Blockendale

1 - "The 81"

This is the 81 512x512 maps that make up the majority of the Blockendale Territories. It is divided into 9 sectors of 9 maps each. There is a corresponding nether gate for the center of each map. The Blockendale nether is half-tamed with paths leading to every gate from the central gate that links to Blockendale Base. There are a few outlying areas of Blockendale beyond The 81 that were explored to provide an icy biome, a jungle biome and a mushroom island, none of which existed within the Blockendale 81. This is the original settlement for our server and was nearly the entire world until 1.8. Everything within this world, with the exception of the teleporters, was earned through blocks sweat and tears in pure survival mode.

2 - The Spawn Castle

The spawn point for this server has had a hollow castle built over it and has a floor made from hundreds of slime blocks. The tower in the middle is supported by 8 pathways and crouches spider-like above the bouncy floor. The hole in its middle makes an excellent jumping off point! The beacon on top provides Speed II, which is convenient for the freshly spawned or respawned player. Above and behind the castle on the left is the blimp. Behind the castle on the right is Beacon Rock, and from this angle you are looking out across some of Blockendale's various farms.

3 - The View from Beacon Rock

From this vantage, you can make out the upper structure of the spawn castle as well as even more of Blockendale's many farms. On the left you can just make out the tree farm tower, The Green House, and Hello Kitty House. In the center of the image is Blockendale Base with its lava-topped central spire.

4 - A View from the Hedge Maze

Way on the other side of the Spawn Castle, there is a hedge maze. Between them are the Mushroom Grove and Blockendale's Lighthouse. In the upper left, Blockendale's premier airship floats serenely in the evening sky.

5 - The Blimp

Floating high above Blockendale's backyard, the blimp makes an excellent jumping point for Elytra gliding!

6 - The Grotto (View 1)

Located beside the carrot and potato farm there is a quiet grove of trees with a fountain at its heart.

7 - The Grotto (View 2)

The runoff from the fountain makes its way between the trees, giving rise to ferns, orchids, and mushrooms, before vanishing into a hillside.

8 - The Reclusive Castle

Hidden among the trees, atop the hill, above The Grotto, the reclusive Speznor Underscore lives in his miniature castle, with only his trusty steed and cocoa colored sheep for companionship. Speznor is rarely seen in Blockendale these days...

9 - The Rainbow Ranch

Sheep of every color wait to be sheared beside a massive cattle farm. Beyond the cattle you can see the sugar cane farms (both automated and manual) and the paper mill. The section of the cane farm on the hillside utilizes subterranean water channels to irrigate the thirsty crops.

10 - Above and Below

Beside the hillside cane farm, tulips grow above The Sunken Chamber - more about that later - and beside that is the base's gate room with it's red glass wall. Above the tulips you can just make out the roof of Voodoochiles' Bunny Ranch.

11 - The Bunny Ranch

Located on the Base's west side, the Voodoochiles Bunny Ranch is home to dozens of fuzzy hoppers! In the upper left you can just make out her Hello Kitty House and and the Blockendale Stables.

12 - Establishing Shot

This is the Bases South entrance, and the location of a plaque bearing the date Blockendale was first established. The flags by the doorway are spread throughout the Blockendale territories and are the national flag of Blockendale. Blockendale's colors are red, yellow and black in a reflection of the coals, flame, and smoke of our world's most essential item for survival - The Torch. The Skull looming on the right is the base's private monster farm.

13 - The First Monster Farm

Blockendale's original monster farm now serves as a private experience point generator for visitors to the base.

14 - The East Side

The east side of Blockendale Base is home to a peaceful floral garden and an elevated fishing pier. Beneath the pier there is an underwater entrance to the Underbase.

15 - The North End

On the north side of the base compound, the stables and the Pig farm are nestled on the right side of the main stairway leading to the rooftop and the base's original entryway.

16 - The Base's Birthplace

Unmoved from when it was first created, the original entryway to Blockendale base began as a hidey-hole the first night when FexFX and Nixlplix needed a place to hide from the terrors of the dark. These doors, surrounded by the feet of the base's lava-topped tower, lead down into what began as a dirt hole atop a forested hill and became the central base for the entire territory.

17 - View from the Top

An excellent jump-off for the Elytra enthusiast, the stop of the tower also provides a stunning vantage point for those brave enough to climb the ladders that cover it from top to bottom.

