Magazine compiled and edited by Wraithzeon for Sphere News.
Articles by Wraithzeon, Bluekwyrm and jynxxin.
Cover by LeontineLacrima.
Sphere News is part of WraithStation.

This Month's Articles

Introducing Jinglecrafters

by Wraithzeon

Jinglecrafters is a collaborative fundraising project to raise money for Jingle Jam 2024. The Jinglecrafters campaign is organised by Minecraft event studio WraithStation, and features a number of events, servers, streams, content creators and press from around the Minecraft community.

What is Jingle Jam?

Jingle Jam is a charity campaign originally founded by the Yogscast, and now featuring fundraising efforts from hundreds of creators from around the globe. Funds are split between eight charities: War Child, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Autistica, Cool Earth, Sarcoma UK, The Trevor Project, Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). You can find out more about these charities here.

Anyone who donates £35+ to Jingle Jam during the campaign will receive the Jingle Jam Games Collection – a bundle including big titles such as Two Point Campus, as well as some rewards on Noxcrew-ran Minecraft server MCC Island (more info on that in our article here). The full list of games in the Collection will be announced on 1st December.

What events are on for content creators?

There are seven events designed for content creators to take part in throughout the two weeks of the campaign. This includes a mixture of custom minigame tournaments, as well as some more niche events.Chrunchy Christmas, ran by CrunchMunch Creations and partnered with WraithStation, will be returning to the event scene for its second year. In this tournament, creators play as elves, trying to prove themselves to Santa through various minigames, so that they're chosen to help him deliver presents.

The other minigame events are all ones that run more regularly – including Biome Battle, which has seen a lot of success within the event space despite only having debuted at the end of August. In this tournament, every minigame is affected by the seasons, with modifiers that dramatically change up how each game is played.Other events viewers can look forward to are JCGN NOVUS (a social minigame tournament using proximity chat), Creator Carnage, (an event which includes a wide variety of minigames, from PvP and parkour to PvE and building) and the Klyx Games (which we've written an article about here).For event partners that are more niche, IBRI is an ice boat racing event that will be hosting a new and unique wintery track for this event. The Quiz LIVE, a regular WraithStation partner, will also be taking part in the campaign. This is a live studio gameshow in which three creators go head-to-head in various games of Minecraft trivia.

What activities can the community play?

The fun’s not just being left for the creators – there’s also plenty for the community to get involved with. The Jinglecraft SMP is a public SMP featuring multiple survival seeds, shops, upgradable stats, and challenges to complete, and will be open for both weeks of the campaign. It will also include some limited-time events, such as an ender dragon fight and hide & seek. You can read more about it in our article here.Minuvix SMP, a lore-based modded fantasy RPG server that we’ve covered in a previous issue of Sphere News magazine, will be hosting a festival. The SMP is open to all, with tickets able to be earned through Twitch channel points – though as it will take a few hours of view time to accrue enough channel points, it’s best to not leave getting a ticket to the last minute.In addition to these SMPs, there is also an elytra challenge taking place on public server Minearchy. You can read more about it in our article here.

Which press sources are partnering with Jinglecrafters?

You're on one of them! Sphere News is a Jinglecrafters partner, with this issue of the magazine being a Jinglecrafters special to highlight the campaign and some of the wonderful partners involved.The other press partner for Jinglecrafters is InsideMC. This studio creates podcasts and videos about the latest Minecraft topics, interviewing your favourite creators, and casting tournaments. InsideMC will be releasing a Jingle Jam podcast on 1st December.

Who are the content creator partners?

Jinglecrafters is also partnering with a group of twelve streamers / YouTubers to bring additional streamed content throughout the campaign. You may spot these creators taking part in the creator events, on the Jinglecraft SMP, or playing in other community activities.The creators come from lots of different parts of the Minecraft community, covering different aspects of Minecraft in their usual content – whilst some are event specialists, others focus on SMPs, public servers, or hardcore gameplay.The twelve content partners are Bubblebrooke, Kelawesome, Scuffed_Sushi, JustDashYT, Megiibyte, LynxyLiam, zombreyy, Galaxushii, ItzIgglesPiggles, WithMayX, thisislexy, and Legundo.

