Landmarks & Places

The Sky Tram

An elevated minecart network — the "white lines in the sky" on the old dynmap — built deliberately high and marked by a giant diamond helix, with stops at Hyrule, the Airfield, Sky 5, North Leoville, Vantes Ranch and Bladelands. Reached from spawn down through the Citadel. As the Netherroad made it redundant, Timberwolf put it to a community removal vote in August 2013 — but the teardown was unhurried: the whole network was still in the sky when the October snapshot was taken, its stations and its SKYTRAM AVENUE signs intact. Ride the lifts up from North Leoville (around 345, 70, 127) to the platforms at y 235 and it is still there to walk.

In the chat logs: 20 mentions on 12 days, 2013-07-11 → 2013-10-28. “I can see a Skytram Station! How convenient!” — PosterAnonymous, 2013-07-11 all of them →

The Mall @ Sky 5

The remodelled successor to Sky 5's free shop strip — regioned stalls at $350/month with anti-scam rules. It never drew the traffic asim0v hoped, and on 14 August 2013 he began winding it down, for the structures to be "torn down and repurposed for residential lots." The teardown was still in progress at the October snapshot: the mall stands up in the sky at roughly 450, 150, 860, its stalls papered with asim0v's own notices — "Sky5 Mall is closing. Please remove all shops." Not to be confused with the Diamond Club Mall, a 16-floor parody mall (Five Guys, Macy's, Starbucks) built in the old creative world.

In the chat logs: 375 mentions on 104 days, 2013-06-18 → 2014-03-26. “can u help with Sky5 in creative again, plz?” — angelina444, 2013-06-18 all of them →

The TWiTCraft Museum

VanteS fenced off a museum site and the ocean behind it near spawn, overlapping the Aquadome Development District, and planned a "Museum East" — a pirate cove and ship by Legida, and an imposing volcano island by Timberwolf. When the reset loomed, players proposed keeping the whole old map locked read-only as "a living museum… using the current museum building as the entrance" — almost exactly what this archive has become.

In the chat logs: 28 mentions on 19 days, 2013-07-06 → 2014-03-12. “How is the Museum going vantes” — firedragon2468, 2013-07-06 all of them →

The Citadel

An obsidian castle-home rising to y255, a region ~80 blocks square, "a dream I had… in the winter of 2011," valued by its owner near a million coins. It held a Sky Tram station and a shop-and-storage chest room so large it was blamed for the area's lag. Timberwolf refused to lose it in the reset — and left instead.

In the chat logs: 121 mentions on 65 days, 2013-06-20 → 2014-01-17. “setapart1, this building doesn't belong to me... The Citadel belongs to Timberwolf1777.” — FreonKnight, 2013-06-20 all of them →

The Aquadome

A colossal underwater colosseum — a 126×90 arena under a glass dome, built inside a drained dry dock, funded with tens of thousands of the builder's own coins and meant for events and gambling. It chased a "grand opening" for the better part of a year. Its build thread is one of the largest on the forum.

In the chat logs: 234 mentions on 67 days, 2013-07-07 → 2014-03-26. “OK I really need to get this Aquadome done soon. ;p” — PosterAnonymous, 2013-07-07 The logs catch it under construction. all of them →

Fort Valkyrie (Legida's Castle / "Fairy Tail Castle")

The server's most admired build and the top vote-getter in the 2013 preservation poll — a fantasy castle with a full underground section, later valued at $40,000 and gifted to SkyerCorp, who invoked the Preservation Society to keep it untouched.

The Airfield

A working aviation complex: a Runway 18/36 that took over a year, with night-approach lighting and a rail beneath it; the Diamond Control Tower (Freon's home); an airfield village and a defensive wall; and a planned Hangar One with a USS Macon airship. Freon drifted away before the reset.

In the chat logs: 84 mentions on 40 days, 2013-06-20 → 2013-09-18. “Airfield is open to the public. Go for it.” — FreonKnight, 2013-06-20 all of them →

Hyrule Castle

The centrepiece of the Zelda-themed town of Hyrule, SE of spawn — a replica castle with a clock tower and sewers, still unfinished when the map was wiped.