18 - The Crafting Room (view 1)

With room for almost every material and block type in the world, the base's crafting room provides facilities for any kind of crafting anyone may need. The door near the center of the image, tucked away in a corner, leads into the inner workings of Blockendale Base, the Underbase.

19 - The Crafting Room (view 2)

The view from the other side of the room shows off the extent of its storage, and crafting capabilities.

20 - The Second Floor (Lower than the first)

Located beneath the crafting room, the base's second floor contains the base's living space. In this shot you can see the door to the back yard on the extreme left beside the passage down into the gate room and beyond. Behind the stairs is a small sugar cane and netherwart garden tuck beside a small pool with its own waterfall. On the back wall of the stairway there is a door labeled "Authorized Personnel Only" that leads down into the The Underbase, an area that houses the redstone workings of the base as well as its overflow storage, a massive array of ovens, and a stairway down to the decommissioned automated chicken farm - Everybody just eats steak these days!

21 - The Livingroom

The first furnished space in Blockendale, the base's living room is a warm space that offers a record player complete with one of every record, and a book that holds some of its early history. To the left of the living room is the base's communal bedroom.

22 - The Communal Bedroom

With spacious beds and storage chests for the world's original four inhabitant's, the bedroom has a doorway on it's glass west wall that leads into the whimsical garden of Hello Kitty House.

23 - The Gate Room

From here, one can travel to many places which would otherwise be impossible or impractical to travel to by other means. The six teleporters lead to the far away jungles to the northwest of The 81, the airship, The Bountiful Lands (a region 10,000 blocks to the east that was founded with the dawn of 1.8), The great pyramid of Sector E:E, the sand island that has become a wither battleground, and the last of the original enderman Strongholds to be discovered. In the center of the room is the base's nether gate.

24 - The Rail Station

A whimsical, ever-running mine cart whizzes past the local maps just above the rail station itself. Located directly across from the gate room, the rail station links the base to Blockendale Township, The North Hills Mine, and all points north. Backup maps and extra rail are also stored here.

25 - The Sunken Chamber

A floor below the rail station and gate rooms,The Sunken Chamber serves as a sort of discotheque for Blockendale Base, and comes equipped with one of every record and a record player to play them on. A switch on the wall toggles the floor lights between always on and flashing. The underwater view, prismarine walls, inset waterfalls with flames behind them and pink and purple starburst carpeting complete this funky room! A secret entrance leads into the Underbase from here as well.

26 - The Slime Farm

If you keep going downstairs past The Sunken Chamber, a winding pathway leads to the sub sub sub basement of Blockendale Base. Carved from an underground ravine below the base, a massive slime farm provided the slime balls needed to turn the Spawn Castle into a bouncy house, as well as many levels of experience. If you ever get down this way you should try out the prototype minecart "elevator".

27 - Hello Kitty House

Located in Base's west courtyard, Hello Kitty House was built when Voodoochiles said she'd only play if FexFX built her a "Hello Kitty house to live in". So, long before anyone had found a mesa, FexFX farms the soft clay from the riverbeds and swamps from near and far to produce the clay necessary to build this whimsical structure.

28 - The Green House (front view)

This small house does a decent job of mimicking the house FexFX and Voodochiles live in IRL.

29 - The Green House (rear view)

The back yard of The Green House.

30 - The Green House (living room)

A sunken living room with a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace define this room.

31 - The Tree Farm

Right next to The Green House is the tree farm. Every type of tree is grown here, with a central storage area for harvested wood, leaves and saplings.

32 - Beacon Rock Tower

This blazing structure serves as part of the mythology of the area. An entrance in the front leads down into Beacon Rock Canyon, a recently "restored" ravine with recess hidden lighting to make it seem "natural".

33 - Beacon Rock Canyon (front entrance)

Welcome to Beacon Rock Canyon. Beyond this point is a low light area that has been restores to how it might have been millions and millions of ticks ago...

34 - Beacon Rock Canyon (top level view)

The moonlit area on the right is open to the sky and occasionally hosts monsters or animals, and lets the rain and thunder in.

35 - Beacon Rock Canyon (mezzanine view)

Darkened ledges frequently hide monsters in the shadows...

36 - Beacon Rock Canyon (lower level view)

Magma meets water in the lower levels of the canyon.

