https://nodecraft.com The Nodecraft company blog keeps customers up to date about operations, as well as service improvements, and announcements. Find out what fuels our addiction! Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:55:40 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html Nodecraft Pro en https://nodecraft.com/assets/images/share.png https://nodecraft.com Copyright 2012 - 2026, Nodecraft, Inc Service Updates Company Updates Events Development Game News & Tips Miscellaneous https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/enshrouded-1-0-combat-changes-new-spells-skills-level-cap-and-more https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/enshrouded-1-0-combat-changes-new-spells-skills-level-cap-and-more Sun, 27 Sep 2026 16:41:27 GMT Enshrouded 1.0 is giving combat another major pass before the game leaves Early Access on Oct 15, 2026. The latest preview focuses on mages, but wand users, archers, and every player pushing into the new biome will feel the changes.Here is the practical breakdown of the combat additions Keen Games revealed on Sep 23, 2026.Nine New Spells and a Bigger Role for SummonsMage builds are getting nine spells that add crowd control, area damage, resource recovery, and a new summon category:Control and utility: Mana Drain steals mana from enemies, while Entangle helps lock down tougher targets.Area damage: Pillar of Flames, Blizzard, and Ball Lightning give mages more ways to handle groups.Summons: Fire, Ice, and Shock Totems join the Summon Hollow Skeleton spell.Advanced Necromancy and Totem Mastery will let players increase the number of active skeletons and totems. Existing and new spells will also receive more versions across Embervale, including 22 tier-seven Eternal spells that do not consume spell charges.Eternal spells can be upgraded like weapons and armor, with perks such as reduced mana costs. Keen Games is also rebalancing spell costs and casting times around damage and utility, so stronger spells require a larger commitment.Wands Get Heavy Attacks and Better TargetingWands are receiving a heavy attack that pierces enemies and interrupts weaker targets. Two new moves should make wand combat more mobile:Aerial Wand Attack: A midair area attack.Wand Evasion Attack: A wider, piercing projectile used during an evasive move.Soft-lock and hard-lock targeting will prioritize the center of the screen and nearby enemies more consistently. Keen Games is also addressing weapon-switching issues between wands and staffs, and wands will be able to target explosive barrels.New Mage and Archer SkillsMage skill additions include Aerial Wand Attack, Wand Evasion Attack, Advanced Necromancy, Totem Mastery, and Blast and Cast. Blast and Cast rewards mixed weapon play: a wand critical hit increases the base damage of the next staff attack used within ten seconds.Archers receive Puncture for more piercing damage, Barrage for a chance to restore bow durability when dealing damage, and Survival Instinct to recover Shroud time after defeating a Shroud-infested enemy with a bow or dagger.The update also adds separate aim-assist settings for ranged and melee combat. Aim assist will be enabled by default for controllers and disabled by default for mouse and keyboard.Eternal Arrows, Enemy Variety, and New Level CapsEternal arrows will become upgradeable and gain perks. Three new versions are joining the arsenal: Eternal Fire, Eternal Shock, and Eternal Bone arrows.Player movement and animations are being adjusted for more natural motion without sacrificing responsiveness. Every enemy faction, including the Fell and Scavengers, is also receiving new variants, with heavy and elite enemies mixed into encounters.The new biome raises the player level cap to 50 and the equipment cap to 55. Because new skills are being added and existing skills are moving, every character’s skill tree will reset at launch. Players should spend their refunded points before leaving their base.Preparing Your Server for Enshrouded 1.0The combat changes do not introduce any announced dedicated-server settings, but the skill reset directly affects every returning character. Server owners should warn their group, create a world backup before updating, and check the final 1.0 patch notes for version or configuration requirements.You can read the complete 1.0 combat announcement on Steam. For the date, platforms, and broader roadmap, see our Enshrouded 1.0 Release Date, Announcement Trailer, and Roadmap.Final ThoughtsGive your group time to review the combat changes and keep a world backup before updating. The best Enshrouded server hosting keeps server management out of the way of the adventure, and Nodecraft gives you direct access to the files and settings you need to prepare.]