In the chat logs: 117 mentions on 40 days, 2013-06-24 → 2013-10-09. “no one new is aloud to live in hyrule unless u already live there” — widecool888, 2013-06-24 The name stops appearing after October 2013. all of them →

The Observatory

A giant telescope down the road from Hyrule Castle, a fan favourite; its builder last posted in November 2013, on the eve of the reset.

In the chat logs: 7 mentions on 6 days, 2013-09-04 → 2014-01-08. “Nice observatory laustin, a bit small uh?” — vantes, 2013-09-04 all of them →

TWiT Cathedral

A cathedral right at spawn, later rebuilt on the new map with stained-glass windows honouring "The Profit Poster" (PosterAnonymous) and "St Robro."

In the chat logs: 28 mentions on 17 days, 2013-09-13 → 2014-03-14. “Build Cathedral for our overloard Poster” — Robrotheram, 2014-01-29 all of them →

Heaven & "Push It Somewhere Else Heaven"

Timberwolf's ornate floating islands, reached by the Sky Tram, with ToucanMonkey's public build-anywhere "Derp Heaven" alongside. Timberwolf removed Heaven over "trolling," orphaning the public build next door — a small feud in the sky.

In the chat logs: 34 mentions on 22 days, 2013-06-21 → 2014-02-11. “Great n00b shall descend from on-high to rule over the entire Derpdom of Heaven?” — PosterAnonymous, 2013-06-21 all of them →

The preservation list

A registry of builds "protected even if the owner(s) quit." Among them, with their stated coordinates: Edgemerian's Castle (2100, 122, -3900) and his Giant Statue (2500, 144, -2200); Bladelands (1300, 214, 500); the Hanging Gardens (170, 66, 870); Minion5051's Glass Cube (3100, 190, 100); Android_FA5's SciFi Compound (-430, 63, -1670); the Lighthouse of Lag (-80, 111, 122), remembered for the frame-rate drop it caused; and Dio's Home & Store (318, 115, 297).

Novelties: a Donkey Kong, a Space Ghost, 25 TARDISes

Pixel-art and oddities dotted the wilderness: a Donkey Kong "in the middle of nowhere," a building shaped like Space Ghost's head, a wool-enderman-topped luxury yacht, and DragonofHalo's numbered series of about twenty-five TARDISes.

In the chat logs: 28 mentions on 19 days, 2013-07-06 → 2014-02-23. “nah it's in a silouette of a tardis, and does yeehaw tell you where I'm from?” — AndrewMartian, 2013-07-08 all of them →

The lobby arcade

The forums are consumed with zoning and rents, but the server's own files remember another side of it. Saved alongside the lobby, as WorldEdit schematics, is a whole arcade's worth of games: a Pong, a Bomberman, a Spleef pit, a Space Mountain, a shooting gallery, an obstacle course and a wipeout run — 82 saved builds in all. They are the record that underneath the government, TWiTcraft was also just a place to play.

Leoville

The heart of the server. In February 2013 the mods sold numbered building plots ($2,000 in, $1,500/month, rent paid at the Bank), a scheme argued over for a year. Its shop-sign lag was a chronic crisis — and the reason for the hundred-block rule that came later.

In the chat logs: 802 mentions on 192 days, 2013-06-21 → 2014-03-29. “im trying to walk in leoville and gatting 6fps” — Timberwolf1777, 2013-06-21 The most-named place in the logs after spawn itself. all of them →

Sky Five City

"The first player city on the server, and… the largest city in TWiTcraft" — a floating city over the ocean near spawn, with free numbered residential lots, a commercial district, a City Hall, a park and its own rail. Building it earned asim0v his mod position; it was not rebuilt after the reset.

The Mirage

A high-end rental shopping district and mall near spawn, region-protected after repeated griefing. When spawn shops pulled its traffic away, its owner abolished rent and refunded everyone rather than let it die.

