January 2025 Server Update Highlights

In mid-January 2025, we deployed several significant updates to the server. Here's a breakdown of what’s changed:

Gameplay tweaks

Cardboard boxes

The durability system has been removed - cardboard boxes are now unbreakable

Slingshots

The slingshot will now allow you to shoot any item you hold in your off-hand. It is no longer limited to pebbles or ender pearls. (Don't forget: you can throw ender pearls further with the slingshot than without it)

Custom Potions Nerfed

Blindness and Darkness effects now have significantly shorter durations.

Axe Dispensers

Use dispensers to strip logs or scrape waxed copper blocks automatically—just like shearing sheep!

Gunpowder block explosions

Players can now take damage from the gunpowder blocks they ignite—a behavior restored for earlier versions.

Additionally, we’ve resolved an unintended interaction between chained explosions and dropped items. Previously, when one gunpowder block exploded near others (triggering them after a 1-tick delay), subsequent blasts would inadvertently destroy items dropped by earlier explosions. While technically consistent with TNT mechanics—where each explosion affects nearby entities—the near-instantaneous chain reaction created confusion. Visually, all explosions appeared simultaneous, making the sudden disappearance of dropped loot feel like an unexpected bug rather than intentional design.

To address this clarity issue, we’ve decoupled sequential explosions’ effects on dropped items: items spawned during an initial detonation will no longer be harmed by overlapping secondary blasts . This ensures results align more intuitively with how players perceive real-time explosive chains while retaining internal logic for other mechanics.

Buying shop chests

Poppy Playwell—the chest selling lady—has finally made her way to the kiosk in the Shopping District. She can now seamlessly sell copies of your shop chests even if you own more than 9. Previously, exceeding this limit broke her interface.

Pedestal improvements

Pedestals now use item display entities instead of armor stands to showcase their contents, resulting in smoother rotations with reduced network strain. Updates now send 1 packet every 3 seconds instead of 3 per second.

Items previously rendered in armor stands’ head slots caused inconsistencies—some appeared oversized, misplaced, or skewed. All items now display uniformly with predictable positioning and scaling.

The unintended “floating-too-high” effect (where items hovered high above pedestals) has been implemented as an official feature:

• Place a half-block (e.g., a shop chest) atop the pedestal → The item renders slightly smaller and higher, mimicking the old floating behavior.
• Cover with a full block → The item lifts even higher, allowing you to hide the pedestal entirely while keeping its displayed item visible.

In a future update (1.21.4), items will also display at least 10 ticks before being allowed to be hoppered-out.

/fix item Command

Due to a prior bug, some cosmetic items granted by staff members contained inconsistent data. While these items appeared normal before recent updates, they may now display incorrectly. If you own one of these affected cosmetics, hold it in your hand and run /fix item to automatically repair its appearance.

🚀 Performance Mod System Overhaul

The most impactful update in this release was reworking how we optimize performance—no more third-party libraries! We’ve replaced them with blackblock-perf, an in-house solution built from carefully curated optimizations used elsewhere.

By integrating these tweaks directly into our codebase, we have full control over how the optimisations behave and are able to modify them where required. Here are some of those modifications:

🧵Dimensional Threading

In vanilla Minecraft, dimensions (Overworld, Nether, End) process game logic sequentially—one after the other. Now, these dimensions run tasks in parallel . Since dimensions operate independently, this multithreaded approach improves performance with minimal risk of conflicts.

🎚 Dynamic Optimizations

Some features now adapt to server load: higher stress = stronger optimizations . Inspired by ServerCore ’s logic for entity spawning, key adjustments include:

• Dynamic mob/entity spawn rates
• Reduced entity ticking (slows updates for clustered entities)
• Automatic scaling of chunk rendering/simulation distance

🧩 Entity Clustering

Entities in close proximity (e.g., a crowded cow pen) are grouped into “clusters.” Dense clusters receive fewer updates during high server load to reduce lag.

👤 Player Proximity Priority

Clusters near active players are exempt from reduced ticking—ensuring smooth interactions where gameplay matters most.

⛔ AFK Player Optimization

AFK players now strain the server less during high load: they load fewer chunks and trigger fewer entity updates. This reallocates resources to active players without needing to kick the AFK players!

⏫ Update to 1.21.4: Testing Phase

We’re nearly ready to launch our 1.21.4 update! After weeks of overhauling our codebase (as shared in the #webhooks and #"Upgrade to 1.21.4" channels), we’re now focused on squashing those final bugs—and we need your help!

🔍 Join the 1.21.4 Staging Server!

A mirror copy of the Gypsum Survival world is now live on the staging server, open to all players.
→ Test your farms, redstone builds, and custom item interactions.
→ Break things. Experiment freely!

💥 Found a Crash? Celebrate!

If you manage to crash the server… thank you ! It means you’ve uncovered a critical bug we can fix before rollout.

How to help : Simply log in to staging using a 1.21.4 client, play as usual, and report any oddities or crashes in #public-issues!