The 2b2t Blog

This following blog post has been lifted from the depths of the Facepunch forum archives.

It was a post on a thread dated 8th July 2011 by Chezhead that comprehensively described the Facepunch communities travels on the server.
2b2t.org used to be called 2b2t.net and for the sake of preservation, it has been left as it was written.

If you are interested in reading it on the thread, please click here.

Take your mind back to 2011 now as you read Chezhead's account!

In the far reaches of the minecraft community, there is a server called 2b2t.net. It’s open for many forums including Facepunch, 4chan, and Something Awful. I decided to head over to it one day to see what it was all about.

This is the spawn. The entire area around 1000 blocks of the spawn feels like a nuclear apocalypse, with ruined buildings, giant craters, and nothing surviving for more than a few days. It’s pretty much a cesspool of griefing and destruction. That’s what I loved about it, however. There was a raw feel of survival. No rules, no admins, full strategy and PvP action.

I joined this server, and some buddies of mine joined on as well, Mattyyy and Coolity. We took refuge underneath this.

(The linked image was no longer avaliable)

We later met with the creator of this “castle” and learned of its history, but for then, we just hid in the expansive mines underneath it. There were thousands of tunnels under it, and led to many areas around the spawn. It was a true set of catacombs.

After a little bit, a thread of mine about this server gained popularity, and many other facepunchers joined in the fun. We eventually had a bustling area simply built around a single staircase.

(The linked image was no longer avaliable)

Eventually, we moved out to a separate castle due to the lack of space and being too close to the spawn. This castle was an amazing fortress of solitude and happiness. We eventually got a working system of government (for the most part), jobs, and a decent infrastructure of facepunchers. Here’s a picture of a meeting. (I’m the one at the front of the room)

Sadly, all things had to come to an end. Base number two was destroyed by hackers with their hacked in TNT.

We found another base the next day. It was a bustling castle with a wide open courtyard. Some 4channers with hacks shortly destroyed this too. 

Facepunchers are persistent, so we moved onto another area. After a brief struggle with two separate bases, we moved into a cave system, led again by me. We made a nice courtyard, fountain, and other fun things.

This base lasted a while. I moved from it for a bit, and let Icytruth take control of it in place of me. Sadly, it was taken by creepers. Numerous explosions near the entrance flooded it, and creepers were swept in by the water, making it inhabitable. It was lost and forgotten.

Base number 5 was found completely by accident. After the creeper invasion, I moved elsewhere to find a nice area for a sweet underground base. After digging down a bit, I fell into this:

This base was the best of them all. We inhabited it and changed it to our needs. I’m not exactly sure how the base fell, but I think it was a friendly hacker turning evil after someone hurt him. Not too sure, but it was later inhabited again. Not sure if people still live there. The location was later told over chat by KombatDoctor, and the location compromised. It’s likely being griefed and looted right now.

Eventually, we moved and created base number six. I put Startoad in charge of this one, and he ran it pretty well with the exception of a bit of bickering between him and Dachande. It was named Camp General Discussion, and another camp was made into Camp Creationism Corner. This is when I worked on a secret project, “Project Arsenal”, a mob trap hidden in a desert, made to provide military equipment to our military to ward off hackers and other potental threats.

From here on out, the history gets muddled. There’s multiple bases used to house people from different camps. Life is pretty well, except for two mysterious people in diamond armor that scared us near spawn. 

Camp Creationism Corner Flourishes, and mweorz helps us out a bit. He ends up being a great friend and helper. Sadly, this comes to an end like all bases. I logged off for the night, and all or items were gone (Still wondering if that was some FP members, taking it to the new base?), the place trashed, and the place deserted. Bennyhill and rage639 take the base to attempt to look for materials, but obviously fail. I hit them with some lava and a sword, and die valiantly after attempting to run away and logging off.

This is a brief history of the Facepunch campaign in this server. Tell me if you have pictures or more info! When this is all over (server shutdown, ultimate destruction of facepunchers, total conquering of the entire server), I’ll make a thread about it, much like the Wurm Online story that always seems to be around on GD.

2builders2tools, better known as 2b2t, is the paramount anarchy server of Minecraft. It is famous for running vanilla survival gameplay on the same world since 2010, and infamous for its less than politically correct chat (to put it mildly) and complete lack of rules.  

Newcomers arriving at spawn are often hard pressed to survive. Those that do not starve to death are often slaughtered for their possessions, or just for fun. Bases are burned to the ground, looted, and marked with symbols of hate. Factions battle one another while predators purge the weak who stumble naked through the ruins of spawn. Those that escape this area sometimes rise to form alliances and build larger bases or even small cities that they are able to hold and defend for a time, but even those inevitably face their doom, either from determined enemies or random griefers intent on destroying anything they can find. Such is the harsh reality and fun of this server.

