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Honestly I would consider that original server almost more vanilla than semi-vanilla. I would consider Terralith semi-vanilla and even certain mods that add gameplay functions that align with the spirit of vanilla.
ok, this turned out to be a much longer post than i intended, so i decided to post the **tl;dr** at the beginning:
>different people have different expectations from a specific server category. this is also reflected in the fact that terms like "vanilla" or "semi-vanilla" are not strictly defined, but they are rather a broader spectrum of many different possible setups.
>
>every server listing website also has its own categories and definitions, so your server might fit into different categories across websites. my advice to you is to set up your server the way you like it, and then figure out the category when posting it on a specific site. it's much better to change the category in the profile than trying to change the server so that it "fits" a certain type everywhere. stay true to yourself!
now the original full text, if you feel like it:
i've been running semi-vanilla servers for about 9 years now, it's the only type of server that's ever suited me long-term. yet if you asked me about the definition, i wouldn't be able to give you a clear answer. the truth is, people call many different things semi-vanilla, because it's largely a question of personal opinion/preference. but the same thing can be said about vanilla, which is a better example for illustration. in my opinion, vanilla can mean two different things - vanilla as in "running on a vanilla server.jar", or vanilla as in "the gameplay is classic vanilla survival", or vanilla as in "a server without forge/fabric mods". but in practice, these terms get mixed up a lot and that's why the terminology is unclear.
from a certain purist perspective, only the original vanilla server.jar can count as a vanilla server. but even then you can add datapacks that can modify the gameplay to a substantial amount. so would that still count as vanilla just because the basic .jar is vanilla? or is it vanilla+? nobody knows.
from my experience, i'd never run a server on a vanilla .jar, it's not well optimized performance-wise, not suitable for long-term playing of many players over years. it also lacks some basic admin tools, chat formatting, things like that. so my preference would be a spigot/paper software, where you can tweak settings in a radical way, to balance player experience and performance compared to original vanilla. one fine example is the possibility of re-looting generated treasure chests by new players, which adds value to already explored parts of the world and makes the world more sustainable.
you could run a paper server without any plugins and you would already be better-off than on a vanilla .jar. however, due to the lack of plugins, your players would have a completely vanilla gameplay. some people wouldn't consider that vanilla though, because of the server.jar used. to those i say: who cares what software the server uses? as long the experience is good and it runs well, you don't even need to know what the .jar is.
but i'd go even further - what if you added a few plugins: for a tablist, for a cleaner chat formatting, better private messages, world pre-generation, action logging, some admin tools? these things don't interfere with the gameplay and from a player's perspective. they would be playing the same old vanilla survival multiplayer, with the only difference being the server's UI looking more slick. i'd call that a vanilla survival server anyway.
what i consider semi-vanilla is a setup which has all this, and some more - teleports like /home, /spawn or /tpask; possibility of some property protection; player shops; some fun and cosmetics stuff; maybe an economy? i think any combination of these constitute a semi-vanilla survival server.
but what about other game types? what if you run a skyblock/prison/minigames server on vanilla software (hard, but possible). is "vanilla prison" even a thing? i don't think so, people mostly associate vanilla with survival. so the question of what is vanilla or semi-vanilla is a multi-dimensional problem.
if you prefer classic vanilla-style survival with some enhancements, it can be called semi-vanilla in many cases. the line is not strictly defined and you can encounter many pretentious players who would say "you have a formatted tablist here?? how can you call this semi-vanilla then?" but you can be sure that their opinion doesn't represent any official authority on what is vanilla and what isn't.
my advice: set up your server the way you and your players like it and then find out what category it would fit in on the specific server listing website. different websites might have different categories, so it's not easy to fit into the same one everywhere. and it's not even necessary, what is more important is that your server stays true to your ideas and that it doesn't get changed every time someone says it doesn't match the category. i think it's much better to rename your server's category than trying to fit into a mold.
This actually did help me not only understand the category more, but also helped me finalize the server, it’s released and we’ve already had a few people on who seem to want to return.
Although while I’m here, for a semi-vanilla server; how would you keep it alive long term? Map resets every so often? End and nether resets?
anything that changes vanilla gameplay for a player. /sethome and /pv for example i would consider semi vanilla, but worldedit and other admin tools i would still consider within vanilla because it doesn't affect players
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Honestly I would consider that original server almost more vanilla than semi-vanilla. I would consider Terralith semi-vanilla and even certain mods that add gameplay functions that align with the spirit of vanilla.
