Mojang shuts down community-run Minecraft servers: Difference between revisions

When Minecraft version 1.9.3 pre-release 2 released in May 2016, the client had an encrypted "server blacklist"<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=u/ceruleanReverie |date=May 2, 2016 |title=Mojang's "server blacklist", what it is, and why it's a big deal |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4hh3ns/mojangs_server_blacklist_what_it_is_and_why_its_a/ |access-date=Feb 4, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Minecraft}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Blocked server list |url=https://sessionserver.mojang.com/blockedservers |access-date=Feb 4, 2026 |website=Mojang.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=15773 |date=Feb 24, 2016 |title=Mojang EULA Enforcement |url=https://www.spigotmc.org/threads/mojang-eula-enforcement.125792/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251022040914/https://www.spigotmc.org/threads/mojang-eula-enforcement.125792/ |archive-date=Oct 22, 2025 |access-date=Feb 4, 2026 |website=Spigot Forums}}</ref> where if the user attempted to access a server that was on this blacklist, they would only receive a "java.net.SocketException: Network is unreachable" error.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TuxCoding |first=Alex |last2=Flakey |first2=Foxie |date=2016-04-30 |title=Minecraft-Blocked-Servers/ReadMe.md |url=https://github.com/TuxCoding/Minecraft-Blocked-Servers/blob/main/ReadMe.md |access-date=2026-02-20 |website=GitHub}}</ref> When this list was discovered shortly after the update, the blacklist covered 31 servers/domains.<ref name=":1" /> As of February 2026, Mojang's list includes [https://mojang-api-docs.gapple.pw/no-auth/blocked-servers cryptographic hashes] of 2595 server addresses,<ref name=":3" /> almost all of which have been decrypted by community members.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burk |first=Austin |last2=PureFallen |last3=Williams |first3=Royce |date=2022-08-23 |title=mojang-blocklist/data/identified.txt |url=https://github.com/sudofox/mojang-blocklist |access-date=2026-02-20 |website=GitHub}}</ref> <!--Would love to include this as a ref, but the domain has been usurped by a malicious actor, would give better insight into who was banned at the time:

https://blocklist.tcpr.ca/-->While some of these servers were reasonably determined to be violating the EULA at the time, not all of them received fair punishment, especially as the company refused to transparently communicate with the overall community over these issues.{{Citation needed}}

Notably during this period, the servers known to be blacklisted were primarily ones who were selling cosmetics and "pay to win" content, which violated the EULA at the time, however this enforcement eventually became lenient enough to cause some to question the initial rulings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TheMisterEpic |date=Sep 21, 2024 |title=Exposing Minecraft's ILLEGAL Server Gambling Operations... |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgrKo1mpeGo |access-date=Feb 4, 2026 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>