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/enshrouded-1-0-release-date-trailer-and-roadmap https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/enshrouded-1-0-release-date-trailer-and-roadmap Sun, 27 Sep 2026 16:41:26 GMT Enshrouded leaves Steam Early Access on Oct 15, 2026. Version 1.0 launches the same day on Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 5 Pro. Xbox Series X|S is planned for spring 2027.The full release caps more than two years of Early Access development, but Keen Games says 1.0 will begin another chapter rather than end support for Embervale.The Release Date and TrailerKeen Games confirmed the date in the official release-date trailer on Jun 25, 2026. Enshrouded entered Early Access in January 2024 and has since reached more than five million players through eight major content updates.The trailer is brief, but it shows the scale Keen Games is aiming for: new threats, large battles, expanded environments, and more reasons for groups to return to Embervale. You can watch the Enshrouded 1.0 release-date trailer on YouTube.What the 1.0 Roadmap IncludesThe Road to Release roadmap identifies five priorities for the launch build:New content: More locations, enemies, and challenges to discover.Deeper combat: Smarter enemies, better balance, greater tactical depth, and more enemy variety.Quality of life: A smoother new-player experience and clearer quest progression.Optimization: Better performance across hardware configurations, especially lower-end PCs, plus faster shader compilation.Adventure Sharing V2: Logic elements, logic gates, enemy spawners, traps, and other tools for community-made adventures.Keen Games labels the roadmap as subject to change, so the final launch notes will determine exactly what ships on release day. The official Road to Release announcement includes the complete roadmap image.What Is Already in the Game?The final major Early Access update, Forging the Path, arrived on Apr 21, 2026. It added Adventure Sharing V1, rebuilt physical combat and the skill tree, introduced gear upgrades, and delivered broad quality-of-life improvements.That update laid the foundation for 1.0. The launch roadmap expands Adventure Sharing and continues the work on combat, progression, performance, and new content rather than starting from scratch.What This Means for Server OwnersKeen Games has not published the final 1.0 patch notes or dedicated-server migration instructions yet. Server owners should back up their worlds before updating and review the launch notes for any save, configuration, or version requirements.Final ThoughtsReview the launch notes and back up your world before updating. The best Enshrouded server hosting gives you control as the game evolves, and Nodecraft keeps your server files and settings accessible while you prepare for 1.0.]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/minecraft-java-26-3-wilderness-bound-is-out-what-it-means-for-your-server https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/minecraft-java-26-3-wilderness-bound-is-out-what-it-means-for-your-server Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:24:51 GMT Mojang has shipped Minecraft Java Edition 26.3, and it is a big one. Wilderness Bound adds a new forest biome, a campsite structure that generates across most wooded biomes, and a pile of new decorative blocks. Underneath all of that sits one of the largest data pack overhauls in years, a new windowing backend on the client, and a default setting change in server.properties that may catch a lot of server owners off guard!Here is what is new, and more importantly, what you need to check before you automatically update your server at Nodecraft.Allowlist is now default for Minecraft ServersThe Allowlist, formerly known as "whitelist", protects your server from unknown players joining it. With this update the white-list setting is now set to true by default. If you spin up a new 26.3 server and hand the IP to your friends, nobody gets in until you add them. Existing servers keep whatever value is already in the file, so this only affects new installs and any setup that regenerates the config from scratch.How can I Disable the Allowlist or Whitelist for my Minecraft Server?With Nodecraft, you can disable settings within the Players tab of the Minecraft server you created. Just make sure you restart the server, after.If you are hosting your Minecraft server yourself, you'll need to edit the server.properties file and set white-list=false . Save the file and restart your server.If you want to keep your server secure (our recommendation): Leave the feature enabled and then add players directly to your server's allowlist.. Nodecraft makes this easy with our custom control panel. You won't need to lookup the player's Minecraft UUID or edit files.Minecraft Server Log lines are going away, use the Management Protocol insteadA handful of log lines that server software, wrappers, and bots have historically parsed have been removed. If you have automation that greps the console for events, test it against 26.3 before you upgrade your production instance.The intended replacement is the Minecraft Server Management Protocol, now at version 3.1.0, which gained notifications for world upgrades on startup: upgrade started, upgrade progress, upgrade finished, and upgrade failed. That last one is genuinely useful if you automate version bumps across multiple worlds and want to catch a failed conversion before players join.Mojang has asked for feature requests on the Feedback site if the protocol is missing an event you relied on in the logs.Minecraft Server Performance FixesTwo changes here should show up in tick times and world load:Structure location is faster. This affects /locate, explorer