Yet far from spawn is an entirely different world, one that does not even begin to emerge until a player has traveled at least a million blocks from their original spawn point. Here, surroundings are largely untouched. Jungle or desert temples still contain their riches. Spawned villages offer welcome shelter and sustenance. One can easily forget that they are on a multiplayer server, quietly building their base alone, deep in the wilderness. But this is an illusion. In reality, many great builds exist throughout the outskirts of 2b2t. The sheer size of the server can sometimes make them difficult to find, especially when they depart from the main axis lines, but they are not at all uncommon.  In some cases, by sheer accident, they can be found only a few thousand blocks apart. These builds are typically different from those found at spawn.  Some have survived untouched or unvisited for years. They more often include intricate redstone machines or great fortresses filled with elaborate décor or unusual mobs. They are amazing to come across, particularly after weeks of painful travel, and they regularly offer a chance to explore, rest, and recover. One such build is Avalon, the City of Peace.

Avalon Castle

Avalon was created in 2013 after I undertook to leave the chaos of spawn and see what else existed on the 2b2t server. Like others before me, I followed nether highways to hidden bases and even the ruins of great cities long since destroyed. I reached 100,000 in the nether (or 800,000 overworld) thinking I had traveled some great distance. Little did I know that this was only the beginning, and that the real work would begin when the nether highways ended and the long walk began. Ultimately I settled in the middle of a distant ocean, an unlikely spot with no immediate access to any resources.

I started building, importing everything I needed from distant shores where I created temporary mini-bases to gather supplies. Construction was painfully slow. As faction wars ended at spawn, I built ocean roads in all directions from my small base. As the Valkyrians took part in their spawn incursions far away, I built underwater passageways leading to massive tunnel systems, critical for material and to provide access to various biomes. As Asgard 1 was abandoned and Fenrir and other great cities were founded, I began construction on a great castle, with four floors above ground and roots travelling deep below the ocean. Then came the farms and houses, ranches and marinas. The great city of Avalon had emerged.

Guardian and Child

Named after the island where Excalibur was forged and where King Arthur traveled to recover from his wounds, Avalon remains a castle city - an island refuge for the weary traveler seeking to heal, rest, and fill their stomachs. All are welcome, so long as swords are left in their sheaths, and grievances and hate are left at the city gates. Storage rooms are available with virtually any type of item a player might need. A general store run by a zombie pigman is available for trade. Food is plenty ranging from steaks and cooked salmon, to cake and entire chests of mooshroom stew. Fields of wheat, potatoes, carrots, melons, pumpkins, cocoa, cactus, and sugar cane are also available.

There is an abundance for everyone.

Mushroom Island and Villager Condos

Over time Avalon has expanded from its central castle, father and farther into the ocean. Villager condos were built to the north after captured zombie villagers were cured. As the population grew allowing for a full range of trade, so did the number of iron golems looking after them. Residential properties were built to the south. Birch homes were erected with sunroofs, porches, and multicolored sheep as household pets. Other builds included nether brick homes with fireplaces and pools, and prismarine brick homes filled with pigman families and sponge beds.  To the west, manmade mushroom islands were created complete with mooshrooms and mycelium imported from far away. To the south, a second courtyard and ranch was constructed with grass, birch, oak, acacia, jungle and dark oak trees, a central fountain, and every possible variety of horse and armor. Gardens were later added to the castle, offering a more colorful oasis within the castle walls.  

Castle Ranch

Around the central core of the city floating forests were constructed, including giant spruce to the south and giant jungle trees to the north. Ocean roads became lined with oak and other floating trees as well, as was the case with the recently renovated south marina ready to meet those travelling north.

South Marina

The expanding size of Avalon necessitated a powered rail system that now circles the central part of the city, with similar systems expanding onto ocean roads. But these still pale in comparison to undersea roads which reach everywhere from taiga and jungle bases, to ocean monuments. The city of course is connected to the nether as well, where other sub-bases exist with pathways linked to two nether fortresses.  

Nether Entrance to Castle

Avalon continues to grow beyond the confines of the city core. Like a web of cobble and stone, its new roads and structures weave across a deep blue sea filled with squid and packs of angry guardians stripped of their ocean monuments. An industrial section is currently under development with a focus on automated farms and grinders necessary to meet the city’s growing needs. A museum is also in the works, with a focus on the history of this great server and the groups that have contributed to it over the years.  

Aerial View of City Core (from nearby Tower)

Avalon remains a Geneva of sorts, a safe neutral ground waiting for those that can find it. It does however have defenses against those who might do it harm, as well as its secrets to reveal. But what lies within its castle walls or in its deepest dungeons is a discussion for another day, for Avalon does not sleep, nor do some of its permanent residents.

Enderman Prisoner

To be continued ….