7 ms·

The largest available Minecraft world, totalling 15 TB

247 points by _____k 3mo ago

mlyle 3mo ago
Chunks were made with different versions, but I wonder if there's any viable approach to figure out the seed & generating version of minecraft and store just deltas.
- smithcoin 3mo ago
  It was made on 2b2t, the seed is well known: -4172144997902289642. FitMC makes a video where he shows what the original spawn looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksS00MCQPog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksS00MCQPog
  - zamadatix 3mo ago
    2b2t has used multiple seeds over its lifetime and has long since used custom (and not released) modifications to the terrain generator. I.e. this doesn't work all too well beyond spawn.
- ivanjermakov 3mo ago
  There are tools to find seed given some obstruct information like cacti height or bedrock patterns, and it's a problem for those trying to find a private spot on anarchy servers like 2B2T. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36q4Ze0kFu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36q4Ze0kFu8 https://github.com/DaMatrix/SaveSearcher https://github.com/DaMatrix/SaveSearcher
- 1bpp 3mo ago
  I think "storing deltas" based on seed is largely how Minecraft saves the level already, but you could probably strip out a bunch of useless metadata to get it smaller
  - NobodyNada 3mo ago
    > I think "storing deltas" based on seed is largely how Minecraft saves the level already This is not the case, level data is stored in full. One reason for this is that level generation is pretty slow (compare the time it takes to create a new world vs. load an existing one); another reason is that it changes between versions.
    - DefineOutside 3mo ago
      Fun fact - bedrock only saves chunks modified by the player because consoles are much more restrictive with save file size than PC. If the world gets too big, your save is effectively lost. Java does save chunks after generation, likely due to world gen updates not seamlessly transitioning with older versions of the game and PCs not caring about save size.
      - mjevans 3mo ago
        What does bedrock consider 'modification'? E.G. cutting trees / plants? How about mining? I imagine 'forgetting' softly touched chunks could be a notable benefit.
    - 1bpp 3mo ago
      My bad, I had skimmed the wiki to confirm but I did misinterpret it as only storing NBT data for user-placed blocks, regenerating the rest. It makes sense why that wouldn't work.
smithcoin 3mo ago
SalC1 made a great video about how this was accomplished: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyze1YlOrI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyze1YlOrI
jorl17 3mo ago
I have such fond memories of venturing into 2b2t in 2016! I think it was one of the last times I truly felt like a kid in my life. As if I was a part of something larger than me. Multiple factions, and people betraying each other. Secrecy abound. The scarcity of resources leading to small groups forming joining for survival. Item duplication bugs being exploited all the time! Oh, and of course, the wonderful world of hacked clients. The idea of anarchy was gripping! It was so thrilling! I'd wait hours in a queue and then explore. The difficulty of escaping spawn in the first day, and only surviving because of an apple that a kind stranger gifted me before they died has stuck with me for 10 years (10 years?!!). Contributing to a nether highway (I believe it was +xy?), creating small bases for millions and millions of blocks all with my signature style and leaving a sign. I wonder how many of them are still standing? And I wonder if the last place I logged out of has ever been found. Imagination does wonders if it's nudged just right :)
- asdff 3mo ago
  The freedom of loosely moderated minecraft was amazing back in the day. I traded hats all the time between being a shameless griefer or actual contributor to community projects. I remember one server far away from spawn had a growing 1:1 imperial city from Oblivion build going on, that they specifically didn't want to use any build tools for (server admins project). Because of the vertical scale and height limit of the game at the time, they had to dig down to bedrock. You'd actually be "employed" by the master builders to simply clear out stone and dump it into chests. They'd provide you with seemingly endless diamond pickaxes and shovels, along with whatever share of the cobble or ore you'd want although you'd have to haul it out to your base wherever that was. I must have worked for them for months. I wonder if they ever finished the build. They had the central tower completed though.
  - tehbeard 3mo ago
    Your name seems familiar... I don't think it was finished before the map got rotated out due to all the changes to Minecraft world gen back then, decent progress was made on the big dig though. It should be in the ver3/terra map download; best of luck getting the world data updated for modern MC. http://forum.escapecraft.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=10322&p=149015 http://forum.escapecraft.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=10...
sourweasel 3mo ago
>"The data provided is NOT a single playable Minecraft world, but rather a highly compressed collection of several world downloads of 2b2t." I feel like HN needs to have a small model that compares post title to the article content and assigns it an accuracy score.
- poly2it 3mo ago
  What is the issue? You can still download the world files, but it would be inconvenient to store them in Minecraft's unoptimal format.
  - xmprt 3mo ago
    "The largest available Minecraft world" implies we're talking about one world. Then "totaling 15TB" implies the world is 15TB large which would be incredibly impressive and potentially involve multiple shards of minecraft servers stitched together. But 15TB of world files means there's multiple copies of the same data. Still impressive but not the same as a single 15TB world.
    - shhsshs 3mo ago
