The Server's Founding

Initial Setup

Previous Attempts

Technically, it can be said that the First Server was really established on 2015-08-16, as there exist log files showing that on the 16th and 28th of August, attempts were made to make a server with no success.

However, many years before this was even tried, a Minecraft Forum post was made on August 1, 2012 here posting an invalid IP. It's likely that the IP was taken from an Open to LAN chat message, which was just recently introduced at the time the post was made.

Factors leading up to the Server's Start

In the first quarter of 2016, a NAS server was constructed for the family to use. With this experience gave insight on Linux and networking, two skills that would prove instrumental to the server's success.

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome historically was port forwarding, a process in which a rule is made in the house network's router firewall in order to allow incoming connections to be redirected to a device on the network. However, it turned out that the house network had 2 routers chained together, meaning the majority of port-forwarding tutorials did not directly apply.

One day, specifically 2016-05-13, it was finally figured out that port forwarding with two routers chained together just involves forwarding the port twice. After 6 failed tests of starting the server, it was finally tested using a OnePlus One with the MineChat app installed, connected over cellular data. The chat logs show the following:

[08:09:33] Noorquacker[/X_IP_HIDDEN] logged in with entity id [X_COORDS_HIDDEN]
[08:09:37] <Noorquacker> connected with a oneplus a0001 using MineChat
[08:09:43] <Noorquacker> Hi
[08:10:13] Noorquacker lost connection: Internal Exception: java.io.IOException: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
[08:10:13] Noorquacker left the game.
[08:11:57] Noorquacker[/X_IP_HIDDEN] logged in with entity id [X_COORDS_HIDDEN]
[08:12:03] <Noorquacker> connected with a oneplus a0001 using MineChat
[08:12:12] <Noorquacker> oh my good Lord

As you can see, it was quite a shock seeing a player successfully join.

The First Join

Having returned from a camping trip, it was time to see if someone else can join the server. A friend was contacted and successfully joined:

[20:00:57] gamer_girl45[/X_IP_HIDDEN] logged in with entity id [X_COORDS_HIDDEN]
[20:01:04] Noorquacker has just earned the achievement [Taking Inventory]
[20:01:07] <Noorquacker> YES
[20:01:08] <gamer_girl45> panics
[20:01:14] <Noorquacker> IT WORKS
[20:01:26] <gamer_girl45> i havnt played this is years
[20:01:29] <Noorquacker> AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

It was an amazement to see the server working, considering only failed attempt after failed attempt happened for nearly 4 years.

While it is true that the server was confirmed working on 2016-05-13, we officially use 2016-05-15 as the date the server was founded, as this is the day we were truly convinced that running a server is possible from my house.

Choosing Spigot

At the time, the choice was clear on how to run my server:

• Stay as close to vanilla as possible, with only logs, vanilla whitelists, and bans as tools of control
• Use a modpack, alienating all those that cannot figure out how to set one up
• Use a Bukkit-based solution such as Spigot in order to give rich features and control

The day after the server's founding, Spigot was set up as the server software, with the plugins BSwear and DrugsXL installed, with more possibly installed.

It should be noted that the second external player also unexpectedly joined, but never said a word:

[13:53:25] word_girl[/X_IP_HIDDEN] logged in with entity id [X_COORDS_HIDDEN]
[13:53:32] word_girl has just earned the achievement [Taking Inventory]
[13:56:27] <Noorquacker> What?
[13:56:29] word_girl lost connection: Disconnected
[13:56:29] word_girl left the game.

Conclusion

At this point, we were convinced that the server is worth getting into, as other players were finally confirmed to reliably join, even when no one expects them to join.