Server Generations

*\*not to be confused with PPDAPP eras.*

## About

The Generations of the PPDAPP server describe the phases with which the server and all of it's internal systems and files have gone through. To date there have been five generations, each bringing several performance, plugin, cosmetic or core changes to the server experience. Before 25/6/23, the beginning of generation 5, these generations were not well documented and therefore may contain vague or incomplete information. Usually, before the start of each new generation, the server would enter a period of around a day wherein it would try to be upgraded to a jar type that featured support for mods. However, to this date, all attempts have failed.

## History

### 1st Generation

The first generation spanned from the start of the server on 25/12/22 until around half-way through January of 2023. In this time, the server ran on Spigot 1.19.3 had 2 plugins installed; EssentialsX and Multiverse. These allowed for general operational and cosmetic control of the server and the ability to create multiple inter-traversible worlds on the one server respectively. This generation facilitated the first era of the server, The Dawn.

### 2nd Generation

The second generation spanned from the end of generation one until the end of March. This generation brought the first trace of the modern day MOTD, join, leave, and welcome messages, however these did not feature standardised designs and were lacklustre in their communication methods. This generation also saw the addition of the WorldEdit plugin, something that would fuel the suspicion of gamemode foul-play, spawn the God Trials, and eventually lead to the Ascension. This generation housed the second era, and part of the third.

### 3rd Generation

The third generation spanned from the end of generation two until the middle of May. This brought both a cosmetic and operational overhaul to the server, polishing things like the MOTD, welcome, join/leave messages, chat signatures, and attempting to rectify the permissions chart of the server. This generation also upgraded the servers jar type, from Spigot 1.19.3 to Spigot 1.19.4. A new plugin, HeadDB, was added to add ease of access to custom heads used to decorate the server more intricately. Examples of the MOTD, join/leave messages, and chat signatures were as below. This generation facilitated the remains of the third era.

#### MOTD

```

```

#### Join Message

```
> {username} joined {online} players as {displayname}.

```

#### Leave Message

```
< {username} left {online} players.

```

#### Chat Signature

```
({world}) {displayname}: {message}

```

\*In the interest of compaction, the {world} tag referenced the system below.

System to determine {world} tag
 Survival
 Creative

Example: (S/O) mish: hello

Their permission status (operator or not) was determined by the colour of the colon following their name. If it was red, they were an operator, but if it was white, they were a standard player.

### First Mods Trial

At the death of the third generation, the server owner, CDXXmish, wanted to upgrade the server to support mods. However, doing so would replace the Spigot plugin loader with a Forge type, meaning that the previously installed plugins which ran and customised the server would no longer function. CDXXmish had previously hosted servers which sported the capabilities to handle plugins and mods, namely in the the now defunct mishSMP. This was achieved via loading the Spigot jar type as a mod itself, under the sun of a Forge ran server; something that shouldn't really have worked, but did. The server was down for a full day while CDXXmish worked to try and replicate this server configuration, however no matter what was tried, the server didn't budge. Unsure of what more to do, he re-established the server, unmodded, into generation 4.

### 4th Generation

The fourth generation spanned from the end of generation three until 22/6/23. This server brought minor cosmetic updates and fixes, however mostly altered the operational side of the server. Two new plugins were added, EssentialsChat and Chairs, allowing for minor chat customisation and the ability to sit on stair blocks respectively. The permissions chart received a complete overhaul, in an attempt to not have to resort to just classing users as operators, a very dangerous permission to give. The welcome message was modified to suit the scheme found in the previous generation, and it read below. The entire /help index was replaced with chapters and commands actually found and useable by a standard player, including plugin specific commands. A /rules index was added also. The permissions chart did not and has not enforced itself, meaning the common operator system is used to allow commands that should be accessible to standard players, but are not. This generation oversaw the dawn of the fourth era.

#### Welcome

```
Welcome, {displayname}!

```

```
Check out /help, /rules

```

```
Online: {online} | Time: {time}

```

### Second Mods Trial

When it came time again to upgrade the server generation, CDXXmish was motivated to try modding the server again. This time, he had investigated custom hybrid server types like Magma and Arclight, which were designed to amalgamate the properties of Spigot and Forge into one. Both types were tried, however due to the complex demands of mods such as the Create mod needing to adhere to a pure Forge, these server types were abandoned. Also downed by the hybrid types were plugins such as EssentialsX, which similarly required a pure Spigot. In fact, the clashing between server type and mod/plugin caused so much damage to the structure of the server that it required a full flush and restoration from a backup made prior to the trials. Due to service delays and network issues however, the backup took a period over 8 hours to deploy, and the server's core file directory was completely vacant during this time. Overall, the server was down for a full day.

### 5th Generation (current)

The fifth generation is the current version, ongoing from 23/6/22. It is mostly landmarked by the upgrade to Spigot 1.20.1. The server MOTD and image were changed, reading as below and found on the main page of this wiki respectively.

#### MOTD

```

```

```
new town plan and transport updatessssss

```

It's the first MOTD in PPDAPP's history to stretch over two lines.

\*PLACEHOLDER