      The only redundant part of this snapshot is the second 512k^2 snapshot of the overworld. The End and Nether snapshots are still meaningful. Excluding the 512k^2 snapshot, the size would be around 12TB. And the actual size of the 2b2t world is likely much larger than 15TB. The data for this project is stored in a highly compressed form, much more efficient than the game's standard file format.
      - Onavo 3mo ago
        Microsoft can probably scale Minecraft up to support infinitely large sized worlds if they want to. Minecraft lazy loads the world in chunks so you there's no real limitation (aside from machine digit sizes)
        3mo ago
tkel 3mo ago
"players protested against these changes, this time by placing large amounts of hateful symbols and hate speech on signs all around the server"
kyledrake 3mo ago
Oh wow, they actually provided the full torrent. I was always hoping they would so it could be studied. For those unfamiliar, 2B2T was a Minecraft anarchy server that had almost no restrictions. It devolved into roving gangs of people trying to kill each other, use cheats to find secret bases, etc. The trick to hiding on this server was to go as far away as possible from the center, which led to an enormous map size. I joined with a friend several years ago to see if we could survive, and it took days just to get out of the spawn, which was completely destroyed, surrounded by massive walls, and flooded with Withers (very difficult to kill enemies). Fascinating study and perhaps the biggest metaverse experiment that's ever happened (but definitely the most lawless one). This is what spawn looked like from above https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vrKyqEBoNvRVbCtHoG6BGX-970-80.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vrKyqEBoNvRVbCtHoG6BGX-970...
- krisroadruck 3mo ago
  Was? It's still online no?
  - doodlesdev 3mo ago
    It's still online, but it's not anarchy anymore [0]. [0]: https://www.2b2t.org/terms/ https://www.2b2t.org/terms/
    - pineapplepizza6 3mo ago
      [flagged]
      - DANmode 3mo ago
        Hey now, they just want a very polite, predictable world for the children! /s
        lwkl 3mo ago
        Microsoft just wants to avoid press of kids getting groomed or seeing adult content on Minecraft servers. Stuff like this is bad for a brand that primarily targets kids as new players and could get them into hot water with regulators. I personally believe that they probably should add parental controls to Minecraft so parents can control what if and what kind of servers kids can join. I also believe more control will put more scrutiny on Microsoft since I haven't a lot of negative press about child safety in Minecraft especially in comparison with Roblox for example.
verdverm 3mo ago
Nice history video of 2b2t server: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3eTxoWSo7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3eTxoWSo7c
- SV_BubbleTime 3mo ago
  Three hours…
pineapplepizza6 3mo ago
The censorship story is lame. Someone should set up a new uncensored server.
- flexagoon 3mo ago
  There are plenty of other Minecraft anarchy servers out there
fcatalan 3mo ago
I spent a few weeks there back in the day. After the ordeal of surviving the spawn I remember it as a haunting and melancholic experience: you kept finding decayed places, huge projects long abandoned, vandalized monuments, vague traces of simpler dwellings, hidden orchards. I haven't played a lot of Minecraft but I'm glad that most of the little I played was there.
- Morromist 3mo ago
  I did too. It had a LOT more swastikas at that time, it was a natural hangout for bored edgelords taking time off 4chan. I travelled far out and built a small underground base and then got bored. It wasn't easy to survive and get out of spawn because there was no food or soil or trees. If anyone wants to look at it in your browser see this link: https://2b2t.place/@934,528,0.1179,0 https://2b2t.place/@934,528,0.1179,0 If you want to relive your minecraft memories without actually playing minecraft again I recommend you check out the excellent game Vintage Story.
jonym 3mo ago
Also the most expensive Minecraft world :D
karim79 3mo ago
I am a greybeard and I always find this stuff to be fascinating. Should I invest time in it for relaxation? I think I have the diablo-ish Minecraft thing on my Xbox series X. Is it worth the time?
- ashtonshears 3mo ago
  No
- ThrowawayTestr 3mo ago
  Minecraft is fun. 2b2t is not.
- efilife 3mo ago
  Try it, why not. There's even a tutorial world on the consoles if you prefer it
- Cthulhu_ 3mo ago
  By all means try out Minecraft, it can be fun. Dungeons is a spinoff, a superficial Diablo clone that just uses the Minecraft theme and name.
ramgine 3mo ago
How would one go about running this server, or a part of it? I’m guessing not all the map has to be in ram at the same time right?
- zamadatix 3mo ago
  If you want to play normally you can just log in to 2b2t. If you wanted to play these snapshots in your own way then you'd need to decompress them and recompress them into normal Minecraft save format. You don't have to do the whole thing, (which is good considering the 15 TB figure is for the more optimally compressed version). At any point you can do this from disk. Only the chunks the Minecraft server/client have currently loaded in view distance need to go into RAM.
gverrilla 3mo ago
> Complete freedom > hateful symbols, hate speech What a despicable freedom...
- zamadatix 3mo ago
  Also not those things, much like real life. Renounce what is said in freedom (with good reasons) when you see it. Don't shove it under the rug and regret it grows around you when you close your ears. That is what makes freedom beautiful, not the enlightened few saying what's good to talk about and what's not.
- Cthulhu_ 3mo ago
  That's the difficult part. I don't think there should be "complete" freedom, or "free speech absolutionism" - there should be no tolerance for intolerance. Opposing voices / opinions by all means.
  - kderbyma 3mo ago
    Intollerance is an absolute...you cannot include any part of it without the whole....wishful thinking of illogical utopianism is all that leads to
  - tempaccountabgd 3mo ago
    [dead]
hserhsehse 3mo ago
[flagged]

