State of the Server 2023

Datapack changes are coming to the SMP server! Also, a new look for the website is rolling out with this announcement.

Hello! This is the State of the Server 2023, a recap of the TNTable SMP Server this year, as well as changes that have been implemented as of this post.

You may have noticed a survey going around to gather feedback on proposed datapack changes. The results are in, you can see them below. If you are a bit of a stats nerd, I will be making a follow up post in the new year with a detailed breakdown. I am also announcing a new look for the TNTable community, with a new logo and adjustments to the colour scheme. Please let me know if you have any feedback about either the logo or colours.

Website & Logo

Before we get into the survey results, I have a few website updates and announcements.

Near Future

I have updated the logo and colours for the TNTable community. A bit less saturated and I think a significant improvement from the old cube logo I made in Blender years ago. The only reason it stuck around so long is that I had no ideas for a new logo until I sat down and this came to me.

This logo update is long-overdue. There really is no deep philosophy behind it. I picked a font, and just threw it together. Thank you to the feedback from MatrVincent, that really polished it up, and it has become what you see today. There may be slight changes and iterations but they won't warrant a new post.

Later™

I am planning a large overhaul of the website, with the goal of making it easier to create content for it. Currently this website is generated with Hugo, a static site generator. I write posts in a text-editor on my computer and then partner it with a theme (that I have heavily customized) to generate web pages that you see.

The problem I have been facing is that updates are sometimes a year or more apart, and the theme and Hugo keep changing so I have to relearn a decent chunk of hugo and the theme again to make changes. Then, because it is more effort than just typing the post and I need to fix this I am less interested in writing because it means I need to put more work into it when I don't necessarily have the time to dedicate to it.

I am currently looking into Grav, which is a good middle ground between Wordpress and Hugo. It is a fast, flat-file CMS (Content Management System). This means that I can customize it and then it will keep itself updated and not change too much. I get the benefits of being able to configure it with files, but also lets me write posts easier with an online editor/publisher. Anyways, that is enough about the website. Read on for the survey results.

The Server

The SMP server was a little quiet this year, with some small bursts of activity but not much else. This is expected, and the server will continue to be up full time. With theses datapack changes I am hoping to make the server more accessible for players that aren't as comfortable in Minecraft, or just wish to have a different experience.

I have also added a new Custom Commands page on the TNTable Wiki that lists all the commands added by datapacks. I will slowly fill out the page with more details on the non-command based datapacks.

The Survey

Now, for what you are all here for: datapack changes and additions. It is quite exciting and I am hoping these changes will make the server more accessible and enjoyable for players that choose to use them.

Results

Here is a summary of the results. Do keep in mind, if any of these datapacks are causing performance issues they will be removed.

Proposed Changes

Proposed Datapacks

I am also sneaking Durability Ping in here, to notify you when your tools reach 10% durability. This can be customized to your liking, or disabled if you choose.

Conclusion

This is all for now, thanks for reading! I am looking forward to bringing a new website to everyone in the new year. Testing will already be underway and I will be seeking out feedback in the coming weeks.