1.5 and LAN fun

If you didn’t know already version Minecraft got patch 1.5 yesterday which included:

* Weather (rain, snow, thunder)
* Statistics
* Achievements
* Detector rail
* Booster rail
* Performance improvements

Due to the Bukkit currently working on a new update system they are behind on releasing an update for their server software so most servers running Bukkit were (and may still be) inaccessible. Because of this Me and my girlfriend looked at getting a server setup via LAN. Its a pretty simple process if your on Windows.

First you start by downloading the Minecraft_Server.exe from http://www.minecraft.net/download.jsp. I would advise you to put this in its own folder before running it as once you open it then files relating to the server such as server properties, whitelist etc are generated in the same place as the exe. Once its installed then you run the server software which provides you with a simple GUI showing the server log and has a command box for typing in server commands. To connect to the server on your PC use, for other PCs on your network to connect you will need to find out your local IP address, a guide to do so can be found here. Once you are both on the server you can use the server GUI to set players as OPs, once you are an OP you will be able to do the server commands through your MineCraft client and can leave the server GUI minimized (dont close or it will shut down the server).

I was a little hesitant about getting our own server setup as I wouldn’t have any restrictions on being able to take shortcuts (spawning diamond tools, certain blocks, items etc) I took the plunge however and had a 5 hour stint building things only my imagination limited. Plus I was able to play with some of the new track pieces brought in 1.5 when I took steps to make my first redstone circuits and minecart system.