map generation, and anything that searches for structures at runtime.Chunk generation is faster generally.A related bug fix is worth calling out for anyone watching disk usage: locating a structure previously created an empty region file for every candidate chunk in ungenerated terrain. On a busy server with players running around with explorer maps, that adds up.Terrain rendering now uses MultiDrawIndirect on supported hardware, and level.dat keeps a version_history list of prior data versions, which makes diagnosing a world that has been upgraded through several versions much easier.Datapack & Resource Pack MigrationsData Pack format is now 121.0 and Resource Pack format is 97.1. Nearly all complicated datapacks will not work with this new format. Here are the highlights of the changes:Number providers split in two. The old minecraft:number_provider is gone, replaced by minecraft:context_int_provider and minecraft:context_float_provider, each with a full library of math operations (add, sub, mul, div, mod, pow, sqrt, trig, rounding, weighted lists, score and storage lookups). Loot tables, villager trades, and enchantment values all now point at these.References are now inline everywhere. Fields that used to accept a single value will generally accept a namespaced ID, a list of IDs, an inline object, a list of inline objects, or a tag ID. As a consequence, minecraft:reference has been removed from both loot functions and predicates, since every field can now reference directly.Renamed fields across the board. In loot pool entries, conditions became condition and functions became modifier. In loot functions, function became type. In predicates, condition became type. minecraft:block_state_property is fully replaced by the new minecraft:match_block condition, and minecraft:value_check split into integer and float variants.Brewing and pottery are data driven. Potion brewing now uses the minecraft:brewing recipe type with input, reagent, and output slots, and any item can go in any slot. Pottery sherds are data driven too, and minecraft:pot_decorations now stores four named item stacks instead of a list of four IDs. The #brewing_fuel item tag is gone, replaced by the new minecraft:brewing_fuel component, alongside a matching minecraft:cooking_fuel component for furnaces.Cooking times changed. cookingtime is no longer optional, and Smoker and Blast Furnace recipes now use the same value as their Furnace counterparts, with the speedup handled by a number provider on the fuel. Custom recipes for those blocks need their cookingtime doubled. If you relied on the old default, use 200.Worldgen registries moved. worldgen/configured_feature is now worldgen/feature with config inlined at the root, and worldgen/configured_carver is now worldgen/carver. Biome spawn settings moved out of biome files into the new Environment Attributes system. Density functions now evaluate in single precision rather than double, which can shift results for packs that leaned on floating point behavior.Sign click events are off by default. Commands and other click events in sign text no longer fire, and text components on newly placed signs are not resolved. A new allow_op_features boolean restores the old behavior. Signs saved before this version are grandfathered in with the flag set to true, but anything you create from now on needs it set explicitly. Worth reviewing if your server uses command signs for warps or shops.There are two new commands to go with all this: /posteffect for applying post-processing shaders to a player's screen, and /compute for evaluating the new number providers in a given context. /item picked up fill and override subcommands, and /execute gained a slots condition.New Content Highlight for Minecraft 26.3Dappled Forest, a new biome generating near cold biomes, with poplar trees in red, orange, and yellow variants, each with matching falling leaf particles.Abandoned Camps, a new structure with a custom design for each of the eighteen biomes it generates in, stocked with chests and barrels.Cushions in all sixteen colors, crafted from three wool slabs, that you can place and sit on.Straw Beds, craftable from three hay bales for four beds, that let you skip the night without setting your spawn. Single use only, and they will not work in the Nether or the End.Wool and concrete stairs and slabs for every color. Wool variants still dampen vibrations, and concrete variants work in a stonecutter.Shelf Mushrooms growing on poplar trees, which are slightly bouncy, and Red Shrubs.Explorer Maps are real items now, each with its own icon, including new maps for Ancient Cities, Trial Chambers, Mineshafts, and more. Existing maps convert on world load.Order-independent transparency replaces the old Improved Transparency setting, fixing a long list of translucency rendering bugs at a higher performance cost. Players on weaker hardware may want it off.Spectators can now use portals, and the client has moved from GLFW to SDL3, which fixes a long list of input and fullscreen issues, especially on macOS and Linux.Before You Update your MC Server. We Recommend:Back up your world. Non-negotiable on a version with worldgen and data format changes this deep.Check white-list in server.properties and set it deliberately.Test every data pack against format 121.0 on a copy of your world first. Assume it needs work.Audit any command signs for the new allow_op_features flag.Test log-parsing automation, or migrate it to the Management Protocol.If you run mods or plugins, wait for your platform to publish 26.3 builds before updating a live server.To download the new server or client JAR for this Minecraft update we have made the files easy to download directly from Mojang here. You can also read the full changelog for Minecraft 26.3 on the official announcement.]