In the chat logs: 108 mentions on 51 days, 2013-06-30 → 2013-08-27. “a Mirage is an illusio usually apears in the Desert heat. Its also a Fighter Aircraft...” — WeaselWords, 2013-06-30 Talked about all summer 2013, then not at all after August. all of them →

Stonerun

An early medieval-fantasy town with ramparts and a keep, founded 2012 across the ocean from Leoville. When its founders left they declared it "a completely free-edit area," and thesillychicken & VanteS took over its care.

Pod Sixia

An ambitious underwater canal city with streets like "Lapiz Lane." Its ten-minute commute killed it; it was formally decommissioned in January 2013 and left as "underwater ruins," complete with a roleplay backstory of "Goobnesian loyalists."

In the chat logs: 20 mentions on 6 days, 2013-07-07 → 2014-01-08. “I herded them across the ocean to Pod Sixia” — PosterAnonymous, 2013-07-07 all of them →

The Undersea Dome (Sea Dome Seven)

Glass domes on a cleared ocean floor, planned to branch off the Sky Tram — a second undersea vision alongside Pod Sixia, with room for residents to build their own dome.

Goobghanistan & Halo Island

A full roleplay nation-state with a "Foreign Legion" and the Goobghanistani Speedway, host of the server's first organized pig races. Nearby Halo Island — "Haloton" — was billed as a thriving society of pigs under its racetrack.

In the chat logs: 15 mentions on 12 days, 2013-06-19 → 2013-08-23. “those are goobghanistani dissenters, we don't violently suppress our citizens” — Gooblerz, 2013-06-19 all of them →

Sandale, Stormont & Sheep Port

The outlying towns: edwin's desert town of Sandale and its neighbour Stormont, rail-linked out past the Airfield; and Sheep Port, a coastal town far to the north that anchored the transit network's northern reach.

In the chat logs: 89 mentions on 42 days, 2013-06-21 → 2014-02-28. “feel free to explore sandale” — thejoker344, 2013-06-21 · “in stormont we have a nearly completed place of worship :P” — lcarscraig, 2013-08-19 all of them →

The five town squares

The 1.7 map opened with five pre-built town squares meant to be linked by stargates: Neo Leoville (central spawn), Eureka (nature, SW), Argon / Sci-Fi City (desert), a Medieval town, and a nostalgic Old Leoville.

Chadville

A structured plot-city near spawn, governed by a self-appointed and famously "closed" council (PosterAnonymous, VanteS, Legida, Matt_K, Diego). Its commercial district took a running-joke three months to open — "soon takes how ever long i feel."

In the chat logs: 45 mentions on 15 days, 2013-07-11 → 2014-05-30. “changing spawn to chadville” — Console, 2013-07-11 · “Chadville will be a plot city, still being planned before we start building.” — vantes, 2014-02-18 That first line is the admin, typing at the server console: spawn was pointed at Chadville on 11 July 2013. all of them →

The Aquadome 2.0

The underwater arena, rebuilt from scratch on the new map after the reset took the original.

Laputa, the Castle in the Sky

A floating Ghibli-replica castle south-east of Eureka.

In the chat logs: 7 mentions on 4 days, 2014-02-24 → 2014-03-04. “You should come check out Laputa so far:P” — batstarwars1, 2014-02-26 all of them →

Venteare & New Age Island

Two of the busier 2014 settlements: Venteare, a space-themed town built around a spaceship, and New Age Island, a tropical mansion development on an ocean platform.

The Department of Transportation (DOT)

A volunteer public-works authority with a real bureaucracy: it built and ran the minecart rail — a Circle Line, a Grand Central Station, and hubs some 2,000 blocks out in each direction — plus roads and Nether links. Its existence was the standing argument against instant-travel Stargates.

The Netherroad

The road network that finally beat the rail and the Sky Tram: four glowstone-lit roads out of a central Nether lobby to every hub and city. Built over one St. Patrick's weekend in 2013, and rebuilt for the new map.