You can find out more about Jinglecrafters and how to get involved, on the dedicated Jinglecrafters website, in the Jinglecrafters community Discord, or on WraithStation's X and Bluesky.

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• What's On In December?

A Festive Update for MCC Island

by Wraithzeon

The MCCI Winter Update is coming, with brand new and returning wintery maps and variants coming to Battle Box, Dynaball, Hole In The Wall and TGTTOS. Sky Battle is also seeing some loot changes, and some extra settings and commands are being added to private lobbies. The update isn’t the only thing to get excited for, because Jingle Jam brings an opportunity for players to get their hands on some extra in-game goodies as a charity donation reward. Let’s get into all the details…

Battle Box

Battle Box’s new “Ice Fishing” map will bring a completely new ranged combat to Battle Box – fishing rods! With no bows, players can use their fishing rods to try and pull enemies into danger – or use “levitation orbs” to lift their target, then pull them to their death once the effect ends.

“Santa’s Slay”, a seasonal Battle Box map seen on the Island in 2022 and 2023, will also be making its return. This map is focused on elevation, with three levels – the surface, middle layer, and the bottom pit – all focused around a sleigh centrepiece.

Dynaball

Dynaball will be seeing not one but TWO new maps with this update. The first is a map with small platforms and slippery surfaces – making navigating this world of frozen trees no easy task. Sparkling blocks on the trees will give players levitation when destroyed.

Whilst this first map ramps up the difficulty, the second map – a mini ski slalom course – offers plenty of room for players to manoeuvre, with the steep thick slopes making aiming and throwing TNT much easier.

The “Presents” and “Sled” maps from 2023 will also be making their returns.

Hole In The Wall

Hole In The Wall will be seeing a brand new “Iced Palace” map variant – because of course, a slippery floor is just what you want when you’re trying to dodge walls! The extra challenge of the ice makes this map one for the Hole In The Wall pros.Last year’s “Winter Beach,” a holiday variant of the standard “Beach” map, will be returning as well.

TGTTOS (To Get To The Other Side)

Seasonal TGTTOS map variants “Polar Passing” and “Santa’s Train” were first seen in MC Championship #28 in 2022, then joined the Island in 2023. Both maps will be returning to the Island for the 2024 season.

Sky Battle

Sky Battle will be seeing a temporary change to the loot pool for the duration of the winter event. Creeper eggs will be replaced with snow golem eggs, with the chance for them to be found doubled. Whilst snowballs thrown by a player do not cause any damage, snow golem snowballs are continuously fired and deal one heart of damage each. Players will start the game with eight snowballs for themselves, and have double the normal chance to find more snowballs in loot.

Plobby Updates

Plobbies (or private lobbies) are receiving a whole host of changes – with some just for the holiday season, and others as longer-term additions.Across all games, plobby hosts will be able to access three festive settings. “Fish Mode” adds more fish – and breaks things that are not fish. “Hailstorm” makes hail fall from the sky, dealing knockback to players it hits and destroying blocks. Whilst MCC’s PvP game Meltdown hasn’t made its way to the Island yet, “Meltdown Mode” adds snowballs which can freeze players. These settings are only available for plobbies until the winter event ends.That’s not the only plobby update though, and I’m sure MCCI tournament hosts will be rejoicing with these ones! For more permanent additions to the plobby system, plobby owners will now be able to adjust the following:BATTLE BOX
- Choose to stop the game when a team hits a target number of wins (e.g. first to 5), instead of having a fixed number of rounds.
- Configure how quickly blocks can be mined with the pickaxe, allowing for faster or slower point captures.
- Control how long the capture point is locked for at the start of the round.
- Allow players to change kits every round, instead of just once at the start of the game.HOLE IN THE WALL
- Choose to use a particular set of walls, instead of the walls usually used on the map.PARKOUR WARRIOR - SURVIVOR
- Change the number of players that can be in the final duel.
- Change how many obstacles each leap has, between 1 and 10 (default is 3).
- Change how many obstacles the final duel has, between 1 and 25 (default is 5).SKY BATTLE
- Adjust the loot items in chests according to a rule set. Why not try a game with melee weapons turned into tridents, or tertiary items all turned into low durability shields?TGTTOS
- Change how many rounds are played.

