WHAT IS MINECRAFT SMP?

Definition of SMP

SMP is an acronym that stands for Survival Multiplayer. This is a type of server where multiple players share the same world, explore, experience and play together.

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Core SMP aspects are:

• Community and Collaboration: this is quite self explanatory, as it is a core aspect not only of SMP, but any similar multiplayer games.
• Player-driven economies: most SMPs have their own currency on the server, economy based on that currency, trade, shops etc.
• Lots of subcategories: there are plenty of different SMP subcategories that have different approaches to gameplay on the server, more on that later in the article.

SMP origin and evolution

The term "SMP" emerged during Minecraft Alpha, specifically around 2010. Before that, multiplayer in Minecraft was really simple, just a basic creative sandbox. There was no survival mode at all. However, time flew by and after creating the survival mode, Notch(Minecraft developer) started implementing and testing multiplayer for this new game mode. So the development team and later on the community too started using the term SMP to separate already available creative multiplayer and newly developed survival multiplayer.

Though the actual term appeared way before, the actual “SMP boom” happened later in about 2010 - 2012. Around this time, lots of YouTube creators started creating their own private SMP servers. They played together, built mega-bases, pranked each other, in other words – created lots of SMP content, therefore popularizing these types of servers. Servers like Mindcrack(2010), Hermitcraft(2012) set golden standards for SMP servers.

SMP was always popular since those first servers in 2010 - 2012, however, it experienced even bigger growth in popularity during and after COVID-19(2020 - now). All due to popular Minecraft YouTuber Dream creating his own SMP – Dream SMP. How was it any different from others that it boosted SMPs popularity even further? Well, on top  of everything that was brought by older SMP servers, Dream SMP had deep, theatrical roleplay, its own scripted storyline, events, wars, political affairs etc. From an outsider's perspective, this wasn’t just SMP anymore, it was like watching a TV show, playing on the server wasn’t any less interesting either. Such SMP formats exploded on YouTube at that time, bringing even more people to enjoy such servers and even more creators to organize and broadcast everything that happened. Just like that SMP evolved into its new more roleplay-based form we know today.

Subcategories of SMP servers

Now that you know about what an SMP is and how it became what it is now, we can get to the other topic - SMP server subcategories. There are plenty options to choose from, here are the most popular ones:

1) Vanilla

This is an SMP where there are as few tweaks to original Minecraft gameplay as there could be. In other words, if  some were to take a singleplayer world and just make it accessible for other people to play together – that is basically the Vanilla SMP. Simple, lighthearted, unmodded Minecraft. Fits for players who want a relaxed, as vanilla as possible experience, yet with some additional multiplayer features.

2) Anarchy

Complete opposite of Vanilla, but not in the way you would expect. It doesn’t mean that the server has lots of mods or something like that, in fact, a lot of anarchy servers don’t have any. It means that there are no rules or limitations on the server, whatsoever. Players can do anything: hack, cheat, grief, steal etc. There are downsides to this playstyle and its quite niche subcategory, but this might be a good fit for players who want absolute freedom.

3) Semi-vanilla

This subcategory covers SMP servers that have close to Vanilla experience, yet include additional plugins that improve players quality of life. For instance, let’s players use commands like /tpa or /home etc. The idea is that the game doesn’t feel drastically different, yet is more comfortable and suitable for multiplayer.

4) Modded

This subcategory covers servers with lots of additional content added to the game through mods(client and server side). A lot of the time, this subcategory comes in combination with another one, for example Modded Anarchy SMP server.

5) Vanilla PvE/Peaceful

As the name suggests, in this subcategory of servers, PvP(Player vs Player) is disabled. In some cases there are even no hostile mobs at all. This is quite a niche subcategory of servers, as it mainly targets players who want to focus on building, community and communication rather than combat.

6) Factions

A complete opposite of Vanilla PvE/Peaceful. This subcategory of SMP servers are based on the Factions plugin. It allows players form alliances and factions, claim land for their faction, go into war with other factions, conquer more land etc. The gameplay is primarily based on PvP, wars and conflict.

7) Skyblock

This is an SMP server based on the classic survival challenge - Skyblock. All you are given at the start is a small island with little resources, items and one tree. Due to its uniqueness it was a huge hit back in the day and is still a very popular subcategory for SMP servers.

Where can you find servers to play on?

If you’ve been interested or became interested in playing some sort of SMP server, but don’t know how to find one for yourself, here are a couple of websites you can use for that:

• Curseforge

• Minecraft Servers

• Craftlist

Conclusion

SMP is one of the most popular if not the most popular type of server in the Minecraft community. It was around for the longest time and overcame quite a few changes, yet the community loves it just like before. There are lots of subcategories of SMP servers, suitable for any taste and any player. We hope this article was interesting and helped you understand the topic better, thank you for reading and good luck playing with the others!