I wish you luck on this sir. I'm leaving a response here so I can hopefully help out in the future. I've ran servers for over a year if you need help with configuring anything or troubleshooting any problems especially when it comes to bukkit I'll gladly give a hand. Again I wish you luck and hope I will be able to help.
Oh no, I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. When I said 172 schools, I was just pointing out the size of the place and my hopes of getting a project approved let alone attention from the really smart top folks. The only kids who will get be current 5th graders, at my specific school, who own the game and parents sign them up. So that's 100 kids max, - those without who don't have the game, so much less than that.I'm guessing around 50. I can manage that list fine, and then just wipe it out every year to keep out former students who probably shouldn't interact with the younger ones anyway. (They move on to middle school after this year). Sorry I wasn't more clear.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
- Making an educational (but fun) server for my 5th Grade students -
Moving forward I'm definitely going to contact everyone so I can pick your brains. I really appreciate the enthusiasm. Right now they're setting things up with the server and dealing with a very small contingent of naysayers. Sadly, the nays are coming from 'what if every school wants to do this'. I'm going to start trying to make the world now that 1.7 is out while I wait and had some quick questions.
- What's the easiest way for me to move around, design, and build things. Before launch I want to have one 'clean' world built with all my areas already designed and set up. It would be nice if I could just start up a creative mode, build everything, then use that for survival, but from what I read I can't. Would it be best to launch it was a server and use server commands to get the items I need? I hope I'm making sense. I want to launch a new world and be able to go around and build things in certain areas, then be able to keep that clean copy to use on the server. Would I need to wait until the new Bukkit for 1.7 comes out?
- If you were me, would you try to find a good seed, or just keep reloading until I find something that looks nice?
- Can you change the initial spawn point on a server? I've been thinking. I don't want to rebuild the educational areas every year. But, kids are going to mine, tear up, use up, etc. the area where they spawn. I'm thinking leave the world as it is (not reinstall that 'clean' version) every year, but instead change the spawn point for each year so they start in a fresh area.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
- Making an educational (but fun) server for my 5th Grade students -
i would say that the easiest way to do your 'pre-build' would be to start your own copy of the server running on a local machine, join it with your client and set your gamemode to creative.
you can then tinker and build in a closed environment and when you are happy, upload the world folder to the live server.
You can change the initial spawn points of your worlds with various bukkit plugins, and even in vanilla there is some sort of /sethome /setspawn commands avail. to OP's (though i havent used the vanilla one much to know anything about it really)
For lager scale world/buildings copy/paste there are two main ones that spring to mind. MCEdit (standalone world editor) and WorldEdit (bukkit plugin for ingame editing)
Both will take a while to become proficient with, but are extremely powerful.
I dont know if either support 1.7 yet though.
i dont know how transferring worlds from singleplayer to multiplayer goes (never tried) but yeah; once youre OP on the server you can change your gamemode at will (/gamemode <playername> <0|1|2>), and the default gamemode for the world is defined in the server.properties file
For lager scale world/buildings copy/paste there are two main ones that spring to mind. MCEdit (standalone world editor) and WorldEdit (bukkit plugin for ingame editing)
Both will take a while to become proficient with, but are extremely powerful.
I dont know if either support 1.7 yet though.
Happy Crafting!
MCEdit is compatible with 1.7 but I've only used World Edit as a craftbukkit plugin but the development build for 1.7 hasnt come out as of yet.
Also if you need help with building I can send you some schematics if you choose to use MCEdit or a world file if you plan on using World Edit with multiple worlds.
MCEdit is compatible with 1.7 but I've only used World Edit as a craftbukkit plugin but the development build for 1.7 hasnt come out as of yet.
Also if you need help with building I can send you some schematics if you choose to use MCEdit or a world file if you plan on using World Edit with multiple worlds.
In regards to those 2, it really depends which would be easier for you.
MCEdit is standalone, and is somewhat complicated if you don't know what you are doing. It is used for larger structures and doesn't really work well on small builds.
WorldEdit is run through commands in-game, and is quick to learn. It should be used for smaller, but still large builds.
Just a quick little rundown of what each is if you have to make a descision.
I'd recommend using precious stones for protections, if you want, I can set it up so the kids can place a certain block and it will create a protection field in which only they can build in. They can also add their friends to the protection field and allow them to build in their protection field. I ran a server for over a year and most of the kids that played on it were around 8-12 (Im 16) and this plugin works very well. The players love how simple it is to create a protection as well as allow their friends to participate in their builds. If you need help with any plugins, just shoot me a PM, I'm happy to help
Thanks, so can I create a world on a sever in creative, run around and build what I want, then switch it to a survival map?