This update will also bring new admin commands for plobby owners to use during games. The new commands available are:- /timer pause and /timer resume (pause and resume the timer)
- /timer skip (skip the current timer to the last 10 seconds on the round)
- /timer restart (jump the timer back to where it started)
- /game respawn <player> (respawn a player that has already been eliminated)
- /game end (end the current game and skip to the podium)

The update will go live on MCC Island in early December. You can join the server at IP: play.mccisland.net

Jingle Jam Bundle

As well as the update, Noxcrew are also bringing MCC Island in-game items to the Jingle Jam Games Collection – a reward alongside all donations of £35 or higher to the Jingle Jam campaign.This year’s rewards are:
- 150 Gems
- 1 Mastery Key
- 2x Silver Treasure Chest
- 3x Bronze Treasure Chest
- 1x Uncommon Cosmetic Crate
- 2x Common Cosmetic Crate
- 4x Material Crate
- 3x Rare Quest Scroll
- 5x Quest Refresh Tokens
- 15x Quest Reroll TokensDonations to Jingle Jam open on 1st December at 5pm GMT. You can donate to Sphere News’ Jingle Jam campaign on the Jinglecrafters Tiltify – this link will become active shortly after that time.

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• What's On In December?

Klyx: Past, Present & Future

by Bluekwyrm

Almost two months after their first event, the Klyx Games are about to host their third canon event. With two non-canon events mixed in as well, it's been an eventful few weeks for the Klyx staff. We talked to the event owner, CreepyBrawler, about how it started, how it's going, and what's still in store regarding both the public Klyx server as well as the Klyx Games minigame event.

“The idea spawned out of nowhere,” CreepyBrawler starts. He has taught himself how to code during the COVID pandemic, and server development has become a big passion of his since then. “I was working on a Minecraft server, Asleepp wanted to work on a Minecraft server, so we just joined forces to make Klyx, around last year.” He notes how it was always supposed to be a minigames server, as it is now, but they started off doing minigames like UHC, and hide and seek.The server was opened to the public in May of this year. “That was kind of unintended. There was a mini event at the time. A lot of people really liked it, so I decided to make the server public with just that game.” Since then, Parkour Champion was added, among other features. There were some other games in development, like Freeze Tag and Colour Shuffle, but these were brought into the Klyx Games instead.

The idea for the Klyx Games event only came about in August of this year. “That’s when I was like ‘You know what, I really want to make an event,’ so I put up a donation goal in the Klyx server. If we reached it, we would make a quad-event marathon, where we would put four Klyx games together to make a small event for the community.” Whilst developing, however, the team found the event was quickly growing in potential. “That's why I made the applications fully public.” CreepyBrawler notes that this was a daunting step to take, because he didn’t know most of the people that would be playing in the event. “I guess it worked out in the end. I'm very grateful that Klyx is what it is right now.”So when the time came to think about the December edition for the Klyx Games, the team knew they wanted to do something special. “The goal was to raise money for the Jingle Jam charity, so I reached out to WraithStation about it. Wraith suggested adding Klyx into Jinglecrafters, and I figured that this also could be a good opportunity for Klyx to get the name out there. It was always going to be a charity event, it just so happened that the Jinglecrafters event was there.”For this special edition, the event will see a new finale game. Creepy mentions how there are a lot of changes happening behind the scenes. “We just entered downtime, because we are splitting everything into multiple servers. The Klyx Games will also be on its own separate server, so the main server doesn't go down when we host it or test it. We’re working on that right now.”

