Survey Results and Changes for 1.18
This is a summary of the changes we will be implementing for the 1.18 Stress Test server, following the feedback from the recent survey. 81 of you responded and your feedback is valued.
Some of the changes we are making here may be surprising, but we are willing to experiment with them due to unexpectedly strong support in the survey results. The Stress Test is after all the ideal time for experimentation and a subsequent survey will help us to determine if the changes should stay for the full 1.18 server. We would appreciate you keeping an open mind.
What is staying the same
Whilst some things are changing, many are staying the same. The below list of settings, mechanics and plugins all received strong support in the survey and will be returning unchanged in the 1.18 Stress Test.
- Difficulty (70% supported)
The existing mix of hard base difficulty with normal elements will remain - Gamerules
- doInsomnia enabled (64% supported)
Phantoms will continue to spawn - forgiveDeadPlayers enabled (91% supported)
Angry mobs will forgive dead players - universalAnger disabled (85% supported)
Angry mobs will only target the player who attacked them - doImmediateRespawn disabled (89% supported)
You will need to click the respawn button to respawn - doPatrolSpawning enabled (96% supported)
Pillager patrols will spawn as before - disableRaids disabled (85% supported)
Raids will remain a thing - keepInventory disabled (80% supported)
Inventory contents will still be dropped on death - doWeatherCycle enabled (100% supported)
Weather will continue to happen
- doInsomnia enabled (64% supported)
- Server settings
- nerf-spawner-mobs disabled (84% supported)
Mobs spawned from spawners will continue to have AI. - flat-bedrock enabled (93% supported)
Bedrock will once again generate as a flat layer. - EndermenMoveBlocks enabled (78% supported)
Endermen will retain their block moving abilities. - use-better-mending enabled (97% supported)
XP will continue to repair your most damaged mending enchanted equipment first. - shift-right-click-repairs-mending enabled (95% supported)
Sneak-right-clicking will use some of your current XP to repair mending enchanted equipment, as before. - break-individual-slabs-when-sneaking enabled (99% supported)
As in 1.16 survival, breaking a double slab whilst sneaking will instead only break the targeted half. - lootables.auto-replenish enabled (100% supported)
Lootable containers will retain their regeneration abilities for newly looting players. - sign.allow-colors enabled (97% supported)
Using formatting codes to colour text on signs will remain possible. - sign.right-click-edit enabled (100% supported)
The ability to edit signs by right clicking them with another sign will also be retained. - chicken.retaliate true (78% supported)
Chickens will continue to attack players that have attacked them.
- nerf-spawner-mobs disabled (84% supported)
- Sleeping (68% supported)
The length of the night will continue to vary based on the number of currently sleeping players. Due to performance issues with the plugin we were using for this in 1.16, we have swapped it for a different solution in the 1.18 Stress Test. The overall mechanic should remain the same. - Item despawning (91% supported)
The existing custom item despawn times will remain. All non-junk items will despawn after 24 hours, and junk items after 15 minutes. Rotten flesh will also continue to despawn after 5 minutes. - World border wrapping (83% supported)
The famously robust and bug free wraparound world border will remain in place on any worlds that have a border. - Arena world (86% supported)
The arena world will be returning for the 1.18 Stress Test. - Amplified world (96% supported)
The amplified world is also returning for the Stress Test. - Some claim trust restrictions
Opening wooden doors (84% supported) and Reading lecterns (92% supported) will remain possible without trust in a claim. Using ender pearls (68% supported) will continue to require access trust. - Some Nether things
- Nether roof travel allowed (95% supported)
Travelling via the Nether roof will remain possible - Only trusted players can edit the directory (74% supported)
Trusted players will remain in charge of the Nether directories
- Nether roof travel allowed (95% supported)
- All plugins and datapacks
All plugins and datapacks mentioned in the survey will be returning for the 1.18 Stress Test after receiving the support of over 80% of survey respondents.
