How minigame servers work
You join a lobby, pick a game via NPCs or portals, and matchmaking puts you into an arena. Progress (stats, cosmetics) is shared across the server.
Popular modes
- BedWars — protect your bed and destroy others'. Buy wool to cover your bed in layers first, get a sword and armour before attacking, and sneak while bridging.
- SkyWars — last player alive on floating islands wins; loot your chests fast and carry blocks.
- Murder Mystery — innocents survive, the detective must shoot the murderer, the murderer must stay hidden.
- Hide and Seek — hiders disguise as blocks; pick a block common on the map.
- Duels — 1v1 with identical kits. Many PvP servers still use pre-1.9 combat ("1.8 PvP").
- Also parkour, Hunger Games, Build Battle, TNT Run and Spleef.
Choosing a server
Online count matters most (queues), then supported versions and Java/Bedrock, a working anticheat, cosmetic-only donations and your language. Play with friends using /party invite.