Unfortunately, Auraxis no longer seems to exist. So, this part of the post is outdated.

When I bought Minecraft, the Classic version was still a thing. Shortly after, the game really took off and was eventually bought by Microsoft. Unlike many at the time, I was neither disappointed in Notch nor particularly worried. And to be honest, Minecraft didn’t die under Microsoft, as some had predicted.

But for me, it did. Minecraft and survival games have the same problem for me: the lack of a goal. Just surviving sounds exciting and isn’t easy, but it just doesn’t grab me. At least Minecraft has another layer: the ability to express yourself creatively in the world. Still, I haven’t played Minecraft for many years.

The title already gave it away: until now. Through my Planetside 2 squad, I stumbled upon a small Minecraft server that addresses the very points that don’t suit me. Fittingly for Planetside 2, it’s called Auraxis.de. In addition to the mandatory Discord Server, there’s also a slick homepage with all sorts of guides and documentation. And, of course, numerous customizations to the game itself that make it a better game for me.

Sometime after my time, Minecraft started to incorporate RPG elements. Not just hunger, but also experience. To remain accessible, however, the system is implemented very simply. You collect experience, level up, and can then use these levels for enchantments. That’s it. Minecraft thus remains very focused on the actual mining and building.

This is where the customizations from Auraxis.de come in. The world is divided into two resource worlds and one residential world. Of course, you can also build in the resource worlds, but they are reset as needed. In the residential world, you have to buy your plot and pay rent for it. To earn this, you can trade with other players or take up to two professions. So, I get money for felling trees if I’ve chosen the lumberjack profession. And, of course, experience points in the woodcutting skill. This makes me better, i.e., faster, at it. But only in my two professions. For the results of other professions, I have to rely on my fellow players. You get experience points for almost every activity in the game, and these affect the activities in different ways. A higher level as a blacksmith increases the durability of weapons and is required to craft higher-quality weapons in the first place. And of course, there are skills. More bow damage, access to high-quality recipes, and so on.

Speaking of recipes: this area has also been massively customized. There are various potions of different qualities, you can strengthen and customize your weapons and armor, and also weaken your enemies with various poisons. The base game has been expanded with many new possibilities here.

So, you see, on Auraxis.de, Minecraft is not a simple block game. On the contrary, the server’s additions turn Minecraft into a small MMO without losing the strengths of the base game. For me, the base game quickly became boring because I was just carrying material from A (mining) to B (building) and shaping it to my liking at the destination. Simple and quickly done. This is exactly where Auraxis.de comes in: it adds extra complexity to the game, making it more varied, exciting, and social. But don’t worry, there’s also a wiki and a very helpful team that also organizes regular events.

If you’re in the mood for Minecraft but would like to experience it with more depth, then you should definitely come to Auraxis.de!