Stoneworks: where hundreds of nations write their own history

Stoneworks describes itself as the oldest and largest Java server built around worldbuilding, roleplaying and geopolitics, and the numbers on its own wiki make the case: multiple worlds, hundreds of nations, thousands of towns and tens of thousands of characters since it launched in August 2020. It is the server where your country has a founding date, a constitution and a page documenting the war it lost.

How a nation works

You join a world, claim land with the Lands plugin (adopted October 4, 2020, after the original Towny setup caused the first map to corrupt), and build a town. Towns join or become nations. Nations make treaties, trade, and go to war under the server's rules for declaring and fighting one. What makes it Stoneworks rather than a factions server is what happens around that: the lore. Nations write their own histories, religions, languages and heraldry, and the community wiki keeps it all, from the first world's legends to last month's coup.

The history, told by the wiki

1. Aug 14, 2020

   Jagdas opens, co-founded by StoneyStoner and Enfys, and quickly passes a hundred players online.

2. Sep 13, 2020

   Jagdas corrupts because of a Towny naming bug. Most of its builds are lost; the wiki survives.

3. Sep 25, 2020

   Rathnir launches. Mob spawning is switched off in February 2021 when the player influx crushes the tick rate.

4. May 29, 2021

   Eldham opens, teased four days earlier. A second world means two sets of nations and two histories.

5. 2021 to 2022

   Cinder (modded) launches; StoneyStoner's videos push peaks to 200 online, even in quiet hours.

6. 2026

   Valcrest and Arhausa, "The Sacred Isle", release with their own trailers on Minecraft 1.21.11.

Is it for you?

If you have ever drawn a map of a made-up country, yes. Stoneworks rewards people who like to organize: mayors, diplomats, chroniclers, generals. It's less good for lone builders who want to be left alone, because someone will eventually claim the land next to you and have opinions about your border. The queue can be long at busy times, which is the price of a world where the neighbors matter.

For territory war with a monthly winner, read our Loka story. For nations on a real-world map, see EarthMC. Browse our nations servers list.

Quick answers

What is the Stoneworks IP?

play.stoneworks.gg, on Minecraft Java 1.21.11. The hub explains which worlds are open.

Is Stoneworks roleplay or PvP?

Both, in the sense that wars have rules and nations have politics. It's worldbuilding first; the fighting is a consequence of the diplomacy.

Is there a queue?

At busy times, yes. Ranks bought in the store bypass it, which is the main thing the store sells.

Can I play solo?

You can, but Stoneworks is built for groups. Join a nation from the Discord first; a solo claim next to a big empire won't last.