In the chat logs: 230 mentions on 109 days, 2013-06-18 → 2014-03-12. “She suggested I make that tunnel under the nether road.” — SkyerCorp, 2013-06-18 all of them →

Markets: the Flea Market, the Black Market & The Palms

TehRage's free Flea Market north of spawn was the original trading hub — until the mods removed the entire district in February 2013 over the lag its thousands of chests generated, sealing the entrances with jack-o'-lanterns. Beside it, Dio's Black Market — a big black box promising discount goods, apartments and a casino — closed within two months, was demolished, and rose again on the same ground as The Palms: “Casino, Shops and Condos” by its welcome sign at 333, 297, five floors of shopping, casino, condos and a penthouse (“Owner: Diocia”), each still signed “(Construction)” in October 2013, over a security office and warehouse vault. Legida nominated it for preservation as “Dio's Home and Store.”

In the chat logs: 176 mentions on 82 days, 2013-06-22 → 2013-11-26. “hmm.. cant find a ender chest in the flea market.. anyone have one in their own store I can buy?” — mrbobmcbob, 2013-06-25 · “ah :P a player accidentally triggered a door at The Palms for $40000” — vanderprot, 2013-08-20 The last mention of the Flea Market is 26 November 2013; it did not survive the reset. all of them →

Halloween 2013 — and the spawn without it

The October 2013 snapshot froze the old map two weeks before Halloween, so its spawn square, Town Hall and Leo’s Mansion sit under jack-o’-lanterns, cobwebs, black wool, soul sand and mob heads — largely Timberwolf1777’s handiwork, which the mods were still asking people to take down on 7 November (“You, too, Timberwolf1777”). That snapshot is kept exactly as it was downloaded. Beside it there is now a clearly labelled reconstruction: the nine regions around spawn with the decorations removed and the block underneath restored from the December 2013 snapshot (1,819 blocks across 51 chunks; anything December couldn’t answer was left alone). It is also the archive’s one living world — day turns to night, weather passes and mobs spawn, so the old grinders run and you can see Leoville after dark. In game: /warp spawn2013.

In the chat logs: 77 mentions on 22 days, 2013-09-27 → 2013-10-31. “Scarry Larry's Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Hut Now Open!” — vantes, 2013-09-27 The decorating began in September. all of them →

The weekly Ender Dragon hunt

Every reset of the resource world respawned the Ender Dragon, and the community turned it into a standing event — a weekly group hunt, with /home disabled in the End to keep it fair.

In the chat logs: 58 mentions on 34 days, 2013-07-13 → 2014-02-02. “I like exploring the resource world and killing the ender dragon” — Timberwolf1777, 2013-08-07 all of them →

Pig races — and Sir Pigsington's funeral

Organized pig racing (brackets, skyboxes, gambling to fund the DOT and Aquadome) was a fixture. When PosterAnonymous's racing pig — "Sir Charles Pigsington the Third, Esquire" — was killed by a creeper, he was given a full roleplay funeral with a 21-arrow salute.

In the chat logs: 8 mentions on 6 days, 2013-06-25 → 2013-07-10. “where is sir pigsington III's grave?” — Gooblerz, 2013-07-24 all of them →

The Happy Horse Hunt & the Pumpkin God

After horses arrived in 1.6, geo131313 and PosterAnonymous hid tamed horses and clue chests across the map for a server-wide scavenger hunt. And a whimsical "Pumpkin Man Army" kept invading Flatland, until PosterAnonymous claimed to have "banished them to the Nether."

In the chat logs: 11 mentions on 8 days, 2013-07-12 → 2013-07-10. “me and PA are doing horse hunts where we put horses at random places on the map and you find them” — geo131313, 2013-07-12 · “umm the pumpkin god is very real” — Timberwolf1777, 2013-09-27 all of them →

Betting on grass

Perhaps the purest TWiTcraft pastime of all. At the horse track VanteS and geo131313 built sat a grass-growing arena: a field of bare dirt, and a standing bet on which block would be the last to sprout grass. Players spent whole nights on it. Box-holders at VanteS’s Horse Racing Exhibition got access to it as an amenity, and grass bets were even used to decide where a horse race would finish — the wagers real enough that VanDerProtofsky could remind a fellow gambler “don’t forget what we owe after the last grass growing game.” It outlived the 2013 reset, rebuilt in the new map’s mod city, and OMGchad singled it out in his OMGcraft tour of the server as one of the things players loved most.