247 points by _____k 3mo ago

mlyle 3mo ago

Chunks were made with different versions, but I wonder if there's any viable approach to figure out the seed & generating version of minecraft and store just deltas.

smithcoin 3mo ago
It was made on 2b2t, the seed is well known: -4172144997902289642. FitMC makes a video where he shows what the original spawn looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksS00MCQPog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksS00MCQPog
- zamadatix 3mo ago
  2b2t has used multiple seeds over its lifetime and has long since used custom (and not released) modifications to the terrain generator. I.e. this doesn't work all too well beyond spawn.
ivanjermakov 3mo ago
There are tools to find seed given some obstruct information like cacti height or bedrock patterns, and it's a problem for those trying to find a private spot on anarchy servers like 2B2T. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36q4Ze0kFu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36q4Ze0kFu8 https://github.com/DaMatrix/SaveSearcher https://github.com/DaMatrix/SaveSearcher
1bpp 3mo ago
I think "storing deltas" based on seed is largely how Minecraft saves the level already, but you could probably strip out a bunch of useless metadata to get it smaller
- NobodyNada 3mo ago
  > I think "storing deltas" based on seed is largely how Minecraft saves the level already This is not the case, level data is stored in full. One reason for this is that level generation is pretty slow (compare the time it takes to create a new world vs. load an existing one); another reason is that it changes between versions.
  - DefineOutside 3mo ago
    Fun fact - bedrock only saves chunks modified by the player because consoles are much more restrictive with save file size than PC. If the world gets too big, your save is effectively lost. Java does save chunks after generation, likely due to world gen updates not seamlessly transitioning with older versions of the game and PCs not caring about save size.
    - mjevans 3mo ago
      What does bedrock consider 'modification'? E.G. cutting trees / plants? How about mining? I imagine 'forgetting' softly touched chunks could be a notable benefit.
  - 1bpp 3mo ago
    My bad, I had skimmed the wiki to confirm but I did misinterpret it as only storing NBT data for user-placed blocks, regenerating the rest. It makes sense why that wouldn't work.