On top of that, they are also getting ready to grow their team. At the moment of the interview the Klyx-team still consists of six builders, CreepyBrawler as their main dev, and Asleepp, who works on the UI and has started taking over more of the monitoring of the public server. “Asleepp is working on a long-running gamemode with progression for the public server. That will come out very soon. As for the Klyx Games games getting added to the public server, there are some games that I’m definitely not adding to the public server. It would just not make sense with how those games are played. The rest of the games are a big maybe.”But for right now, creating on a consistent and steady basis takes priority. “We’re so early in development, the plan right now is to eliminate the bugs we have and to make the scoring more balanced. Then we can do bigger things with the event.” When asked about those bigger things, the event owner gives a list of ambitions: more Klyx-focused spin-offs, developing more games, running the event with ten teams instead of eight, playing eight games instead of the current six, and overall becoming a unique, innovative event. Creepy also expresses the wish to grow the roster, albeit carefully. “I want a community of creators and I want it to be a for-fun event, not a competitive event where people are really over the top about it.”

And while it is difficult to predict how long all these ambitions will take to be implemented, CreepyBrawler is confident: “I think 2025 will be a big year for Klyx. All of the work that we’re putting in at the end of this year will come together and hopefully most of the aspirations we have will come true.”If you want to keep up with these big changes, you should keep an eye out on their X and Bluesky or join the public Discord server. For information about the Klyx Games, you can also check out the Wiki.The Jinglecrafters edition of the Klyx Games will take place Sunday 8th December 2024, at 10am EST / 3pm GMT.

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• What's On In December?

The Best Minigame Events:
Readers’ Choice Awards

by Wraithzeon

Across the Sphere News platforms, we cover a lot of different events – including many different minigame tournaments. With so many of these tournaments in the event space, and with many more currently in development, it can be difficult for events to stand out from the crowd. As the year draws to a close, we endeavour to find the best of the best – tournaments that you love for their unique and engaging gameplay, talented staff teams, entertaining player rosters, and bringing a fun experience to both viewers and players.

We nominated eighteen different events to battle for the titles in three categories: the best event to play in (as voted by the players), the best event to watch (as voted by the viewers), and the most well-rounded events (beloved by players and viewers alike). The event with the most votes in total will receive the award for the best overall event.Without further ado, I am pleased to present… the Sphere News Readers’ Choice Awards!

BEST EVENT TO PLAY IN

Championed by their players for their fun and exciting gameplay, these are the events you deemed the best to play in…

In third place: MC Creator Showdown

“MC Creator Showdown is an event I've waited for for over 2 years,” JustWoofwolf tells me. “It has an amazing and dedicated staff team, and is still improving so much!”“This event has some of the most passionate and caring people working on it behind the scenes,” says Hunicrisp. “They have always been extremely receptive, respectful and reactive towards questions and critiques of their event, and have non-stop strived to make the event better every month. It’s by far one of the highlights of my month to attend and watch!”“MCS is a young event but the people who run it are all top-notch, amazing, passionate, super cool people who care about creating a community where people can make friends and have fun in Minecraft,” enthuses Poj. “I love T9 and all the work they do, and plan to support MCS as it continues to evolve and grow as an event!”“Excellent staff and dev team, communication and problem solving,” HydroMC says. “Smooth event, and best of all, crazy good games!”“MC Creator Showdown was behind a event I loved in the past called MCSS, and I played in it 3 times,” says Skye. “I then was invited back to the first season of Showdown and loved it immensely. The staff are amazing to talk to, and are quick to give answers and clarify issues. The games are unique and involve a lot of cooperation, which adds to the fun and really makes you feel like a team – not just a solo player rushing for individual points. Seeing the old community they once had come back and join with new streamers of all sizes, makes the community they have fostered truly unique. I've made a handful of lifelong friends from this community and enjoy the space immensely!”

