Minecraft Multiplayer Getting Started Guide

Minecraft, a game in which trees are punched and pigs destroyed for tasty bacon could be mistaken for a real life simulation if it weren't for the extreme blockiness of everything.The beauty of the game is that it allows people to create entire worlds, buildings and wonderous caverns. The only downside of the game is that aside from a few sheep and cows who insist on jumping in your face when you craft, a minecraft world is a very lonely one. You are the only inhabitant, the only traveler on the great roads you construct.

The solution to this is of course, multiplayer. Minecraft multiplayer is almost certain to take off in the coming months and years, for in the realm of multiplayer ones creations may be not only admired, but used by other players.

Multiplayer, also known as SMP by people who crave acronyms in reference to survival multiplayer servers, is a mode that is still very much in alpha, as is the entire game. In order to play multiplayer, you need to sign on to a server. There are plenty of privately run servers, many of which are easily accessible by anyone who owns a copy of the game. Here is a list of minecraft servers to get you started.

Join a multiplayer server selecting 'Multiplayer' on the main menu and typing or copying and pasting the server IP into the box provided. Click connect, and you'll soon be joining a world with other minecraft players.

Many servers are glitchy and buggy and subject to lag, so don't expect a glitch free experience when you sign on to a server. Certain block types may also be banned in certain servers. At the time of writing, minecarts weren't working in SMP and it was possible to crash some servers by trying to use them. It's always a good idea to read server rules before you start bashing about in a new server, as failing to observe the etiquette and rules of a server may very well get you banned.

General Rules For Minecraft Multiplayer Servers:

• If you come across structures built by other players, do not change them or move them without the creator's permission. Changing people's structures is known as 'griefing' and is regarded as a highly bannable offense on most servers.

• Read signs. Multiplayer servers are often filled with signs. Read them. Signs are a way for players to let other players know which areas have been staked out, which areas 'belong' to other people, where you're welcome and where you're not. It's obviously not good etiquette to enter places that are marked as off limits, even though there may be no actual physical barriers stopping you from doing so.
  

• Want to talk to everyone else? You can talk to other players on a server by pressing 'T'. Don't spam chat by posting repetitive messages.
  

• Some servers have clans and PvP, others don't. If you want to wreak havoc, find a PvP server to do it on.