Minecraft - f13 Server is: chugging along... again (Read OP)

[Lantyssa]

You probably don't have to mess with the router at all if it's all on the LAN.  I mean the Windows Firewall.

Start -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall

[Cyrrex]

Hey all, what is a good, reliable, cheap server host for a minecraft server?  My kids are bugging the shit out of me.  We have Minecraft Realms, but I think they are getting tired with the lack of ability to run mods on it.  So yeah, it would need to be a server that can easily be patched or modded with whatever they like.  Bonus points for ease of use.

[Rendakor]

>reliable
>cheap
Choose 1.

[Cyrrex]

Okay, let's try reliable.

[Count Nerfedalot]

Not intending to be rude, but it staggers me how many people can handle mods in Minecraft but wont touch running it in server mode because why?  For 4 or 5 concurrent users, it's really not a problem. if you have a computer that can handle games from this decade, you've got the horsepower.  If you have something better than dialup internet you have the bandwidth. So what's the big hangup? It is not hard, just maybe an hour's tedium getting java and your router set up right and create a whitelist.  Not all that much more than you have to go through to set up an account and billing and configuring the server and whatnot for a commercial service. 

We ran home servers for years, literally. Even left it running in the background while playing other games like EQ2 or FFIV.  We finally switched to Realms largely out of laziness, with a minor factor being occasional unreliability in internet service which left out our friends.  We're talking about switching back, because Microsoft is pissing us off with multiple bullshit issues related to us trying to move one of our several accounts to her son who we bought it for.  Plus our server friends are mostly AWOL now and we miss being able to play even while TWC circlejerks itself, which we could while self-hosting.

[murdoc]

Not intending to be rude, but it staggers me how many people can handle mods in Minecraft but wont touch running it in server mode because why?  For 4 or 5 concurrent users, it's really not a problem. if you have a computer that can handle games from this decade, you've got the horsepower.  If you have something better than dialup internet you have the bandwidth. So what's the big hangup? It is not hard, just maybe an hour's tedium getting java and your router set up right and create a whitelist.  Not all that much more than you have to go through to set up an account and billing and configuring the server and whatnot for a commercial service. 

We ran home servers for years, literally. Even left it running in the background while playing other games like EQ2 or FFIV.  We finally switched to Realms largely out of laziness, with a minor factor being occasional unreliability in internet service which left out our friends.  We're talking about switching back, because Microsoft is pissing us off with multiple bullshit issues related to us trying to move one of our several accounts to her son who we bought it for.  Plus our server friends are mostly AWOL now and we miss being able to play even while TWC circlejerks itself, which we could while self-hosting.

I ran a Minecraft server for some friends and I (5 total) off an old gaming laptop for over a year. It was super simple to set up and maintain and barely twitched my bandwidth.

[Lantyssa]

Same.  I used it as an excuse to get a server box going, but its footprint and set-up were minimal.

[CmdrSlack]

We never got our local server situation to work here...could never get the laptop to connect neither to the server nor via the other options.

Do I need to basically set up a completely separate Minecraft account for my kid? Is it that we're both using "my" account, but with two separate profiles?

[apocrypha]

Do I need to basically set up a completely separate Minecraft account for my kid? Is it that we're both using "my" account, but with two separate profiles?

Yes, I think so. Even on a local LAN Minecraft authenticates with Mojang's servers AFAIK.

From (I kid you not) Minemum    :

How many people can play with the same account?
More than one person can use the same account, but only one player can be logged into the account on a computer at any one time. The game files which are stored on that computer (data about worlds created, items collected and achievements) are updated each time someone plays using that account. This means that if your kids want to use the same computer but keep the things they do in the game separate, then they'll each need their own account. Likewise if they want to play on a multiplayer server at the same time with different usernames, you'll need more than one account.

Edit: That's actually quite a good site!

[CmdrSlack]

Well thanks souless ginger kid with the headset who shouts. Thanks for telling me that fucking bit of data.

I've been slamming my figurative cock in a drawer trying to figure this shit out.

[Count Nerfedalot]

I'm not going to tell you how to run two simultaneous instances off one account, that's piracy. It's wrong, and it's asinine when the game is only, what, $25 or so and Mojang bent over backwards to make it as consumer friendly and DRM-free as possible (Mojang account management stupidity notwithstanding).  I got it at $20 in beta and it has been far and away the best $20 I have ever spent on entertainment. Software is also my trade, so there's that too.

I STRONGLY suggest whitelisting any server that you expose to public ports. We have repeatedly seen external unknown sources attempting to enter both our Minecraft and Teamspeak servers.  Just a couple days ago Malwarebytes reported it was blocking someone trying to hack our (password protected) teamspeak server!   

If all you are doing is internal LAN playing together, then it's even easier, with the caveat that the hosting player has to have the game running any time anyone else wants to play on the shared world.  Just start the game on the host, hit ESC to get to the game menu, hit "Open to LAN", and done. Our 7 year old grandson and his buddy manage that.