In second place: Tomeroo Tournaments

“Tomeroo Tournaments is incredibly fun, polished and unique,” says Wheezymoss, an event player and the Testing Manager for Block Wars. “With an excellent roster and talented staff team that is always willing to listen to feedback, it has been a stand out addition to the Minecraft Event scene this year!”“I have played in almost all of the events and have enjoyed every single one,” adds Block Wars senior developer GerwinT. “The game roster is fun, with a variety of games that are very enjoyable.”“Tomeroo Tournaments has a lot of really unique games,” says Chocolate Orange, who has playtesting experience across many different events in the space. “Over the past year I've made lots of friends there.”“Tomeroo Tournaments is a really simple concept and very beginner friendly, which is really beneficial when looking for a unique roster,” VentiBeast says.“I've only ever played in a Tomeroo tournaments once, but that one time was incredibly fun,” says Jokana san.“I felt like the vibes in Tomeroo Tournaments were just so good and I love all the games so much,” says Madnes.

And the champion: Klyx Games

“Klyx Games is a very well-ran event, by a single developer and some builders,” says Rhil, who has played in the event, as well as casted the events they haven’t. “Each event they fix bugs super quick and add different maps to games like their parkour champion. They are active and are a public server for those to enjoy which is great, and they try to accept different people each time. Being a solo coder (CreepyBrawler), it's insane how much they have done in such a short amount of time, and I can't wait to see what else they have in store.”“Klyx Games was the first ever custom minigame event that I played, and I think that it brought some amazing things to the Minecraft event community,” Skivie tells me, “like some incredible and original games, and a lot of new and cool ideas in terms of event costumisation and organisation. Playing in that event was the most interesting experience that I’ve had within the Minecraft event sphere, and helped me meet a lot of new people!”“I love how well put together the event is,” says Marshy. “It’s a very professional and just fun event to play in. Even when things go wrong, the organisers are able to fix them and make up for the mistakes that may have happened. They also guarantee that everyone is able to have fun.”“Klyx is an incredibly fun event to play in,” Elz says. “It’s only in the early stages at the minute, but it’s clear CreepyBrawler and the rest of the staff team put a huge amount of effort into coding, organising and testing the event. It’s an event which is very optimised for team play and coordination as well, allowing the teams that may not be the strongest to still have a chance to go far through good communication and chemistry.”“The owner, CreepyBrawler, is a very nice person and has done a great job on giving creators who might not be as well known, a great opportunity to get into playing custom events,” says BubblestheFriendly. “Klyx has given me a chance and I thank the event greatly for that.”

BEST EVENT TO WATCH

Through their incredible rosters, audience interaction and gameplay that’s as exciting to watch as it is to play – these are the events you voted the best to watch!

In third place: Pandora’s Box

“I think a lot of the games in Pandora's Box are very well designed,” says MuddyPuddle, who owns Creator Carnage. “In particular, I like how Temple Lockout and Miner Mania are two unique PvP games where strategy is very important.”“Pandora’s Box is kind of the event that lays a foundation that others follow, and I love watching every new thing they add,” says VentiBeast. “Dragon Pit also was the best event this year in terms of polish and quality in my opinion.”“I watched their recent Dragon Pit event and it blew me away,” says Tomeroo, who owns Tomeroo Tournaments. “It's incredibly easy for people to underestimate the amount of time and effort that goes into making Minecraft events, but the amount that went into Dragon Pit is insane. They absolutely nailed it and I'm very excited to see what's next for the Minecraft event scene.”“Pandora’s Box is the most entertaining event ever!” enthuses Raneter, the owner of Chamber Trials. “The games are all designed to be so intense, and have you at the edge of your seat at all times. You’ll always see lots of chat interaction when watching PB.”