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/company-updates/install-valheim-mods-and-manage-players-with-one-click https://nodecraft.com/blog/company-updates/install-valheim-mods-and-manage-players-with-one-click Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:04:47 GMT Valheim originally launched into Steam Early Access on February 2, 2021, and as of September 9th, 2026, the game has officially left Early Access! Valheim's launch has changed & defined the survival genre as it welcomes UGC with mods and customizablity. Additionally this update introduces crossplay, meaning polayers across Steam (PC), Linux, PlayStation (PS5), XBOX, Nintendo Switch 2, & Mac can become vikings, build epic worlds, and surive together with their own Valheim Server.Adding One Click Features for Valheim 1.0 ServersNodecraft is now proud to announce that it's added support for many great features to help players explore the world of Valheim for the first time or relaunch a new world. This makes Nodecraft the best quality server hosting provider for players that want deep customization & a stable server.Install & Update Valheim Mods onto your Server from ThunderstoreAll Valheim server owners can now install & update Mods from the Thunderstore with a simple click of a button. Nodecraft's custom control panel automatically installs BepinEx, the mod loader for Valheim servers, for you. As shown in the video above, you can also upload your own mod or simply browse the most popular mods from the Thunderstore platform.Updating Mods Is a Critical Feature at NodecraftWe've all been there with our game servers. You finally found the right mix of mods, but something keeps crashing. As plugins get updated to fix problems in your server, it is critical that you can update Valhiem server mods with one click of a button. No file manager, no stress, just pure gameplay. And if your mod requires another mod to work correctly, Nodecraft will automatically install it for you.Manage Players with CrossplaySetting up an Allowlist, Admins, or Bans has undergone a major breaking change with this update. Nodecraft solves this with built in controls to help you manage the players by ID for each platform. Take a look below.Customize Your World Settings to Make it YoursAnother great feature from Nodecraft's update for Valheim 1.0 includes full world customization. This lets you set presets or customize everything about the world you create in your server. Thanks to Nodecraft's custom control panel it's just a couple clicks and you can change everything about the world generation, no CLI arguements required. Get Help With Your Valheim Server Today!Nodecraft has supported Valheim servers since its launch. This means custom control panel features, custom event monitoring, & so much more to make setup easier than ever. That also means building a full suite of knowledgebase articles to help players setup and manage the server. We've updated our entire library of Valheim articles so you can self-serve help. We also provide live-chat so you can immediately get help.How to Quickly Find & Join Your Valhiem ServerHow to Upload an Existing World to your Valheim ServerHow to Change the Max Players to more than 10 Players+ Dozens of other Articles on the Nodecraft Valheim KBConclusion: End to End Integrations Built for Creators, Ready for LaunchA lot of work goes into a multiplayer game launch. Nodecraft supports game studios of all sizes so that players have the power to build their own worlds. It doesn't matter if you're a small group of gamers, a niche Discord server, or a large content creator: game servers are better at Nodecraft.Are you a studio preparing for launch? We partner directly with developers to ensure day-one support, robust documentation, and seamless player experiences. Reach out to us at studios@nodecraft.com to discuss how we can support your next release.]]> Company Updates https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/valheim-deep-north-update-is-live https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/valheim-deep-north-update-is-live Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:49:23 GMT Valheim's long-awaited launch from early access into the 1.0 is live today with the Deep North update! This update has a lot to explore, so snag your own Valheim Server and explore it with up to 10 players!Explore The Deep NorthNew Biome: Deep North was added: This treacherous frozen frontier will challenge even the most skilled Valheim players.Alternate Biome Versions: Discover randomized versions of all biomes across the world's outer edgesNew Dungeons: Winding Tunnels Mörkhalla have been added to exploreHidden Sites: Abandoned villages, stave hals, and so