smithcoin 3mo ago

SalC1 made a great video about how this was accomplished: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyze1YlOrI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyze1YlOrI

jorl17 3mo ago

I have such fond memories of venturing into 2b2t in 2016! I think it was one of the last times I truly felt like a kid in my life. As if I was a part of something larger than me. Multiple factions, and people betraying each other. Secrecy abound. The scarcity of resources leading to small groups forming joining for survival. Item duplication bugs being exploited all the time! Oh, and of course, the wonderful world of hacked clients. The idea of anarchy was gripping! It was so thrilling! I'd wait hours in a queue and then explore. The difficulty of escaping spawn in the first day, and only surviving because of an apple that a kind stranger gifted me before they died has stuck with me for 10 years (10 years?!!). Contributing to a nether highway (I believe it was +xy?), creating small bases for millions and millions of blocks all with my signature style and leaving a sign. I wonder how many of them are still standing? And I wonder if the last place I logged out of has ever been found. Imagination does wonders if it's nudged just right :)

asdff 3mo ago
The freedom of loosely moderated minecraft was amazing back in the day. I traded hats all the time between being a shameless griefer or actual contributor to community projects. I remember one server far away from spawn had a growing 1:1 imperial city from Oblivion build going on, that they specifically didn't want to use any build tools for (server admins project). Because of the vertical scale and height limit of the game at the time, they had to dig down to bedrock. You'd actually be "employed" by the master builders to simply clear out stone and dump it into chests. They'd provide you with seemingly endless diamond pickaxes and shovels, along with whatever share of the cobble or ore you'd want although you'd have to haul it out to your base wherever that was. I must have worked for them for months. I wonder if they ever finished the build. They had the central tower completed though.
- tehbeard 3mo ago
  Your name seems familiar... I don't think it was finished before the map got rotated out due to all the changes to Minecraft world gen back then, decent progress was made on the big dig though. It should be in the ver3/terra map download; best of luck getting the world data updated for modern MC. http://forum.escapecraft.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=10322&p=149015 http://forum.escapecraft.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=10...

sourweasel 3mo ago

>"The data provided is NOT a single playable Minecraft world, but rather a highly compressed collection of several world downloads of 2b2t." I feel like HN needs to have a small model that compares post title to the article content and assigns it an accuracy score.

poly2it 3mo ago
What is the issue? You can still download the world files, but it would be inconvenient to store them in Minecraft's unoptimal format.
- xmprt 3mo ago
  "The largest available Minecraft world" implies we're talking about one world. Then "totaling 15TB" implies the world is 15TB large which would be incredibly impressive and potentially involve multiple shards of minecraft servers stitched together. But 15TB of world files means there's multiple copies of the same data. Still impressive but not the same as a single 15TB world.
  - shhsshs 3mo ago
    The only redundant part of this snapshot is the second 512k^2 snapshot of the overworld. The End and Nether snapshots are still meaningful. Excluding the 512k^2 snapshot, the size would be around 12TB. And the actual size of the 2b2t world is likely much larger than 15TB. The data for this project is stored in a highly compressed form, much more efficient than the game's standard file format.
    - Onavo 3mo ago
      Microsoft can probably scale Minecraft up to support infinitely large sized worlds if they want to. Minecraft lazy loads the world in chunks so you there's no real limitation (aside from machine digit sizes)
      - 3mo ago

tkel 3mo ago

"players protested against these changes, this time by placing large amounts of hateful symbols and hate speech on signs all around the server"

kyledrake 3mo ago

Oh wow, they actually provided the full torrent. I was always hoping they would so it could be studied. For those unfamiliar, 2B2T was a Minecraft anarchy server that had almost no restrictions. It devolved into roving gangs of people trying to kill each other, use cheats to find secret bases, etc. The trick to hiding on this server was to go as far away as possible from the center, which led to an enormous map size. I joined with a friend several years ago to see if we could survive, and it took days just to get out of the spawn, which was completely destroyed, surrounded by massive walls, and flooded with Withers (very difficult to kill enemies). Fascinating study and perhaps the biggest metaverse experiment that's ever happened (but definitely the most lawless one). This is what spawn looked like from above https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vrKyqEBoNvRVbCtHoG6BGX-970-80.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vrKyqEBoNvRVbCtHoG6BGX-970...

