xSMP - Semi-Vanilla SMP (Java x Bedrock Crossplay)

Full description of xSMP - Semi-Vanilla SMP (Java x Bedrock Crossplay)

xSMP's premise is quite simple: a survival server with some additional features to make the game less of a chore, but also not completely overloaded with plugins that needlessly complicate things.


The birth of xSMP began with a simple search for me: a semi-vanilla SMP server. Seems like a pretty simple thing, right? Nah, wrong. Throughout my search I learned there are two ends of the SMP spectrum:
1. Servers that are running pure vanilla Minecraft (no Paper/Spigot/Bukkit) which I personally find to be egregiously boring, though this is no knock on people who do enjoy pure vanilla. It's just a super niche server type that caters to a specific breed of Minecraft player.
2. Servers that have so many plugins and features that joining the server is an overwhelming experience, and trying to figure everything out feels like a daunting task, like a chore. I wouldn't mind it so much if it made sense, but man I'm just trying to play survival, I don't want to complete pointless RPG-like quests and be constantly enticed with OP pay2win kits & ranks from the server announcements.

Unfortunately, there really weren't too many servers in the middle of that spectrum, and the ones I did find I actually enjoyed, but the issue was there was nobody online to play with. I might as well have been playing singleplayer. As a former server administrator, co-owner, developer, and operator, one thing I've learned over the years is that if you want a successful server, you need to appeal to as many people as you possibly can. You don't do that by configuring some plugins, throwing a server up and calling it a day. You don't do that by running a simple vanilla server as that is a niche market, or by running an SMP full of complicated MMORPG elements that almost no one will understand with a pay-to-win webstore. No, you do it by being actively involved with your community. Gathering feedback from your players, listening to their wants and suggestions, and truly taking them into consideration when moving forward with your server's development.

This is when I decided to create xSMP: my slam-dunk homerun attempt at creating a survival server that slots right into a middle-ground and appeals to as many players as possible, with just enough plugins to keep things interesting without becoming overbearing. As my main goal was to appeal to as many players as I could, I made xSMP cross-compatible with Java and Bedrock Edition, so just about anybody can play as long as they're playing on a platform that allows you to connect to independently-run servers (looking at you Sony & Nintendo). As a result, at the time of writing this the server has been online for less than 100 hours and we have:

- crossed 50 lifetime players joined
- regularly see 6-12 people online during the daytime EST.
- amassed $40 in donations, enough to keep the server online for the next 4 months.

Clearly, this formula has already started to work, and I believe this is only the beginning.

xSMP uses a grand total of 25 plugins at this point, most of them being small plugins with singular purposes, a decent chunk of which I wrote myself. As a summary players can turn on KeepInventory for themselves, set homes, request to teleport to other players, claim land as their own to protect it from griefing (completely customizable), sell items in the Auction House, pay other players, /deposit their gold ingots into money, /withdraw their money back into gold ingots, and that's basically it. Everything else is just basic survival, no fancy gimmicks, no mcMMO, no crazy RPG-esque quests, just a survival server with elements that make the game easier.

xSMP will always run on the latest version of Minecraft as soon as possible; since there are not many plugins on the server there are things less likely to break when a new update drops. This means xSMP has a unique ability to adopt newer versions of Minecraft much sooner than other servers, and trust me when I say I will definitely take advantage of that every time a new version of Minecraft becomes available.

Our rules basically boil down to these two things: don't hack/cheat, and don't be a jerk to others. As our community grows, I've noticed that overall most of the players are just chill people trying to play survival. Many are running solo dolo, others are playing survival together in groups and making massive bases to leave their mark on xSMP's map. This was exactly the vision I had when creating this server, and if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, come check us out!