Behind the Scenes & How We Operate

A Passion Project that is turning 9!

Gamemode 4 will be nine next year! The history of this weird, but wonderful project can be publicly traced back to a teaser video released by the project’s founder, Sparks, in February 2014.

When something is started for fun, it is never intended to evolve into a large, open-source datapack project where several members are involved. It might have been a dream, far-off into the future (though we never could have predicted datapacks in 2014!) however it was never the expectation.

We’re glad that we have been able to ride out the ever changing commands space in Minecraft; Here is to see what is next in store!

Sparks & Spider Leaving

A farewell

It’s with both sadness and wishes of good luck that we bid farewell to long-time, public server wizard and Public Server founder, SpiderRobotMan and project founder, Sparks.

Both have decided it is time they step back from as leaders of the project and pass the reins on.

We can only give our heartfelt thanks for the time, dedication, and service they have given to Gamemode 4. We wish them best with whatever is next, and hope to see them in the next Public Server!

Sparks left us with this farewell comment:

When I made the first video for this project, I knew the bats would blow up players’ bodies, but I didn’t know they could blow up their hearts and minds too, or how many people would be caught in the carnage!

I may have started the project, but the countless hours of contributions and collaboration from staff and players alike are what make Gamemode 4 worth so much. I’m incredibly proud of the community driven, players-first values that this project still has, and as my focus has to move elsewhere, I know I’m leaving it in good hands!

Some Changes & Results due to this

With the departure of both, we will need some time to unpick the financial and machine access. There will also be some knock on effects:

• Patreon Rewards will be partially delayed. NOTE: This is the top of the list to resolve!

After this, we hope to back to go back to making sure that patreon rewards are delivered… as promised!

Discord & Staff Changes

Staff Structure

Our staff team structure is a little outdated. The idea of an Admin has existed since the first Public Server, with the role taking on responsibility for financial management (Patreon, Paying for Server Hosting).

In some cases, this has limited the speed at which parts of the project can progress. With this in mind, the concept of the Admin is being removed in place of Project Directors who have specific authority and decision making over aspects of Gamemode 4.

The aim of this is that the Public Server Director will no longer need to wait for unanimous admin approval (as is currently the case) and can move on at their own discretion.

Public Server

A result of this is that there is now a distinction between “Moderator” and “Staff”. Not all our team will be able to help resolve issues on the Public Server.

“Moderators” will help resolve theft, griefing .ect as they currently do, but a general staff member might not.

Discord Refresh

As with many Discord servers, we are constantly trying to ensure that the space is broken up to allow the best possible discussion. Coupled with the changes to the staff team, a few things will be shifting around:

• We’ll be making more usage of Forums - some channels will move towards this format, as soon as it is available to us.
• There is no “Admin”, “Staff” separation. The sidebar will now show the teams instead.
• There will be a general culling of the Minecraft category. Anything Minecraft will be allowed in places like #off-topic, but we are a discord for Gamemode 4 firstly; not a general Minecraft discussion location
• A reemphasis on parts of Gamemode 4; we do a lot more compared to 3 years ago. Channels will hopefully be clearly labelled for the different areas.

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