Minecraft is on fire. It seems that way if you're following the fandom on social media and certain message boards. A portion of the community is up in arms following the news that developer Mojang won't back down from a controversial move to open private servers up to moderation and account-wide player bans. Fans are now united behind the fight cry "Save Minecraft" in opposition to what they see as an existential danger to the massively popular online builder.
"If Mojang thinks all skilled coders who are against this system won’t try and embarrass their them by breaking the system, then I would bet împotriv Mojang," Taylor Harris, a major Minecraft YouTuber, tweeted. "Not a threat, btw. It is what it is. Premium e #SaveMinecraft." A second player was much more succinct. "Fuck 1.19.1," they wrote in a tweet that's since blown up. Some blame the studio. Others believe the policy changes are coming from Microsoft, and blame the tech giant.
Mojang and Microsoft declined to comment.
The Wednesday v1.19.1 update of Minecraft: Java Edition has prompted the hate and hashtag. Players can now report their friends for inappropriate chat messages or dangerous behavior even on private servers. Mojang stated in an FAQ that the behavior that will lead to ban is hate speech and bullying, harassment, sexual solicitation, or threat of harm.
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The reports are sent to Minecraft moderators, who decide what follow-up action should be taken, including bans for players. This seems like a good system, especially considering that Minecraft is a game that everyone can play. But it's also a major intrusion into a part of Minecraft that has historically been ruled purely by players.
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Mojang claimed it won't be monitoring chat online or using bots as moderators, but players remain concerned that the new tool might be misused to attack private servers. It is possible for players to conspire to maliciously report someone to one private server and then ban them from the whole game. Gaslight V2 has been a tool used by players in the past to manipulate chat logs. The developers claim that it still functions in the latest version.
"We recognize that private servers function independently from Mojang Studios, and many use that independence to create remarkable Minecraft innovations that enrich the community," the company wrote last month. It also stated that players must adhere to its terms of service regardless of where they play the game. "Every player should enjoy a safe Minecraft experience wherever they choose to play."
Mojang showed the changes several months ago, but people are reacting to the studio's decision. MojangMeesh the community manager wrote that the studio values feedback but that it doesn't mean that feedback can change the design principles Mojang Studios holds to. She also asked that fans stop harassing developers in unrelated threads.
They wrote that harassment does not benefit anyone, not the devs who have it, or the players who are passionate about a pending change. "This behavior is detrimental to our ability to have constructive and open discussions with you.
"Bullshit. Lmao sorry. This whole shitfest is on blast by you community for about 1 month and there's been very little true discussion form mojang to it," one responder said. "Simple question, then: How long will an appeal take?" wrote another. "Since false positives are a concern for many, give us a timeframe."
Mojang claims that bans last from three days up to permanent. However, players are still concerned about edge cases and the ability to run their own servers as they choose. This has led to mods to try and circumvent the new moderation system. One program called "No Chat Reports", has already been downloaded more than 200,000. It says it strips "cryptographic signatures" from messages so they're no longer associated with a particular Minecraft account.
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Others in the community take a more nuanced approach. YouTuber xisumavoid runs his own private servers. He argued that players don't weigh the abuse and predatory behavior moderation would catch. He said, "There will be good that comes from this system."
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