I would recommend setting up the server first, then you and your wife can easily toggle between creative and survival to build any structures that you like.
precious stones is effective, simple, and easy to use *disclaimer - i have never used, and know very little about this plugin despite it being quite popular, i do however believe this to be a true statement of fact.
worldguard offers some quite fine grained control options.
i use WG to offer the same thing to users (regions they define themselves, with approp. limitations), and much more.
true, the WorldEdit/WorldGuard system of firstly selecting a cuboid ( and learning how to comprehend the fact that its there, but you cant see it etc.) then /claiming and naming etc. can be challenging to young players. 10yo arent that young though.
but i believe they are up to it (with approp. assistance/guides)
and i believe they will be better for it in the long run, both as minecraft players, and by expanding their ability of comprehension in general
imagine once they have their regions working and friends added, giving them to tools to manipulate the flags of their own regions- setting entry msg., making it anti-pvp etc, making sure that monsters wont spawn in there (hey, ive seen adults that cant keep their houses lit enough to stop them the normal way)
its good solid abstract thinking with a high dose of spatial awareness
Wow! I'm so glad that teachers are finding new and interesting ways to bring Minecraft into education. I never would have thought of the idea of games being brought into education until teachers introduced them.
Don't feel alone, because you aren't! The MinecraftEdu has made it quite simple to make Minecraft a teaching opportunity.
Educational discounts on the game - We are able to sell Minecraft at up to 50% off the full price.
Custom versions of the game designed specifically for teachers and students with many extra features that support classroom use.
Easy-to-use server software that simplifies the task of getting multiplayer up and running.
World-building tools that make it simple to incorporate your own curricular content.
A free library of worlds / levels / activities that you can use with our software to teach a variety of subjects.
Onsite workshops and inservice training for you and your colleagues.
the content alone in mincraftedu represents many many many hours of work, and that still doesnt even take into account their work on the custom administration framework.
well worth the price (esp. when you factor that anyone who owns the game - you dont need an edu license for ) but they must be playing on a lan at the school
Well, all said and done, Sorry I haven't been updated yet.
Anyways, looks like your progress is going great! As said above, use worldedit to easily make huge creations (train yourself first on another world unless you want to end up making giant circles and squares)
and yes, install this plugin called essentials, it has all you need instarting a server, to make your spawnpoint different, just stand on where you want your new spawn to be and type /setspawn
You could use Factions to divide your students into their classes.
And a rewards system could work like this: You could have separate worlds, one for the lessons, one for interactive lessons maybe, and a few for the reward worlds. I suggest a creative world, a Hunger Games world (it's very popular), and a Kit PvP world for the rewards.
so im thinking that you might want it whitelisted, but then again keeping track of who's who might still be tricky. there can be issues with identity verification when larger numbers of people become involved. (siblings/friends using someones account; stolen accounts etc.)
Bad idea, you cant make a whitelist for 100 players.
If you were to, you would probably want a staff team and there I could give you a hand. (Just contact me on skype)
Best way to do it is to ran a simple plugin asking for a simple password when you join the server that you only tell your school/grades in order to do anything on the server.
I've ran a server for 1 year as a Developer, I can help you out.
Ask me any question on skype, my username is TheJessePrior.
Bad idea, you cant make a whitelist for 100 players.
If you were to, you would probably want a staff team and there I could give you a hand. (Just contact me on skype)
Best way to do it is to ran a simple plugin asking for a simple password when you join the server that you only tell your school/grades in order to do anything on the server.
That's actually a pretty good idea if he decided to implement it... props to you!
-Hawks
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If my reply helped, press that little green arrow in the corner... It really does mean a lot to me.
Also, feel free to message me with any questions or help you may need.
I wanted to update, but to hit on a couple points mentioned:
1 - The whitelisting seems like it's going to be a district requirement
2 - I do like the EDU version, the problem is that this will mainly be played at home, so it negates the advantage of them already owning a license.
The district (and state edu department, because they have to be involved with firewalls, etc.) are having discussions and several concerns. Mainly things like:
Hardware - They are concerned that if it catches on and other schools want it, hardware expenditures would grow. Running more severs, space (100mb for each world and 30mb for each player, which seems small to me but maybe I'm not looking at the picture of a district this big), etc. Personally, to me that's a non issue though. I have no intentions, nor the time, to run initiatives for every school who wants to do it. I was just willing to donate my time for my school. I seriously doubt many other schools would want to do it considering the time investment required.
Bandwidth - They aren't sure how much it would take. My suggestion (and correct me if I'm wrong) would be to set a login limit and then scale as needed as we saw what it uses.
