About ReefCraft.Club

Like seems to happen to all parents, at some point my children were introduced to Minecraft. I don't remember when or how it happened, just that they begged and begged, and we got Minecraft for them on tablets. They played for a couple of years, continually begging me to allow them to join public multiplayer servers, but I never let them. Not only did I not trust public servers, I also didn't see the purpose of multiplayer play. Then, like happened everywhere in the world, COVID hit. We were all together more, and I saw more of what they were doing. And one thing I noticed in those months of enforced family time was that my children actually did get along and worked well together when they played Minecraft in a local area network world together. I even found myself telling them to get onto Minecraft together when they started getting disagreeable after finishing their daily schoolwork.

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In the Fall of 2020, our virtual school was looking for ways to help new families who had joined en masse as a result of COVID regulations/standards in their brick-and-mortar schools. One thing our administration implemented was weekly opt-in Zoom-based clubs where our kids could meet together virtually when it wasn't feasible to meet in person. One club that several families requested, including myself, was Minecraft multiplayer servers. Because I was a proponent of the club and a parent of students in the program as well as a teacher, I was invited to launch the program.

Our first semester was a definite learning curve. As a brand new Minecraft player, I started from scratch. I had help from long-time players and server owners, but none of them had ever hosted a multiplayer server outside of established friend networks. My adult friends helped me with the server setup, while my own children and the student Minecraft players taught me how to play Minecraft. (For those parents who get motion sickness watching your children play, you are not alone! I struggled with motion sickness myself when I first started playing!) 

 

When we first started, we only had one rule: be respectful. Unfortunately, the vagueness of the rule made it so that unfortunately, we had to restart the server entirely due to server griefing after 6 weeks. That brought on a new set of standards of conduct (rules) and a contract that would allow me to be able to enforce those standards and consequences. As the years have progressed, our standards have been refined, as have our world types to allow every child to play in the way that they most enjoy.

ReefCraft.Club came about because every year we had students leave our program for many different reasons. Every time a student found out they were leaving our virtual program, they came to me and said, "Is there any way I can continue to play on the server?" Parents came to me and said, "I'm trying to decide what is best for my child's education in the next school year, and while I think leaving this program is the best choice, I am sad that my child will no longer be able to participate with your Minecraft group." Graduating students came to me, asking where they could find comparable multiplayer servers to continue to play Minecraft as they "grew up." It was frustrating in every case to say, "I'm sorry, but I do have to limit enrollment for these Minecraft servers to this school program. I wish I had a better answer for you." Our Elementary, Junior High/High School, and Adult servers are the answer to this dilemma. It doesn't matter where you attend or if you have graduated, these servers are available for all! I try to make the optional Zoom call at a time that is available for all students in the continental US to join after traditional school hours so that we can make sure to include as many as possible who want to join us. If we have enough participation, I will add extra Zoom hours as well!

Since the spring of 2021, I have had the dream of setting up a Minecraft server that would allow parents and children to play in the same worlds together that didn't require the parent themselves to host the server. Over the years, I've had several conversations with children and parents who say, "I wish I could play in a larger community that we could all play together, where I wouldn't have to worry about what my kids might see in on-screen chat." The included opt-in Family server is the answer to this dream. Adults (both newly-graduated students and parents/guardians) can purchase an adult subscription and ask to opt-in to the family server. For all adults opting in, I require that they also add the name of a paying student account to make sure that we don't have any adults without connections to students joining in. For example, my children love to play Minecraft with my brother who lives in another state. If he chooses to, my brother could purchase an adult subscription and opt-in to the family server by filling out the opt-in form with my child's name and his relationship to them. However, if I received an adult registration from my casual acquaintance who lives across the country, they would not have permission to join the family server because they have no connection to any student players.

I am so excited to open ReefCraft.Club to everyone, and can't wait to have you join us!

~Mrs. Coral