37 - Beacon Rock Canyon (rear entrance)

At the bottom of the winding stairway that provided the previous views, the rear entrance to Beacon rock canyon comes from a winding passage that begins at the entrance to the Slime Farm in the base's lowest basement.

38 - Blockendale Township

Blockendale Township is a village where there once was none. After several structures had been built, a dark space was used to spawn zombie villagers and then cure them. There are now close to 100 villagers in Blockendale Township, thanks to a series of cleverly concealed doors that encourage them to breed.

39 - Blockendale Bridge

This covered bridge predates the township that it leads to, and was actually built in anticipation of founding a city on the other side of the river.

40 - The First Temple of the Hellgate (Reformed)

Just outside the Township walls, the First Temple of the Hellgate (Reformed) stands atop a hellish reproduction of the nether. Its glass floor allows the faithful to walk above the lava and fires that await them beyond the gates. On the hill above the Hellgate Temple, a giant creeper statue looms over the towns' namesake mural.

41 - The Bank

Blockendale's bank has never been robbed. Perhaps a benefit of being next to the smith and the fletcher?

42 - The Smithy & Trade Supply Depot

Visitors to Blockendale will find plenty to trade with the nearly 100 citizens of Blockendale Township at the Trade Supply Depot!

43 - The Smithy (interior view)

A view of the resident smith standing near his forge. Across the way you can see the bank.

44 - Library of Blockendale

A two story library where many citizens congregate to discuss "Things that make you go hmmmm."

45 - Library of Blockendale (interior first floor)

When this was built, this many bookshelves took an obscene amount of materials to produce!

46 - Library of Blockendale (Interior second floor)

The second of the library's two floors.

47 - The Old Museum/Town Hall

The Museum is slowly being relocated to a new location in Bountiful, to help with lag. With close to 100 citizens, and a nearby monster filled zoo, the museum's large number of unique items and item frames caused tremendous FPS loss. Its new location in Bountiful is much larger and will feature far more intricate displays. The Old Museum itself will be re-purposed into a Town Hall for the citizens of Blockendale Township. In the foreground, an elevated track leads from the base through town.

48 - The Rail Station (and Community Garden)

The title says it all. This rail stop is in the center of town and rises to meet the elevated railway, in style.

49 - Rail Station (Interior)

Banners and matching colored glass give the Bountiful Township Rail Station a patriotic flair.

50 - The Magenta House

Fashioned from magenta clay and acacia wood, this home is nicely color coordinated.

51 - The Purple House

A followup to the Magenta House, this home has one large living space and a single spacious bedroom. The landscaping nicely frames the property, providing a nice backyard accessible from the bedroom.

52 - The First House

This European style build was the first actual house in Blockendale Township. (note: this build is directly inspired by a build Nixlplix saw online once)

53 - The Dark Oak Lodge

With two floors and plentiful bedrooms, the Dark Oak Lodge is a great place for Villagers to find shelter from the weather or the night.

54 - Ultima House

This structure was inspired by Nixlplix's home in UO.

55 - The Villager Clock

A vine draped clock rises in the grassy area in front of Blockendale Park. Just beneath the surface is a set of 20 doors that add to the house count of the area. There is another such clock in front of the Old Museum/Town Hall.

56 - Blockendale Public Park

On the north side of town, a public park borders a petting zoo and community garden.

57 - The Petting Zoo

Chickens, cats, dogs, cows, sheep, horses, bunnies...all the gentle creatures live together here.

58 - The Flower Shop and Bakery

Get a sweet treat or find flowers to brighten your day in this duplex style shop.

59 - The Book Shelf

A row of shops with resident librarians that offer a nice selection of rare and valuable books.

60 - The North Hills Complex

The exterior of the North Hills Complex, home of the North Hills Floating Ore Mine, the largest mob farm on the server, current home of "The 81", North Hills Station, and the Terminus point of the Transworld Railway. (The Transworld Railway was started in Bountiful on a whim and spans the 10,000 blocks between the North Hills Complex and The Bountiful Mineral Reserve)

61 - North Hills Tower (interior)

The North Hills Tower is built directly over "The 81" mural. The mural is offset to allow for visual differentiation of the sectors. When standing on the glass platform, the map will appear almost flat. When looked at from the last block of the glass platform, each map will fill the screen if viewed through Optifine's Zoom option.