In second place: Block Wars

“Block Wars is probably the only event I can sit through in its entirety,” says FanboyEint. “I have seen over 100 Block Wars POVs (from both Origins and non-Origins events) and I find myself enjoying them thoroughly. The quality and effort is so refreshing to watch, and the games easily produce funny/key moments in the event. Their roster choices make viewing the event so fresh, as it gives me new creators I have never heard of before, so the viewer experience feels like a brand new event each watch.”“I often watch Block Wars in a VC with friends because we all test for it, and every time is brilliant,” says Tomeroo. “There've been so many hilarious / incredible moments during Block Wars events, that I know before the event even starts, we're gonna have a great time.”“Blockwars has been right there with MCC redefining what it means to be a good Minecraft event,” Jokana san says, “from the incredibly fun teams, the non-canons, and game roster that improves every event, it's currently my favourite event to watch.”

And the champion: MC Championship

“The Noxcrew never fail to deliver amazing MCCs for the community,” Tomeroo tells me. “I've been watching MCC for a few years now, and have always enjoyed seeing what ideas they come up with for new games and content, but the Ender Cup event really took things to a new level.”“MCC is a given. It's been here since the start, and where else can you see some of the biggest creators cross over in the same way,” Jokana san says. “That, alongside their absolutely iconic game roster, gives them one of my votes.”“I've been a part of the MCC community for almost 5 years now ,and it's genuinely been the most quality event ever,” says Kaizo, a tester and moderator for MCC Island, and formerly for MC Championship itself. “Seeing it grow from its roots to now has been a sight.”

MOST WELL-ROUNDED SCORER

Whilst these events didn’t score the highest for either playing or watching, their consistently high scores across both categories proved they are beloved by players and viewers alike, and provide the most well-rounded positive experience for the Minecraft event community.

The runner-up: Biome Battle

“Biome Battle is one of the most unique events out there,” JustWoofwolf says, “not just with its Seasons mechanic – even utilising Minecraft attributes not usually used in other events, such as modifying player scale and using custom model data. It feels like one of the most modern events out there!”“Biome Battle is a really unique experience,” says Errex, who has helped playtest for the event. “The minigames are fun, refreshing and original, and they're all amazingly executed. They also have a really great approach to the community, such as hosting additional Minis for viewers, as well as little things such as stream overlays for viewers to track the progress of their streamers easier, and organised ready checks.”“The level of polish that Biome Battle has, despite being a very new event, is absolutely amazing,” says MuddyPuddle. “The music, textures, sound effects, animations etc. are all so well-made, and you can tell that a load of work has been put into them.”

And the champion: MC Mayhem

“MC Mayhem has a special place in my heart for being my first event ever played, along with some of my closest friends!” JustWoofwolf says. “Its minigames are competitive but not too sweaty, and are fun to play – overall an amazing first event!”“The event ran very smoothly, and was extremely fun!” FanboyEint says. “I’m excited to see what they've done when they return!”“Saying that MC Mayhem is the most fun event I have participated in is not an understatement,” says Clovish, who played in MC Mayhem: Ignite. “Mayhem introduced me to some fun minigames that I had a blast playing.”“MC Mayhem is an event I've been following for quite some time, and I'm happy to see it grow,” says Jokana san. “Mayhem as an event is very solid, and seeing faces more local to me play in it is great to see.”

BEST OVERALL EVENT

Collecting the highest total number of votes, the overall winner is…

Block Wars

“Block Wars is insanely high quality and very fun!” says tayluhautumn, who tests for the event as well as developing her own event, Waffle Warriors. “Block Wars is the first event where, even though I’m a tester, I can play and not care about placement.”There’s clearly love for Tomeroo Tournaments amongst some of the Block Wars staff – and this is clearly reciprocated. “Block Wars was the first event I ever tested for so it has a special place in my heart.” says Tomeroo. “The BW team never fail to come up with fresh and interesting content, especially since Series 3 started. And with the announcement of them partnering with Twitch Rivals, I'm very excited to see what's in store for the future! On a personal note, testing for BW has introduced me to the most amazing community of people. This has made my experiences testing the event very positive, allowing me to have a ton of fun while helping to improve an event I love.”Tomeroo isn’t the only event organiser singing Block Wars’s praises. “Block Wars is simply casual to the core,” says Raneter. “The games themselves are incredibly simple yet so fun to play whether you’re trying your absolute hardest or looking for a good time.”

