded by the community as living museums, unlike Alpha cultures, which have mostly died out and replaced with either Beta cultures or modern cultures.

Some of the largest cities in the World were built in Release, vast swathes of land beyond the first few dozens of kilometers, during Minecraft’s golden age, spanning roughly from 1.2 to 1.8. Many features were added into the game during this period, opening new options for the players. By this time, the Nether Highways (consisting of the old rail networks and newer parallel routes, such as the even faster Nether Iceways) have been extensively developed, and have come to dominate transportation within the World. As a result, virtually all cities in Release have at least one portal connecting them to the Nether Highways, either as the portal which the settlers used to travel to the city’s site in the first place or as an addition to the network built after the town. With a large influx of new players and the new strong mobs, many settlements in Release saw waves of chaos unfolding over their history, and many wars had erupted between settlements, both within Release itself and with the Beta cities. Combined with the sheer distance, this means more abandoned cities can be found here than in other regions. Non-player villages can also be found here. They are often either converted into player bases or towns or looted and destroyed by passing griefers.

One update that prominently changed the world was 1.7, which overhauled the world generation systems and added many new biomes and features. The news sent a massive amount of plucky players towards the edge of the world in search of fortune or just to see the new features. Many established outposts, which may either be abandoned later as the expansion front moves past them or eventually grow into towns and cities. A similar effect can be observed again in newer updates, such as 1.13, although none were as big as the 1.7 expansion due to the decline in the active player base that followed 1.8. Past this point, boring updates and the number of conflicts caused many players to become tired of the game and simply settled down in one of the settlements or retreat into the wilds. This caused a decline in the quantity of the ‘streaks’ of newly explored trails. This was the Dark Ages, the period when most cities have low activity beyond the usual daily life. Recently, however, the World is experiencing a renaissance as players became more active. Once again the map expands as players rushed to grab new features beyond the existing chunks, and new towns with unique personalities rose.

-=o=- The Nether -=o=-

Traditionally, the Nether served as both a place to gather resources and home to the Nether Highways, although a fair share of players made their home in this hellish realm. In addition to player-built settlements, many Nether fortresses have also been converted into towns, where players can farm blazes for blaze rods. All known farms are public as private farms are banned in the aftermath of the Blaze Hogging Incident (although rumors say secret private farms still exist). Like the Overworld, the Nether went through several updates that caused seams to occur, but in the Nether’s case, the changes are often more dramatic due to the geography and lava embedded within the netherrack masses.

Extending from the center of the world towards all cardinal directions and branching off into each Overworld settlement are the Nether Highways, the World’s single most extensive transportation system. On average, roughly a hundred thousand players are estimated to be in transit at any one point in time. The importance and expansive nature of this structure mean it would be teeming with pirates, thugs, and griefers, if not for several groups that acted as maintainers of the Nether Highways. These are often nonprofit organizations that hired volunteers to keep the routes safe. Apart from a few unfortunate incidents, the presence of these guardians is well-received by the cities of the Overworld, and in exchange for their service, these volunteers often receive thanks, discounts, or even free resources on their time off.

The announcement of the Nether update, which is poised to bring extensive changes to the dimension, including the addition of Netherite, which can be used to upgrade diamond tools, excited many people. Already, activity in the Nether has been picking up, although most are reluctant to venture beyond the explored trails. The usefulness of golden armor when dealing with the upcoming piglins also served to slightly raise the value of gold in the market as well.

-=o=- The End -=o=-

The End is accessible via an End Portal located in 1.0’s first settlement, now simply known as the Adventure Town, which was founded to celebrate Minecraft’s official release. The first Ender Dragon was killed shortly after the introduction of the End. Hence, the End Gateway does not exist. The Dragon Egg, despite the best effort by all parties’ effort to preserve in Adventure Town’s museum, has been stolen over and over again. The current whereabouts of the egg are unknown, and the search is still on.

The main island has been strip-mined and then subsequently converted into an extensive city referred to by its inhabitants as the Main City, with the End Portal placed at its heart. The obsidian towers were converted into watchtowers and lighthouses, and later apartments and hotels. Due to the non-renewable status of the End Stone, the material had turned into a sort of status symbol over time due to hogging and gradual loss of the material into the void below, either accidentally or worse, intentionally. Over time this caused the End Stone’s price to skyrocket. The introduction of the outer islands in 1.9 caused the End Stone market to crash. Players expanded their already extensive Main City towards the newly generated islands and gaining access to new resources. Currently, the End has dozens of human cities, towns, settlements, and outposts, as well as a number of enderman and chorus tree farms. Elytras and dragon heads replaced End Stone as rare commodities.