In the chat logs: 67 mentions on 36 days, 2013-06-25 → 2014-01-17. “i still dont see how grass growing is more popular to gamble on then pig racing” — Gooblerz, 2013-06-25 · “I had a bad run with grass growing competitions :P” — ipodparf, 2013-07-06 all of them →

Smokey's Wrath

Timberwolf1777 kept a caged pet wither named Smokey. When Curley changed the wither block-damage rules, it broke loose and tore through the Citadel, the Mirage Mall and East Leoville before VanteS killed it — an incident players were still recounting a year later.

In the chat logs: 71 mentions on 14 days, 2013-07-10 → 2013-07-10. “Ill send smokey to rescue you if you get stuck!” — Timberwolf1777, 2013-08-06 Smokey was still a running joke the following summer. all of them →

The fake-OMGchad hack

A griefer exploited a Mojang authentication bug to log in as the omgchad admin account, poured over a million coins of diamonds into the economy, ran WorldEdit wipes and spawned a dozen withers in the End. Curley patched the hole and rolled the economy back.

In the chat logs: 2 mentions on 2 days, 2013-09-09 → 2013-09-13. “Did you hack the console?*” — omgchad, 2013-09-09 · “OMG Chad tried to hack his own server!” — 5murg111, 2013-09-13 The logs date it exactly: Monday 9 September 2013, 14:12–14:55 on the logger’s clock. The whole afternoon is on The Chat, and the history page now follows it hour by hour. all of them →

The 1.7 reset schism

Whether to wipe the map for the 1.7 update split the server for months: full reset, keep the map, or reset-but-transfer the "worthy" builds. It ended in a full wipe — and Timberwolf1777 and FreonKnight left over it, taking the Citadel and the Airfield with them.

"This is TwitCraft, not CurleyCraft"

At the end, Timberwolf — who worked at TWiT — revealed that the option to keep the free hardware running under community admins had been "pitched to Chad and Curley months ago… Curley simply did not want to give it up." The full account of the ending is on the history page.

The kid-town wars

The reset cost the server most of its veterans, and the players who inherited the new map were noticeably younger — and what they did with it is oddly moving. They rebuilt the whole civic apparatus of old TWiTcraft in miniature: where 2012 had Leoville, the DOT and SGS, 2014 had a dozen small towns — BlazeVille, SkyLandz, Moonville, Athra, Venteare — each with a mayor, a council, a company and its own ban list.

DayGlow Industries vs Diamond Inc.

The era's defining rivalry was between two player "industries" — Diego's DayGlow, with a Weebly site, a radio station and a nether-road service, and goldengrace23's Diamond Inc. When their logos looked alike, Diego opened a front — "my company has Copyrights," he warned, and threatened to take it to court — then escalated to real estate, declaring "Skylandz is now Property of DayGlow In." and annexing goldengrace23's sky-island town outright. gregor1942 refereed with an unsolicited lecture on why a shop that sells stock it doesn't have goes broke.

In the chat logs: 6 mentions on 3 days, 2013-09-14 → 2014-03-26. “That's why he's Dayglow. :D” — PosterAnonymous, 2014-03-26 all of them →

Government by ban list

The little towns governed the way kids imagine governments do: through bans. BlazeVille posted a notice perma-banning a player who "killed every horse in the pen" and griefed the mayor's house — "u may not appeal!" — beside a ten-day ban and one pardon for an in-game apology. Founding Athra, goldengrace23 gave zog011 a full year for "being a jerk to every single person in my council." And when goldengrace23 kept asking to join the closed Chadville Council, gregor1942 answered with the courtesy of an adult managing a persistent child: "there is nothing official. so i ask that you please quit asking. please."

The last word

It ended unhappily for the era's most prolific builder: goldengrace23 was perma-banned amid complaints of bullying. The last word on it is to the community's credit. When players kept dragging the name up, VanteS — by then the only moderator left — shut it down: "stop bringing up Goldengrace, he has been perma banned. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it." At the very end, with the server dying around him, the last adult in the room was still looking after the kids.