Sterlcraft » Starters Guide

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Sterlcraft is a somewhat basic Bukkit-type server, but those who are accustomed to vanilla Minecraft might not understand how to use many of the features available, or what features are available. Following is a simple guide which should help new players get the hang of the server in a jiffy.

Before anything else, though, read the rules.

This guide is a work-in-progress!

First time?

Upon first joining Sterlcraft, you’ll receive a “starter kit” consisting of a set of iron tools, some food and basic building materials. Your economy balance starts off with Σ1500, which should enable you to buy some basic things from the shops in town (easily located by selecting “Shops” on the server Dynmap).

Player-versus-player (PVP) combat and hostile monsters are enabled from the get-go. Only the Spawn building itself is immune to hostile mobs; once you exit, you’re on your own! If you’re unfamiliar with Survival mode and/or the combat system, you can skim through the combat tutorial and crafting recipes on the Minecraft Wiki.

You can gather crops and/or animals at the public farm (coords. -160, 210) to sate your hunger. However, for each animal you slaughter or take, you should breed the same animal enough times to compensate for what you’ve taken. Similarly, when reaping crops, plant the corresponding seed or root to compensate.

If you need somewhere to sleep and set up camp while you gather supplies to build your home, you can simply use the beds located in the basement level of the Spawn building. Alternatively (and preferably), there’s a hotel north-west of Spawn (coords. -235, 160). Each room contains a bed, chest and furnace. To use the elevator within the building, right-click on the signs that say “Lift Up” or “Lift Down” to go up and down, respectively.

Getting around

Horses don’t usually roam around spruce forests, so you might have to go to the plains to acquire and tame one. Saddles are usually difficult to come by, but on Sterlcraft you can craft one yourself! Using a horse will enable quicker traversion of the server’s extensive network of gravel roads (visible on the server Dynmap).

Though not as extensive as the road network, the rail system (also visible on Dynmap) can help get you across long distances. Stations are intermittent, so travelling from point A to point B can involve anywhere between no and ten rail changes! Also, beware of rails when not using them; getting hit by a moving Minecart launches you quite a ways away and can kill if you’re low enough on health.

If you prefer to travel on water—or if you wish to go past the main continent on which you spawned—perhaps boats would be more useful. There are docks and canals spotted throughout the server, even more extensive then the roads. Marked waterways are depicted on the Dynmap as well.

There is also a set of separate Nether highways set up by players to get to unwieldly large coordinates, i.e. the one to WaterPanda’s bamboo jungle. Most junction at the base accessible through the portal in Spawn (right beside the spawn building).

Teleportation

When you inevitably die for the first time, don’t be alarmed. Type /back to teleport back to the place you died and gather your items and some of your experience. Be careful, though; if you died in a lava pit or at the bottom of the ocean, you’ll just get scorched or suffocated again!

Teleportation functionality similar to /back can also get you to Spawn, your dwellings and (in the future) some other hotspots. You can mark up to three homes using /sethome home_name, and travel to any of those spots at any time using /home home_name.

Building

As stated in the rules, you shouldn’t build right near the Spawn town unless you’re competent and well-dressed. However, anywhere else is completely free game! An extensive network of roads, railways and waterways is available with which you can explore uninhabited areas. If you’re looking for a specific biome, check out the Biome map on the Dynmap; beware that it might just take a while to find what you want!

Griefing and protection

As the server logs block interactions (and can easily roll back changes), a grief prevention plugin isn’t installed. In other words, you can’t prevent someone from desecrating your build, but you can get it restored exactly as it was if it does end up desecrated. In previous incarnations of Sterlcraft, prevention plugins caused more trouble than good: false positives popped up all the time; players claimed more than was necessary; and the programs themselves were buggy and resource-intensive. What to take away from this convoluted paragraph: your items and builds are safe, though in a different way than other servers.

Contrary to what was just said: you can prevent unauthorised players from entering your house and/or taking your stuff. Simply type /cprivate, right-click a chest, door, furnace &c., and LWC will do the rest. This—as opposed to a full grief protection system—helps prevent opportunistic theft, making players who want to grief put in a lot more work than would be otherwise.

Cheats and Creative mode

Upon joining the server, you’ll be in the ~Newcomer rank. This comes with limited abilities, however; you can only play in basic Survival mode with a restricted set of blocks. Once you’re found to be trustworthy by the staff and community, you can advance to the ~Member rank. This allows you to toggle flight with /fly, use lava and fire, and even /feed or /heal yourself.

Further up on the ladder is the ~Artist rank, awarded to those who show significant abilities in overall playing. This opens up accessing “secret blocks”, WorldEdit and other useful tools to streamline building. Politely ask a staff member and you might just get it!

Interacting with other players

While you can play lone-wolf and isolate yourself from other players, it’s more fun to play together! Sterlcraft implements some commonplace features to streamline and simplify the multiplayer aspect of Minecraft.

The economy

Sterlcraft implements the simple, currency-based Essentials economy. To pay another player for items or service, use /pay player. To check your balance, use /bal. And to see what an item might be worth, you can use /worth. That’s all that’s to it.

If you wish to automate the selling and/or buying of goods, however, you can set up a ChestShop. All it takes is a sign and a chest! There’s a small market square in the center of town (southwest of the Spawn building) where you can set up a couple chests if you’d prefer; or, if you want to go full-on and sell lots of things, feel free to erect your own store!

Banks and “ATMs” are dotted throughout the server so that you can exchange emeralds for currency and vice versa, integrating the Villager economy with the server’s.

Player-to-player teleportation

In addition to teleporting to major places on the server, you can also teleport to another player as well as request they teleport to you. Simply type /tpa player_name to request to teleport to them, or /tpahere player_name vice versa. Do note, however, this requires the ~Member rank!