62 - North Hills Station

Here one may choose to either continue north, or take the express train down to the North Hills Mine.

63 - The North Hills Mine Minecart.

A fast way down to the North Hills Mine.

64 - What...

The track down to the mine leads through the mouth of a giant creeper face.

65 - Welcome to the North Hills Mining Complex

Here you will find a huge mob farm, an armory, storage for tons of stone, and monster droppings, and a book mill and enchantery.

66 - The Armory

Armor and weapons of every type are stored here. Much of it is damaged, but with a few XP nice things can be made. Check the bow chest for some amazing recycled bows!

67 - North Hills Storage

More monster droppings and cobble than you can shake a stick at...oh and lots of sticks too!

68 - The Book Mill

Many items have been enchanted here, and many, many books have been enchanted and then combined into better books here!

69 - The Massive Mob Farm

With two floors and two methodologies, this mob farm will provide a fairly constant stream of monsters to kill. An excellent source of XPs for repairs and enchanting. The bottom design uses a channel design where mobs wander in darkness until they fall into a current of water that carries them to central shaft where they fall into the chute at the bottom. The top design is a flush design where a long timer periodically floods the floor and pushes all mobs towards the central shaft. The efficiency of both designs was recently improved by the introduction of packed ice from a newly discovered ice spike biome in the Bountiful 81.

70 - The Massive Mob Farm (side view)

Beside the mob farm a triple beacon in Blockendale's colors provide Speed II, Haste II, and Strength II. The bottom of the mob farm sits on bedrock and obsidian, and is at Y5. In the background you can see the Floating Ore Mine, and the Obsidian Forge with the Terminus station on top.

71 - The Massive Mob Farm (upview)

The shaft for this mob farm was drilled from above utilizing a rig that dispensed 25 TNT in a gird array at the press of a button. Many button presses burned through nearly 1,000 TNT to create a shaft that could create an empty space in which to build the mob farm. In this shot you can also see that the waterfalls are not constant...instead they are a direct sign of whether the upper floors are in flood mode or not.

72 - The Massive Mob Farm (chute)

The Mob farm chute utilizes water, nether brick fencing, and obsidian to provide a mob drop that can be accessed on three sides, and from which mobs cannot escape or be knocked back further than 4 blocks from the player. The perfect kill-zone!

73 - The Massive Mob Farm (top view)

The timing device and flood channels atop the farm, with the clay creeper face that tops the giant shaft that houses the mob farm. The clay face looks nice on the local map. :)

74 - The Terminus

Atop the old Obsidian Forge, the final stop of the Transworld Rail has an excellent view of the mob farm from the edge of the floating ore mine.

75 - The Floating Ore Mine (view 1)

Stretching for hundreds of blocks in every direction, the North Hills Floating Ore Mine contains thousands of blocks of unharvested minerals.

76 - The Flaoting Ore Mine (view 2)

A cobble slabbed floor makes most of the mine spawn proof, but beware of monsters from the far edges where paving has not yet happened!

77 - The Bridge and Old Museum/ Town Hall (back view)

Behind the Old Museum, there is a bridge that leads to The Blockendale Zoo.

78 - The Blockendale Zoo (overview)

Currently home to 13 of the worlds most frightening beasts, The Blockendale Zoo is a way to see the monsters you are used to fighting, safely.

79 - The Blockendale Zoo (entry view)

From the entrance, you can see the enclosures for several of the park's inhabitants.

80 - The Creeper

Creeperman was the first mosnter at the monster farm, and he was captured naturally by removing the lighting from his pen and waiting overnight for him to spawn. Double high bars and a decorative clay floor offer an excellent view of this dangerous beast.

81 - The Silverfish

John and Paul were very difficult to obtain. The stone block that once held them was pushed, by piston, from a depth of y15 in The North Hills Mine, up through the holes currently used by the beacons, and across the sky, high above Blockendale Township, to the glass pen that they now occupy.

82 - The Squid

Another difficult catch, Lenny was originally one of two squids captured for this exhibit. Sadly, Squiddy clipped through the walls of his pen prior to 1.9. Thankfully, Lenny is still doing fine. To capture them, a "fish ladder" was built from the tank, down into the water below, and then the squids were dragged up it, one block at a time, via fishing pole.