Security - (I believe the biggie) They want to see if they can set it up on a DMZ. I generally know what that is, but no idea about the actual logistics of it because I'm not an IT person. They want to insure it can't compromise their internal systems. So any thoughts on that from you server guys, or points I could share, would be appreciated.
They suggested (and contacted) GamingEDUs which hosts a free server for students at Ryerson University. I contacted them also, but neither of us have heard back. I'm not really in favor of it (at least for my application, but I'm willing to check it out if I ever hear back) because it's one world shared by several schools. Each schools gets a certain area. I don't know how much control I would have to build educational areas. Plus, it's K-12 and I'm not sure how appropriate that would be. But again, I never got a response when I checked into it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
- Making an educational (but fun) server for my 5th Grade students -
1 - The whitelisting seems like it's going to be a district requirement
Hardware - They are concerned that if it catches on and other schools want it, hardware expenditures would grow. Running more severs, space (100mb for each world and 30mb for each player,
Bandwidth - They aren't sure how much it would take. My suggestion (and correct me if I'm wrong) would be to set a login limit and then scale as needed as we saw what it uses.
Security - (I believe the biggie) They want to see if they can set it up on a DMZ.
Whitelisting the server is a good option and wouldn't be a very hard thing to do as you could just have the student give you his/her username and someone with OP on the server or file access could add them. The hardware is some to be concerned with as some servers go through hundreds of GBs a week, but as long as it is to a small-scale you don't have to worry to much about hard drive space. I personally would be worried more about the processing power and ram,as you would want the server to be for the most part lag free.
Also i think it would be a good idea to do perm with Group manager or something of the sort. Then you could give the teachers more perms so they would be able to do things like whitelist students, etc, but not allow them full access to all the commands. This would be good if they don't quite know what they are doing.
Know about each school getting their own build area, this could be done with a number of plugins. You could make the areas with worldguard and add the students to the area. you could use a town plugin and add the students to a town according to school and set plot for them. Also you could use a multi world plugin and make a world for each school, but be warned this way would be quite intensive on the hardware.
Just wanted to say that if you ever need to chat, then i'm free.
Just go ahead and direct message me, and i'll pass on my Skype.
-Hawks
Also, feel free to message me with any questions or help you may need.
- What's the easiest way for me to move around, design, and build things. Before launch I want to have one 'clean' world built with all my areas already designed and set up. It would be nice if I could just start up a creative mode, build everything, then use that for survival, but from what I read I can't. Would it be best to launch it was a server and use server commands to get the items I need? I hope I'm making sense. I want to launch a new world and be able to go around and build things in certain areas, then be able to keep that clean copy to use on the server. Would I need to wait until the new Bukkit for 1.7 comes out?
- If you were me, would you try to find a good seed, or just keep reloading until I find something that looks nice?
- Can you change the initial spawn point on a server? I've been thinking. I don't want to rebuild the educational areas every year. But, kids are going to mine, tear up, use up, etc. the area where they spawn. I'm thinking leave the world as it is (not reinstall that 'clean' version) every year, but instead change the spawn point for each year so they start in a fresh area.
you can then tinker and build in a closed environment and when you are happy, upload the world folder to the live server.
regarding seeds, if i were you, i would use the Amidst tool to scan for potential seeds, also check out the seeds section of the forums here
here are two threads in particular where people give big lists of seeds that are examples of all biomes being releativly close to spawn.
http://www.minecraft...ed-seed-search/
http://www.minecraft...y-biomes-seeds/
You can change the initial spawn points of your worlds with various bukkit plugins, and even in vanilla there is some sort of /sethome /setspawn commands avail. to OP's (though i havent used the vanilla one much to know anything about it really)
For lager scale world/buildings copy/paste there are two main ones that spring to mind. MCEdit (standalone world editor) and WorldEdit (bukkit plugin for ingame editing)
Both will take a while to become proficient with, but are extremely powerful.
I dont know if either support 1.7 yet though.
Happy Crafting!
MCEdit is compatible with 1.7 but I've only used World Edit as a craftbukkit plugin but the development build for 1.7 hasnt come out as of yet.
Also if you need help with building I can send you some schematics if you choose to use MCEdit or a world file if you plan on using World Edit with multiple worlds.
In regards to those 2, it really depends which would be easier for you.
MCEdit is standalone, and is somewhat complicated if you don't know what you are doing. It is used for larger structures and doesn't really work well on small builds.
WorldEdit is run through commands in-game, and is quick to learn. It should be used for smaller, but still large builds.
Just a quick little rundown of what each is if you have to make a descision.
-Hawks
Also, feel free to message me with any questions or help you may need.
