Minecraft Alpha-Multiplayer 0.1.0 news

The Minecraft Alpha server software is finally released!

The biggest problem I had with this, is that I ran into bugs. then, I ran out of time, so inventory management will still be client-side.

The following things work, though:

• Joining / leaving a server
• Using most items
• Seeing what other people are using
• Chatting
• Infinite terrain exploration

The server does the following anti-cheat checks:

• It verifies that the player doesn't walk through walls
• The player can't claim to click a tile they can't reach, nor can they click through walls

The following cheats/hacks are possible at the moment, but will be fixed in the future:

• Flying isn't prevented
• Speedhacking isn't preventing (moving too fast, or digging too fast)
• Inventory management is client side still because I failed to get it done in time.
• Names/logins aren't verified yet

The release is a downloadable .jar file. this file can be run from the command line, and an .exe that runs a graphical interface for the server. To connect to a server, you will need to enter the IP for the server, and open up the required ports (the default port is the same as for minecraft classic, 25565)

The last thing I finished was visible player attack/mine animations (they're silly!) and visible carts and boats.

It's very rough around the edges, but it's a start!

I've added a new section to the download page, which includes some instructions on how to get it started. As I've said before, almost everything except the bare minimum is missing, but I thought it was important to get something out before I leave for Berlin tomorrow.

To connect to a server, you need to know the IP to the server, and the server needs to accept incoming connections in the port. To find out your own external ip, you can use Whatismyip.org. If you configure the server to run on anything other than the default port, just add “:” to the IP string. For example, if your IP number is 10.0.0.1, and the port is 5000, the connect string would be “10.0.0.1:5000”.

If people can't connect to your server, you might need to configure your router or firewall to accept incoming connections in the port (default 25565). How to do this varies per firewall and router, so check your manual.

You can copy and paste into the IP field in the client, by the way.

Here is my schedule for the next few weeks

Today (Thursday): I leave for BIGJam in Berlin, a weekend of meeting other indie game developers and making games.
There won't be a secret Friday update next week, because of this.

• August 10: I return from Berlin!
• August 11-13: Patching up multiplayer bugs, doing a small Friday update
• August 16-20: Work as usual, regular Friday update
• August 21-22: I Livesteam myself participating in Ludum Dare 18, a 48 hour game development competition. It's be several hours of watching eclipse and hearing me mumble as I get increasingly tired.
• August 25-29: I go to Finland. This means another missed Friday update!
• August 30: Back to work, finishing up survival mode multiplayer. Enemies will probably get added around here.

(development blog links #1 #2 #3 #4)