Traditionally, Merit Points would be earned in a yearly cycle and then be reset, which would be happening at the end of June, in a few days. After reviewing their use, I've decided that Merit Points will NOT expire anymore. Keep on collecting them to build your way to the rewards you're interested in!

Some of you might be asking "but what are Merit Points good for?" or "How can I use them?" To help explain that, we're launching a Merit Points Awareness Week!

Starting tomorrow, Sunday 28 June and lasting until 4 July, you'll earn a Merit Point simply for logging in, every day! Combine that with the daily point that you can earn by voting for us, and you can easily rack up more than 10 points in the upcoming week! That's enough to cash in for a Merit Voucher, which can then be exchanged for a long list of cosmetic or memento items!

For more information on this, please check the newly refreshed information on them, it lists the various ways you can earn and spend them! You can check how many points you currently have available by using /points in-game.

In a competitive mood? You can see who earned the most Merit Points on the forums! Two leaderboards are now presented: one for the lifetime total, and one for the past 90 days only, giving newer players a chance to get to the top.

The server hardware migration is now over; thank you for your patience! You're now free to come back online for more fun.

All survival servers are now back online, while I wrap up a few minor issues with game versions compatibility and chat support in the minigames. This new, dedicated server will give us about 28% more processing speed per core, ensuring smoother gameplay for everyone while cutting down on that dreaded lag!

On an additional note, the lobby now supports Minecraft 1.16 and 1.16.1 in order to stay in touch with all players. As I indicated on Monday, until further notice, you need to use 1.15.2 to play with us. If you need help in changing your game version, here's an illustrated guide.

I'd like to take a moment to especially thank my Patreon backers. Their continuous support helps me to stay motivated in finding ways to improve the experience for everyone, including hardware upgrades such as this one!

Minecraft 1.16 is set to be released tomorrow. As always, there will be a delay between the game's release and us updating, so please stay on 1.15.2 for the time being!

As we're preparing for the Nether Update, we'd like to get a list of all builds that were done Nether-side on Laurasia and Rodinia. Please tell us in this forum topic where your builds are located so we can be aware of them!

Early warning as well, when we transition game versions, all science areas will be unavailable for some days at least as checks get done and various values get updated. If you're looking to complete a challenge or score a specific item, you might want to do it now!

UPDATE: We will have several hours of downtime this Wednesday, starting in the morning, for a hardware upgrade! While we will be back online within the day, I can't say yet how long this will take.

After careful consideration, and since the Creeper's Lab has been around for several years now, we've decided to update our policies on bans.

As of today, we're adopting a three strikes system, based on the severity of the offence(s). In some instances, like major griefing and unacceptable attitudes, permanent bans will still be issued right away.

First strike: 3 days ban
Second strike: 1 month ban
Third strike: Permanent

The rules page has been updated with this new information.

This also opens up the possibility of appeals for previously permanent bans. If you believe that you can make a valid case for yourself, please do so in the newly opened forum topic on appeals. This lets anyone in the staff who's aware of the situation reply as needed, which might be preferable to private messages as things might be addressed faster this way. Many appeals will be flat out denied, especially for people who have received several warnings, so be aware.

Of note, temporary bans will not appear in the Wall of Shame, only permanent ones.

New challenge

A new challenge is now available in the lobby, as the Randomizer makes its return!

In Minecraft, every item has its drop: break a log, you get a log. Break a dirt block, you get dirt. And so it goes. In the Randomizer, the drops of each item have been mixed up, but they're all constant. For example, breaking grass might get you concrete. Placing and breaking that concrete could earn you a poppy! It's up to you to figure out what items provide which materials in order to progress. In this instance, Minecraft's crafting recipes are maintained as-is.

There's no set target for this, as the challenge of finding which blocks are required to do what you want can be complicated enough. Good luck trying to build a home of your own! Everyone who enters the world this month will net 5 Merit Points.

If you have suggestions of specific targets for future instances, please let me know!