SimPvP: fifteen years of ruins, and a wiki that remembers every one

SimplicityPvP, which everyone calls SimPvP, opened to the public on April 23, 2011. It reset its map once, on September 15 of that year, and hasn't since. Griefing, raiding and killing are allowed; hacking is not, and the admins ban for it permanently. The result, fifteen years on, is a world "littered with player ruins, some of which are several years old," and a wiki where the players have written the history of every base, clan and war that made them.

Anarchy with one rule

SimPvP is "one of the oldest semi-anarchy, semi-vanilla survival Minecraft servers still operating," and its version of semi-anarchy is the narrowest kind: the only thing you can't do is cheat. No lag-machine ban is needed because the player base is small enough to police itself, and the no-hacks rule is why bases last. The Planet Minecraft listing sums it up as "anarchy, 10 year old map, extensive history, no cheating, committed playerbase," and each of those phrases is doing work.

Why a small anarchy server is worth it

Big anarchy servers are about surviving spawn. SimPvP, with a couple of dozen players online, is about the long game: you will meet the same people, they will remember what you did, and the wiki will eventually record it. It runs on the current Minecraft version, so the ruins of 2011 sit next to 2026 builds, and the map is small enough that finding them is a project rather than a fantasy.

Live counts from our pinger:

For the big versions of this idea, read 2b2t and Constantiam. Browse our semi-anarchy servers list.

Quick answers

What is the SimPvP IP?

simpvp.net, on the current Java version. The MOTD reads Blueberry.

Is hacking allowed on SimPvP?

No. It's the one rule. Griefing, raiding and killing are all allowed.

Has the map reset?

Once, on September 15, 2011. Never since.

Where is the history?

On the community wiki at simplicitypvp.net/w, which has pages for bases, players, clans and eras.