October 4th, 2015 - by gdude2002/arbot

Well, folks, it's finally come to this.

Seven years ago, The Archives was founded by none other than Andrew Godwin, a well-versed Python developer and core Django contributor. He created one of the earliest custom Minecraft servers, Myne, and it would go on to create a lot of other firsts - the first portals, the first signs (message blocks), the first non-infinite liquid physics, the first multi-world system.

At one point, Andrew began to lack the time and hardware to continue to maintain what had become such a large and popular server, and so he agreed to let myself, gdude2002, and Adam01 to take it over and host it. Since then, a lot has happened. We've seen some massively influential people come and go, including JTE (the author of the very first custom Minecraft server) and Notch himself. We've made and lost friends. We've created some projects, and watched as Minecraft Classic saw its rise, fall and ultimate destruction.

The Archives has seen many iterations - From its time as simply a Minecraft Classic server running a closed fork of Myne, to releasing that fork as MyneCraft, and seeing that developed by another team into iCraft - just to merge that team back into The Archives. It's had many forums, websites, and servers - including TF2, Garry's Mod, Starbound, Terraria, and others. It innovated on the Creative Minecraft model, bringing the good parts of Classic to modern Minecraft in the form of a Creative server, eventually expanding to a full network of Creative, Survival, Hunger Games and Zombie Apocalypse servers.

But since then, the community has faded, and The Archives is not what it once was. Around six months ago, just as summer was starting and we were gearing up for another busy season, something strange happened - nobody showed up. In fact, aside from eight or nine people, the entirety of our community disappeared overnight. We still don't know why. Since then, our community has dwindled further to only a handful of people, almost all of which are staff. Additionally, most of the staff team doesn't have time to maintain a community any more - myself included - and the monetary drain on me personally has become too much.

So, as of this message, The Archives has been shut down. Maybe we'll rise again in a couple of years, or maybe we never will - who can tell? For now, though, this is it. All of our services have been shut down, aside from two things - the Discord chat (Where most alumni now hang out), and an IRC channel on Stormbit, (thanks to Antoligy for having us). You can find more information on both of these things in the sidebar on the left.

Did you build something? If you'd like to keep your Minecraft stuff, take a look at the sidebar over on the right. This contains all of the backups we've ever made public, as well as the latest world data for every Minecraft server we've run and still have the files for. Unfortunately, while creating these backups, my terminal screwed up and I forgot to check what directory I was currently in, unfortunately deleting the Survival server's files before I had a chance to back them up.

I understand if some of you are hurt, upset, or even angry at this turn of events. It certainly hasn't been an easy decision for any of us - but we feel like there is no other sensible option. Feel free to come and talk to us, bitch at us, or whatever you feel, but remember that The Archives has probably been around a lot longer than you have been a part of it.

I'd like to thank all our users, supporters and donators that we've had over the years. The Archives wouldn't have been the same without you - whether you make someone's life brighter, show off your skills or troll people you know, you have made a difference to the community, and we won't forget all the good times, the bad times, and the friends we've made over the years. We had a good run, and everyone grew not only as players, but as people.

So long - And thanks for all the fish!

The Archives Team - October 4th, 2015

Unfortunately, I have to also say this: We won't be able to refund any donations. While I'd really like to be able to do this, all donations were spent on the day-to-day server costs, and there's nothing left. Our apologies to anyone who may be looking for their money back.

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What is hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered the most to us wind up in parentheses. — John Irving