Thank you to everyone who voted, and who participated in our survey group for this article – and a massive congratulations to all the winning events! If you’d like to get involved with future surveys and opportunities to be featured in this magazine, make sure to follow us on our socials, or join our Discord.

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• What's On In December?

THE RISE OF MINEARCHY:
a hidden gem in a sea of servers?

by jynxxin & Wraithzeon

Across the vast community of Minecraft, there are thousands of public servers to choose from. From minigames to MMORPGs to anarchy servers to SMPs, there are servers around for players of pretty much all playstyles and interests. As a server owner, standing out from this sea of options is no easy task. I spoke to the owner and staff team of Minearchy – a Jinglecrafters partner and public Minecraft server – about the challenges that server owners face, and this team’s strategy for keeping players engaged.

Minearchy offers a variety of gamemodes, including survival multiplayer (SMP), minigames, and KitPvP. Featuring stunning original builds from their build team, frequent updates and improvements, and an ongoing programme of events and activities for players to take part in, it’s clear that Minearchy is a labour of love for its owner, Jonaas13.

I asked Jonaas about what inspired him to create Minearchy. “Back in 2014 or so, I was playing around with being a moderator on other servers, and trying to set up my own service for my friends,” Jonaas tells me. “Eventually that grew into a hobby, so I created Minearchy.”"“Back then, it was still an RPG,” he adds, calling back to a time when Minearchy had just a modicum of the features and gamemodes it has today. Through Jonaas’ dedication and vision, what started as a simple pastime has developed into something much more.But every great journey has its share of obstacles, and Minearchy’s early days were no exception. Persevering through some “rough patches”, including a full year of the server being offline, Jonaas’s passion and commitment to his project shines through. Growth often involves adapting to change, learning from setbacks, and building anew – and Minearchy is a testament to that. The staff team has completely changed since Minearchy’s origins, alongside a sizable expansion to the server’s features.Of course, it’s not just good gameplay and a strong staff team that makes a Minecraft server – the community lies at the heart of everything Minearchy does. I asked their general manager, bdean, what he wants to do to help the community grow, and his goals for the future of Minearchy. “Our community is growing pretty quickly, but we’re also trying to create a bond between staff and player,” he tells me. This approach ensures that the server is more than just a platform for gaming; it’s a collaborative and inclusive space where everyone feels valued.

“We create events every month for the server to join in,” events manager IStealTeeth says. “For example, during October we did a pumpkin carving event, and we also did a village defending event. One was a live event where players were there at thein the moment, and the other was a month-long event.”The server also undergoes updates with new content and improvements, funded through community purchases in the in-game store. A recent update added custom furniture models for players to use on the SMP, and a previous update added personalisable pet companions. With this mixture of live events, longer-term (but still time-limited) activities, and content updates, Minearchy keeps its gameplay new and fresh, providing new reasons for players to log on time and time again.Coming to Minearchy in December, players can look forward to a Winter Wonderland building contest, as well as a Christmas tree event and Secret Santa. There will also be an Elytra Parkour challenge, partnered with Jinglecrafters to raise money for Jingle Jam. This challenge will last the full two weeks of the charity campaign, from the 1st to 14th of December, with players able to log in at any time to try to beat their individual high score, as they race through festively-themed elytra tunnels. Whether you just want to improve your personal elytra skills, or are gunning for that top spot on the leaderboard, you can give the challenge a go through server IP play.minearchy.com

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• What's On In December?