83 - The Skeleton

Jack was captured naturally by removing all the lighting from within the skull. He was then tagged through a hole in the wall. Visitors to the park must be careful of climbing too. If Jack can see them above the bars of his cage, he will be able to hit them with arrows.

84 - The Zombies

ZombieFX, ZombieChiles and ZombiePlix spawned naturally in the darkness of their cage before the lights were turned on.

85 - The Pig Men

Porky, Arnold and Wilbur were pushed forcibly through a nether portal that was dismantled after their arrival.

86 - The Wither Skeleton

The same nether portal in the nether that was used to abduct the Zombie Pigmen was used to capture Bones by opening a different portal in the overworld that emptied out into his cage. After his capture the nether portal was dismantled.

87 - Spiders' Den Entrance

The spider's den is a simulated environment just below the surface of the zoo, its entrance is beside the witch's enclosure.

88 - The Spider Tunnel

Boris, Natasha, and Charlotte were spawned naturally within their mine tunnel themed enclosure.

89 - The Ghast

The largest and most impressive beast within the zoo, Gary the Ghast took several hours of effort to capture. A massive gate, 19x19 was constructed and his pen was built around it and fully themed before capture was attempted. Once his gate was built, a second gate was built within the nether, also 19x19, and Gary was lured and pulled through using a fishing pole. Once through the gate in the nether was immediately destroyed by removing a single block, and then from outside of his enclosure, the gate in the overworld was also deactivated by the removal of a single block, which was immediately replaced. Because monsters cannot see through glass, Gary has never broken free of his cage, even though a single fireball would be sufficient to destroy a large chunk of his enclosure with a single blast. Gary can often be found swimming in his lava or floating around inside his simulated environment.

90 - The Skeletal Horses & Slime

Boney and Clyde were captured within a week of 1.9's release and ridden to their awaiting enclosure. These morbid beasties are mostly harmless, so their cage allows the curious to reach out and touch their undead flanks.

91 - The Witch

Broomhilda has the largest home in the zoo, and is the only one with a true home to call her own. She spends most of her time playing in the water and cackling to herself. Visitors should be careful of letting her see them, even though her poisonous bottles have been confiscated many times, she always seems to have another waiting for the unwary.

92 - The Nether (home portal)

The Blockendale Nether is a primitive series of twisting pathways that digs and climbs its way from gate to gate to provide a way to reach every map of The 81. The home portal has its own enclosure and a small storage area for nether items.

93 - The Nether (giant gate)

Below the gates to the Hellgate Temple and the North Hills Mine, one can find the two disabled gates that were used to catch the the pigmen, wither skeleton, and the ghast that currently reside in Blockendale's zoo.

94 - The Nether (north hills gate)

The gate to The North Hills Mine is conveniently close to the Home portal and makes the run from the depths of the North Hills Mine to the gate room at Blockendale Base a quick one. Half way between them the gate to the Hellgate Temple provides easy access to Blockendale Township.

95 - The Nether (other destinations)

From the home gate, the pathways of the Blockendale nether reach out to the center of every map within The 81. 83 functioning nether gates in all (including the Hellgate Temple and The North Hills Mine).

96 - Blockendale Overview (facing south)

A flyover view of Blockendale, looking from the entrance to the North Hills Complex to Blockendale Base.

97 - Blockendale Overview (facing north)

The opposite view from the edge of base back to The North Hills Complex

98 - Blockendale Overview (facing west)

An almost orbital side view of Blockendale that nearly encompasses all of it at once.

99 - Blockendale Overview (sub-orbital)

This all encompassing view holds almost all of central Blockendal in a single image.

100 - The Great Pyramid (exterior)

Located in Sector E:E, the Great pyramid was built when The Old Mesa Mine was found at the bottom of a nearby ravine. The stone front door of the pyramid can be closed from both the inside and the outside by the use of a switch located in a recessed pocket just on either side of it. The small mastaba-like structure on the right side of the image is the sandstone quarry that was used during the pyramid's construction.

101 - The Great Pyramid (interior 1)

At the heart of the pyramid is the E:E gate that it was built around. Towering columns rise from the base to the highest tiers, framing the central chamber and accenting the vastness of the space above. A window in the pyramid's tip allows natural light to brighten up the cavernous interior.

102 - The Great Pyramid (interior 2)

With three floors that reach half way up the pyramid, The Great Pyramid is the largest unlived-in structure in Blockendale.