What will be changing
Fire Spread will be enabled outside claims
We received surprisingly mixed feedback regarding fire spread, with only 33% of players wishing for fire spread and damage to remain disabled everywhere.
| Option | Votes | Percentage |
| Fire never spreads or damages blocks (NO) | 25 | 33.78% |
| Fire spreads everywhere, but does not damage claimed blocks (NOCDM) | 10 | 13.51% |
| Fire spreads everywhere, but does not damage blocks (NODM) | 4 | 5.41% |
| Fire spreads outside of claims, but does not damage blocks (WNODM) | 12 | 16.22% |
| Fire spreads and damages blocks outside of claims (WYES) | 14 | 18.92% |
| Fire spreads and damages blocks everywhere (YES) | 5 |
6.76% |
| Other | 4 |
5.41% |
As you can see there is no clear winner, with over 60% of players wanting fire spread but not agreeing on how far to go. 3 of the 4 "other" responses also indicated support for fire spread. In the end we decided to experiment with enabling full fire spread and destruction outside of claims, which retains the utility of claims for protecting against fire as well as allowing for the more dynamic world desired by some of the above responses.
There is of course the risk that this does not go to plan, either resulting in excessive griefing or server performance issues due to ticking a bunch of fire. Naturally if this becomes a problem we will consider alternatives such as removing the block damage whilst retaining the spread, or disabling spread again. In any case we will of course not take kindly to people abusing this change to upset others.
Explosions will be enabled outside claims
Another surprise can be found in the responses for explosion damage. The most popular choice is to allow explosion damage above ground outside claims, rather than only underground as it is now.
| Option | Votes | Percentage |
| Explosions only damage blocks outside claims, unless /claimexplosions is toggled for a claim (CLAIM) | 33 | 44.59% |
| Explosions only damage blocks underground outside claims, unless /claimexplosions is toggled for a claim (CLOW) | 20 | 27.03% |
| Explosions only damage blocks underground (LOW) | 11 | 14.86% |
| Explosions never damage blocks (NO) | 3 | 4.05% |
| Explosions damage blocks everywhere (YES) | 4 | 5.41% |
| Other | 3 | 4.05% |
Whilst not quite a majority on its own, it is significantly higher than all other options, and becomes a slim majority when considering the 4 players voting for explosions everywhere. As a result we will be giving this a go in the Stress Test. As with fire if it proves problematic we can revert this change for the final 1.18 server.
PvP will be enabled on an opt-in basis
The PvP question presents more interesting results, with opt-in PvP not far behind the existing PvP approach and neither having a majority.
| Option | Votes | Percentage |
| PvP possible only in designated areas/arenas or worlds (AREAS) | 32 | 43.24% |
| No PvP at all (NO) | 1 | 1.35% |
| PvP possible everywhere on an opt-in basis (OPTI) | 27 | 36.49% |
| PvP possible everywhere on an opt-out basis (OPTO) | 3 | 4.05% |
| PvP possible only outside of claims (WILD) | 4 | 5.41% |
| PvP possible everywhere (YES) | 4 | 5.41% |
| Other | 3 | 4.05% |
Based on the above we will be experimenting with an opt-in PvP system. This isn't guaranteed to make it in for the start of the Stress Test, but we would like to introduce it at some point to see how it goes.
Some actions will no longer require trust in claims
Based on the survey results we will be removing trust requirements for the below actions which previously required trust on the 1.17 server. As with all other changes we can revisit this at a later time if necessary.
- Opening wooden trap doors (74% supported)
- Opening gates (66% supported)
- Trading with villagers (74% supported)
- Triggering raids (58% supported)
Additional datapacks will be added
We received a few comments requesting bundles be obtainable on the 1.18 server. We will therefore be trying out the VanillaTweaks Craftable Bundles (Rabbit Hide) datapack, which as you may expect allows you to craft bundles with rabbit hide.
Separately to this we have also decided to add the Rotten Flesh to Leather datapack to allow smelting of rotten flesh to create leather. You can then craft this leather into horse armour, and some other items of much lesser importance.