[CmdrSlack]

You probably don't have to mess with the router at all if it's all on the LAN.  I mean the Windows Firewall.

Start -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall

This ended up being the problem...once I worked out that the same account w/ different profiles wasn't workable. I guess my PC had turned off incoming java connections over the LAN at some point. I haven't heard my daughter say "dude" to me that many times in that short of a time span ever before. Now that she knows that I am not completely lame, she has produced a written list of mods that she has been wanting to try.

[Lantyssa]

Did I just make a dad appear to be a hero to his daughter?

That's so cool.  You made my day.

[CmdrSlack]

Did I just make a dad appear to be a hero to his daughter?

That's so cool.  You made my day.

I told her about/showed this post.  Her comment, "Minecraft needs a red panda mod."

[Paelos]

Agreed.

[Lantyssa]

Seconded!

[apocrypha]

Mod discontinued unfortunately.

[CmdrSlack]

There is an online coding class for kids that teaches them to build mods. If my daughter enjoys some of the BitsBox projects, she may just get it for her birthday next month.

[Hawkbit]

Here we go:  http://mashable.com/2015/01/15/simpsons-characters-are-invading-the-minecraft-universe/

Now we can start the beginning of the end.

[Rishathra]

I don't know if I just can't figure out how mods work for Minecraft, or what?  There are all these cool mods that my son sees on YouTube and wants to try out, but none of them are compatible with 1.8.  The videos he watches are current, though.  What am I missing, here?  Does nobody use 1.8 who uses mods, or something?

[Torinak]

I don't know if I just can't figure out how mods work for Minecraft, or what?  There are all these cool mods that my son sees on YouTube and wants to try out, but none of them are compatible with 1.8.  The videos he watches are current, though.  What am I missing, here?  Does nobody use 1.8 who uses mods, or something?

Due to the third-party nature of Minecraft mod development, mods take a while to keep up with Minecraft updates. Some are never updated. Others skip over certain Minecraft builds entirely due to the nature of the changes (e.g., the 1.8 version apparently made huge changes that make some modder's lives harder). Some of the smaller mods are starting to update to 1.8, but most of the big ones haven't yet.

Stick with 1.7.10 for now, or even 1.6.4.

To download mods, use ONLY links from the official Minecraft forums: www.minecraftforum.net. the posts by the mod's authors will have download links that may be via Curse, the mod's official site (for those that have them), or one of the crappy "free" file hosts out there. There are tons of other sites out there that bundle mods with malware.

A manually curated partial list of mods with links to the above and to the mod's official site (if it exists) can be found at http://modlist.mcf.li/version/1.8, or http://modlist.mcf.li/version/1.7.10 for 1.7.10.

[Merusk]

I don't know if I just can't figure out how mods work for Minecraft, or what?  There are all these cool mods that my son sees on YouTube and wants to try out, but none of them are compatible with 1.8.  The videos he watches are current, though.  What am I missing, here?  Does nobody use 1.8 who uses mods, or something?

Yes. Vanilla players use the latest build. Modders are 3-4 builds behind that because they are young and working for free.

What you have to do is either edit your existing profile or create another one. On the editor you'll see "use version" down towards the bottom. YOu can pick any prior MC version to run as.

[Sky]

Our first 1.7 server was 1.7.10, we had stuck with 1.6.4 for a long time. Whatever runs the mods with the least amount of bugginess imo.

[Rishathra]

Thanks for the info, guys.  Every time I tried looking for mod websites, they all seemed rather skeevy.  I'll check out those links.

[apocrypha]

The other option is pre-configured modpacks which install and run from a launcher. The two launchers that have the most content are the Technic Platform and the Feed The Beast ones. The f13 server runs on the Technic one.

There's loads of interesting packs out there that bundle together multiple mods and require very little dicking about to make them work. There's lots of different playstyles catered to, with things like Hexxit and Tekkit offering either basic magic or tech mod collections, TPPI which is a very balanced pack (although TPPI2 due out soonish), FTB-Infinity and Direwolf20 giving many different options for progression, down to things like Regrowth, which is a newish pack with a much more structured, quest-driven experience.

The launchers really do take a lot of the fiddling around out of playing and hosting modded MC, I'm a big fan.

[Xanthippe]

I'm a big fan of both Technic and FTB launchers. They take all the headache out and the work out for figuring out what works with what for playing on a home network.

[Rishathra]

So I'm trying out this Technic launcher.  Is it basically building its own Minecraft separate from my existing installation?  That's what it appears to be doing, at least.

[Xanthippe]

So I'm trying out this Technic launcher.  Is it basically building its own Minecraft separate from my existing installation?  That's what it appears to be doing, at least.

Yes. It takes all the hassle out of it for you. You can use different modpacks that use different versions of minecraft and it will do all of the housekeeping for you.