Top 10 things to do on the Jinglecraft SMP

by Wraithzeon

December brings the start of the Jinglecraft SMP, a public (but whitelisted) server developed by WraithStation, and set to be open for the two weeks of the Jinglecrafters campaign. Despite its short runtime, the server hosts a variety of features and different ways to play, with plenty of activities to get involved with regardless of if you’re dropping by for ten minutes or getting engrossed and spending every free moment there (and who could blame you?)

1. Build your base

Build a home to call your own. With three survival worlds to choose from, you’ll be able to pick from a range of biomes and scenery to settle in – from the cherry groves of Blossom Peaks, to the hot mesas and deserts of Armadillo Heights, to the icy lake of Frostmere – whilst never being too far from your friends.

2. Search for treasure

Take part in the hunt for treasure by following the clues scattered across partnered socials. This is a super limited-time event, with each part of the puzzle only being collectable within a 24-hour window (with the exception of the first clue, which is available for the first 7 hours of the server being open). That said, the hunt does come with big rewards, with an elytra and a shulker box full of goodies on offer to anyone who can successfully crack the secret password.

3. Complete missions at the Trading Post

WraithStation classic “Trading Posts” returns, with a list of fourteen challenges to complete during your time on the server. With each one complete, you’ll be able to upgrade certain stats from a skill tree.

4. Trade in your spare resources…

Earn coins by selling your spare materials at the Trade-Ins Centre, from wood and wool to cooked goods and mob drops.

5. … then go on a shopping spree!

There are lots of shops and businesses around the Hub to discover – from cafes and hangout spots where you can chill with your friends, to stores selling food, books, and much more besides!

6. Spin to win!

For every day you log on, you can spin the wheel to earn a random prize.

7. Claim your spot in the Hall Of Fame

From the richest, to the most well travelled, to the player who’s simply eaten the most gingerbread – spots on the podium are just waiting to be taken!

8. Explore the Daily Seed

Alongside the three survival worlds for building bases, there is also a Daily Seed. Each Daily Seed lasts 24 hours, so whilst not recommended for building long-term structures, it’s great for exploring to find fresh structures and resources to loot!

9. Send gifts to your friends at the Post Office

It’s the season for giving, so why not send your friends a message or present at the Post Office?

10. Join the community for fun bonus events

Join in the Ender Dragon fight on Thursday 5th December, or play Hide & Seek around the Hub on Monday 9th December.

The server will open at 5pm GMT on Sunday 1st December 2024 – with an hour of early access (starting 4pm GMT) available to partnered creators. Announcements and whitelisting will take place through the Jinglecrafters community Discord.

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• What's On In December?

Crossword Competition

Thank you to Noxcrew for generously donating the prize for this competition! #ad

The nights are drawing in, so why not sit back and relax with a crossword and a nice cup of hot chocolate?All clues are themed around Minecraft or Jinglecrafters in some way. For every correct answer, you will receive one entry into a weighted prize draw, up to a maximum of 53 chances to win per player.The winner will receive 90 days of MCC+ on MCC Island – a public Minecraft server created and hosted by Noxcrew. You can join the server at IP: play.mccisland.net – or find out more about MCC Island’s upcoming winter update in our article here!MCC+ perks include receiving daily gems every day you login, unlimited access to the Parkour Warrior Daily Challenge, the ability to host private lobbies, a 30% XP boost across the island, and more!The deadline is Sunday 8th December 2024 at 23:59 GMT. By submitting an entry, you agree to our competition Terms & Conditions.Best of luck!

The competition has now closed.

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• What's On In December?

What's On In December

DISCLAIMER: this list is provided as an informational resource only. Most events promoted are external, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WraithStation or Sphere News. If looking for events to get involved with, we encourage you to do your own research to see if they meet your needs and expectations.If you know this list to be missing an event, or if it has the wrong information, please do get in touch.

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