krisroadruck 3mo ago
Was? It's still online no?
- doodlesdev 3mo ago
  It's still online, but it's not anarchy anymore [0]. [0]: https://www.2b2t.org/terms/ https://www.2b2t.org/terms/
  - pineapplepizza6 3mo ago
    [flagged]
    - DANmode 3mo ago
      Hey now, they just want a very polite, predictable world for the children! /s
      - lwkl 3mo ago
        Microsoft just wants to avoid press of kids getting groomed or seeing adult content on Minecraft servers. Stuff like this is bad for a brand that primarily targets kids as new players and could get them into hot water with regulators. I personally believe that they probably should add parental controls to Minecraft so parents can control what if and what kind of servers kids can join. I also believe more control will put more scrutiny on Microsoft since I haven't a lot of negative press about child safety in Minecraft especially in comparison with Roblox for example.

verdverm 3mo ago

Nice history video of 2b2t server: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3eTxoWSo7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3eTxoWSo7c

SV_BubbleTime 3mo ago
Three hours…

pineapplepizza6 3mo ago

The censorship story is lame. Someone should set up a new uncensored server.

flexagoon 3mo ago
There are plenty of other Minecraft anarchy servers out there

fcatalan 3mo ago

I spent a few weeks there back in the day. After the ordeal of surviving the spawn I remember it as a haunting and melancholic experience: you kept finding decayed places, huge projects long abandoned, vandalized monuments, vague traces of simpler dwellings, hidden orchards. I haven't played a lot of Minecraft but I'm glad that most of the little I played was there.

Morromist 3mo ago
I did too. It had a LOT more swastikas at that time, it was a natural hangout for bored edgelords taking time off 4chan. I travelled far out and built a small underground base and then got bored. It wasn't easy to survive and get out of spawn because there was no food or soil or trees. If anyone wants to look at it in your browser see this link: https://2b2t.place/@934,528,0.1179,0 https://2b2t.place/@934,528,0.1179,0 If you want to relive your minecraft memories without actually playing minecraft again I recommend you check out the excellent game Vintage Story.

jonym 3mo ago

Also the most expensive Minecraft world :D

karim79 3mo ago

I am a greybeard and I always find this stuff to be fascinating. Should I invest time in it for relaxation? I think I have the diablo-ish Minecraft thing on my Xbox series X. Is it worth the time?

ashtonshears 3mo ago
No
ThrowawayTestr 3mo ago
Minecraft is fun. 2b2t is not.
efilife 3mo ago
Try it, why not. There's even a tutorial world on the consoles if you prefer it
Cthulhu_ 3mo ago
By all means try out Minecraft, it can be fun. Dungeons is a spinoff, a superficial Diablo clone that just uses the Minecraft theme and name.

ramgine 3mo ago

How would one go about running this server, or a part of it? I’m guessing not all the map has to be in ram at the same time right?

zamadatix 3mo ago
If you want to play normally you can just log in to 2b2t. If you wanted to play these snapshots in your own way then you'd need to decompress them and recompress them into normal Minecraft save format. You don't have to do the whole thing, (which is good considering the 15 TB figure is for the more optimally compressed version). At any point you can do this from disk. Only the chunks the Minecraft server/client have currently loaded in view distance need to go into RAM.

gverrilla 3mo ago

> Complete freedom > hateful symbols, hate speech What a despicable freedom...

zamadatix 3mo ago
Also not those things, much like real life. Renounce what is said in freedom (with good reasons) when you see it. Don't shove it under the rug and regret it grows around you when you close your ears. That is what makes freedom beautiful, not the enlightened few saying what's good to talk about and what's not.
Cthulhu_ 3mo ago
That's the difficult part. I don't think there should be "complete" freedom, or "free speech absolutionism" - there should be no tolerance for intolerance. Opposing voices / opinions by all means.
- kderbyma 3mo ago
  Intollerance is an absolute...you cannot include any part of it without the whole....wishful thinking of illogical utopianism is all that leads to
- tempaccountabgd 3mo ago
  [dead]

hserhsehse 3mo ago

[flagged]