So we now know that Caves & Cliffs Part 1 will be released to the general public on June 8th – Tuesday! A few things are going to change, but remember – we have to wait until our plugins are updated before the server can be updated.

Just a reminder, 1.17 Part 1 is only going to be adding new blocks and mobs (glow squid, goats and axlotls). The world generation for the actual caves (plus the Warden) is not until 1.18, that will come in early 2022. 1.18? Yep, that’s what Part 2 will be called, as it’s pretty big by itself, so it gets a major number.

Because the world generation won’t happen until at least the start of 2022, we won’t be adding a new world in this update. OldSurvival and NewSurvival will stay for the time being. As the Survival worlds are preloaded with a worldborder, all of the explorable land has been explored, so nothing new will spawn in the current worldborder of 5k x 5k, so we’ll be expanding the NewSurvival worldborder to 7.5k x 7.5k. Yes, Some blocks will generate in the game – like amethysts and copper. If you want those new items, you’re going to need to go exploring in the new areas! For the other items that won’t naturally spawn, they’ll be available in a new style of shop, for a price of a certain amount of diamonds. Those same items will be also available in Creative Mode.

When Update 2 comes out and is available for us in 2022, OldSurvival will go, NewSurvival will be renamed 116Survival, and a brand new 118Survival world will appear, in all it’s worldgen glory!

After 1.17 comes in, we’ll be removing the current /shop system and the ChestShops plugin, and adding two plugins – The Diamond Bank and Shopkeepers. The Diamond Bank allows for storage of diamonds in a digital vault. Holding diamonds in your hand, enter /deposit and they’ll be safely stored away. Entering /withdraw will get them out. Shopkeepers uses villagers with custom selling interfaces – much like what you see already, but players can add the items they want to sell, for either an amount of diamonds, or to trade. They work really well, and shopkeepers are also able to be changed to different mobs.

Still confused? Ok. When we get 1.17 Part 1 in the coming month, we’ll:

• remove the current /shop system (we’re not really using it anyway, except to get more money)
• remove ChestShops.
• Current /balances will be wiped and removed.
• Add The Diamond Bank and Shopkeepers as the primary shop systems. These would be used on both OldSurvival and NewSurvival.
• Competition plots will be free (more info on this soon)
• Competition prizes and referral bonuses will become diamonds, not money.
• More /sethomes will be diamonds, not money.
• Heads will be free to purchase, except player heads, that will cost diamonds.
• Players buy a special villager egg worth a diamond block for use in their shops. Small shop plots will also cost diamonds (more info on this later)
• AdminShop Villagers will be available at NewSurvival Trade Island so players can purchase the 1.17 items that do not naturally spawn, for diamonds.

Importantly, the biggest thing for you all to do right now is to start mining for diamonds! We will not be exchanging balances for diamonds. We will also be asking those of you that have built shops in the Trade Island to start tearing them down – the plots we use will be customisable, but much smaller.