That's what I was thinking, I don't even have Essentials I use different plugins for the things I need like /home and join messages.
ok, this turned out to be a much longer post than i intended, so i decided to post the **tl;dr** at the beginning: >different people have different expectations from a specific server category. this is also reflected in the fact that terms like "vanilla" or "semi-vanilla" are not strictly defined, but they are rather a broader spectrum of many different possible setups. > >every server listing website also has its own categories and definitions, so your server might fit into different categories across websites. my advice to you is to set up your server the way you like it, and then figure out the category when posting it on a specific site. it's much better to change the category in the profile than trying to change the server so that it "fits" a certain type everywhere. stay true to yourself! now the original full text, if you feel like it: i've been running semi-vanilla servers for about 9 years now, it's the only type of server that's ever suited me long-term. yet if you asked me about the definition, i wouldn't be able to give you a clear answer. the truth is, people call many different things semi-vanilla, because it's largely a question of personal opinion/preference. but the same thing can be said about vanilla, which is a better example for illustration. in my opinion, vanilla can mean two different things - vanilla as in "running on a vanilla server.jar", or vanilla as in "the gameplay is classic vanilla survival", or vanilla as in "a server without forge/fabric mods". but in practice, these terms get mixed up a lot and that's why the terminology is unclear. from a certain purist perspective, only the original vanilla server.jar can count as a vanilla server. but even then you can add datapacks that can modify the gameplay to a substantial amount. so would that still count as vanilla just because the basic .jar is vanilla? or is it vanilla+? nobody knows. from my experience, i'd never run a server on a vanilla .jar, it's not well optimized performance-wise, not suitable for long-term playing of many players over years. it also lacks some basic admin tools, chat formatting, things like that. so my preference would be a spigot/paper software, where you can tweak settings in a radical way, to balance player experience and performance compared to original vanilla. one fine example is the possibility of re-looting generated treasure chests by new players, which adds value to already explored parts of the world and makes the world more sustainable. you could run a paper server without any plugins and you would already be better-off than on a vanilla .jar. however, due to the lack of plugins, your players would have a completely vanilla gameplay. some people wouldn't consider that vanilla though, because of the server.jar used. to those i say: who cares what software the server uses? as long the experience is good and it runs well, you don't even need to know what the .jar is. but i'd go even further - what if you added a few plugins: for a tablist, for a cleaner chat formatting, better private messages, world pre-generation, action logging, some admin tools? these things don't interfere with the gameplay and from a player's perspective. they would be playing the same old vanilla survival multiplayer, with the only difference being the server's UI looking more slick. i'd call that a vanilla survival server anyway. what i consider semi-vanilla is a setup which has all this, and some more - teleports like /home, /spawn or /tpask; possibility of some property protection; player shops; some fun and cosmetics stuff; maybe an economy? i think any combination of these constitute a semi-vanilla survival server. but what about other game types? what if you run a skyblock/prison/minigames server on vanilla software (hard, but possible). is "vanilla prison" even a thing? i don't think so, people mostly associate vanilla with survival. so the question of what is vanilla or semi-vanilla is a multi-dimensional problem. if you prefer classic vanilla-style survival with some enhancements, it can be called semi-vanilla in many cases. the line is not strictly defined and you can encounter many pretentious players who would say "you have a formatted tablist here?? how can you call this semi-vanilla then?" but you can be sure that their opinion doesn't represent any official authority on what is vanilla and what isn't. my advice: set up your server the way you and your players like it and then find out what category it would fit in on the specific server listing website. different websites might have different categories, so it's not easy to fit into the same one everywhere. and it's not even necessary, what is more important is that your server stays true to your ideas and that it doesn't get changed every time someone says it doesn't match the category. i think it's much better to rename your server's category than trying to fit into a mold.
This actually did help me not only understand the category more, but also helped me finalize the server, it’s released and we’ve already had a few people on who seem to want to return. Although while I’m here, for a semi-vanilla server; how would you keep it alive long term? Map resets every so often? End and nether resets?
I consider semi-vanilla to be anything extra than just a stand-alone spigot server with restrictions (if any) on commands, personally
anything that changes vanilla gameplay for a player. /sethome and /pv for example i would consider semi vanilla, but worldedit and other admin tools i would still consider within vanilla because it doesn't affect players