I would recommend setting up the server first, then you and your wife can easily toggle between creative and survival to build any structures that you like.
worldguard offers some quite fine grained control options.
i use WG to offer the same thing to users (regions they define themselves, with approp. limitations), and much more.
true, the WorldEdit/WorldGuard system of firstly selecting a cuboid ( and learning how to comprehend the fact that its there, but you cant see it etc.) then /claiming and naming etc. can be challenging to young players. 10yo arent that young though.
but i believe they are up to it (with approp. assistance/guides)
and i believe they will be better for it in the long run, both as minecraft players, and by expanding their ability of comprehension in general
imagine once they have their regions working and friends added, giving them to tools to manipulate the flags of their own regions- setting entry msg., making it anti-pvp etc, making sure that monsters wont spawn in there (hey, ive seen adults that cant keep their houses lit enough to stop them the normal way)
its good solid abstract thinking with a high dose of spatial awareness
Don't feel alone, because you aren't! The MinecraftEdu has made it quite simple to make Minecraft a teaching opportunity.
the content alone in mincraftedu represents many many many hours of work, and that still doesnt even take into account their work on the custom administration framework.
well worth the price (esp. when you factor that anyone who owns the game - you dont need an edu license for ) but they must be playing on a lan at the school
Anyways, looks like your progress is going great! As said above, use worldedit to easily make huge creations (train yourself first on another world unless you want to end up making giant circles and squares)
and yes, install this plugin called essentials, it has all you need instarting a server, to make your spawnpoint different, just stand on where you want your new spawn to be and type /setspawn
And a rewards system could work like this: You could have separate worlds, one for the lessons, one for interactive lessons maybe, and a few for the reward worlds. I suggest a creative world, a Hunger Games world (it's very popular), and a Kit PvP world for the rewards.
I've ran a server for 1 year as a Developer, I can help you out.
Ask me any question on skype, my username is TheJessePrior.
Bad idea, you cant make a whitelist for 100 players.
If you were to, you would probably want a staff team and there I could give you a hand. (Just contact me on skype)
Best way to do it is to ran a simple plugin asking for a simple password when you join the server that you only tell your school/grades in order to do anything on the server.
That's actually a pretty good idea if he decided to implement it... props to you!
-Hawks
Also, feel free to message me with any questions or help you may need.
theres probably about fifty different ways to skin that particular ocelot.
1 - The whitelisting seems like it's going to be a district requirement
2 - I do like the EDU version, the problem is that this will mainly be played at home, so it negates the advantage of them already owning a license.
The district (and state edu department, because they have to be involved with firewalls, etc.) are having discussions and several concerns. Mainly things like:
Hardware - They are concerned that if it catches on and other schools want it, hardware expenditures would grow. Running more severs, space (100mb for each world and 30mb for each player, which seems small to me but maybe I'm not looking at the picture of a district this big), etc. Personally, to me that's a non issue though. I have no intentions, nor the time, to run initiatives for every school who wants to do it. I was just willing to donate my time for my school. I seriously doubt many other schools would want to do it considering the time investment required.
Bandwidth - They aren't sure how much it would take. My suggestion (and correct me if I'm wrong) would be to set a login limit and then scale as needed as we saw what it uses.
Security - (I believe the biggie) They want to see if they can set it up on a DMZ. I generally know what that is, but no idea about the actual logistics of it because I'm not an IT person. They want to insure it can't compromise their internal systems. So any thoughts on that from you server guys, or points I could share, would be appreciated.
They suggested (and contacted) GamingEDUs which hosts a free server for students at Ryerson University. I contacted them also, but neither of us have heard back. I'm not really in favor of it (at least for my application, but I'm willing to check it out if I ever hear back) because it's one world shared by several schools. Each schools gets a certain area. I don't know how much control I would have to build educational areas. Plus, it's K-12 and I'm not sure how appropriate that would be. But again, I never got a response when I checked into it.
Whitelisting the server is a good option and wouldn't be a very hard thing to do as you could just have the student give you his/her username and someone with OP on the server or file access could add them. The hardware is some to be concerned with as some servers go through hundreds of GBs a week, but as long as it is to a small-scale you don't have to worry to much about hard drive space. I personally would be worried more about the processing power and ram,as you would want the server to be for the most part lag free.
Also i think it would be a good idea to do perm with Group manager or something of the sort. Then you could give the teachers more perms so they would be able to do things like whitelist students, etc, but not allow them full access to all the commands. This would be good if they don't quite know what they are doing.
Know about each school getting their own build area, this could be done with a number of plugins. You could make the areas with worldguard and add the students to the area. you could use a town plugin and add the students to a town according to school and set plot for them. Also you could use a multi world plugin and make a world for each school, but be warned this way would be quite intensive on the hardware.