much moreMassive New Gear Drops in Valheim 1.040+ New Weapons: Complete Nord, Frostfire, & swords, axes, bows, spears, and more!4 New Armor Sets: Crown of Valheim & specialized sets for combat, tanking, and even magic!New Trinkets & Capes: Neckstabber, Witch Crown, and thematic cape optionsAdditional Shields & Staffs: New magic and defense options for every playstyleLiving World Updates10+ New Creatures: From the tameable Moose to the fearsome boss Kall Fimbulbringer20+ New Food Items: Expanded cooking with Kale, Oats, Poteitr, and moreNew Boss Fight: Face the Jotun invasion with fresh endgame challengesMuch-Needed Builder Updates80+ New Building Pieces: Scalewood walls, drawbridges, timber beams at new angles, and decorative elementsNew Craftable Furniture: Thrones, carved tables, rugs, and storage solutionsFresh Decorative Options: Metal stacks, eternal pyres, lanterns, and moreCritical Game Server & Performance UpdatesNew Save System: World data now split across chunks for faster saves and better crash resilienceDraw Distance Setting: Server admins can balance visual fidelity with performanceOptimized World Generation: Significantly faster load timesReduced Network Traffic: Terrain manipulation optimization cuts bandwidth usageAudio & Texture Optimization: Lower memory footprint, fewer lag spikesFixed Memory Leak: Minimap memory leak resolvedCPU Performance Boost: Removed a high-cost per-frame check (especially benefits Xbox One servers)Quality of Life & GameplayGrappling Hook: New traversal tool for reaching higher areasInventory Upgrades: Deeper and Wider Pockets upgrades via HaldorSnow Mechanics: Clear snow before building on frozen terrainIce Walking Hazard: Frozen surfaces are now treacherousAchievements System: Track your accomplishmentsNew Cinematics: Story progression unlocks visual narrativesUpgraded Movement Animations: Smoother character motionMisc ImprovementsUnity Engine Upgrade: Modern engine performance benefitsController Vibration Support: Full support for Dualshock and Xbox controllersAll Hairstyles Available from Start: No barber station requiredUkrainian Language Support: Now officially supportedEULA for Online Play: Added for multiplayer clarityVarious Bug Fixes & Optimizations: Improved graphics, accessibility, and stabilityFind the full Valheim 1.0 patch notes here and create a Valheim 1.0 Server here.Don't miss this major update and polish to one of the best games of the genre. Grab friends and go explore today!Valheim Server Changes:The Dev team at Nodecraft has noticed the following launch-day problems for this update:Admin, Ban, & Allowlist have new IDs for game servers. Steam format is no longer Steam_${id} and is now V_${id} . You can find your Steam ID here.Server tracking does not emit when players leave the server.Last updated: 9:56am CST September 9th]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/best-games-in-the-steam-pve-survival-crafting-fest https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/best-games-in-the-steam-pve-survival-crafting-fest Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:56:19 GMT Steam PvE Survival Crafting Fest has arrived with huge deals on community favorites! To help you dive right in, Nodecraft is running a 30% discount on your first game server purchase, alongside our free 3-day trials. Check out our full games catalog and jump into multiplayer with your friends today.Nodecraft Games featured in the festFrom underground research facilities to floating islands in the stars, the survival crafting genre offers endless ways to play. With titles on sale for up to 75% off across PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and mobile, there's no better opportunity to grab a server and chart your own path. Check out the best survival crafting games featured in the Steam Fest below:7 Days to Die7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!Abiotic FactorAbiotic Factor is a survival crafting experience for 1-6 players set in the depths of an underground research facility. Caught between paranormal containment failure, a military crusade, and chaos from a dozen realms, the world’s greatest minds must survive against the universe’s biggest threats.AloftSoar the skies in Aloft, the co-op sandbox survival game set in a world of floating islands. Build any island into a skyship, your home in the clouds. Find lost knowledge, cure the fungal corruption, and brave the hurricane to restore the ecosystem.Ark: Survival EvolvedIn Ark: Survival Evolved, you are stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, and you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate... and escape!AstroneerIn Astroneer, interact with strange new worlds in a unique and tactile way, molding the environment itself as if it were clay in your hands. Build your base, master resource management, automate your production lines, and more as you unravel the mysteries of the universe, alone or with friends.Conan Exiles: EnhancedConan Exiles Enhanced is an open world survival game set in the mythical lands of Hyboria, now fully upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 with stunning visuals and improved performance. SURVIVE, BUILD, and DOMINATE alone or with friends in a world brimming with adventure!Core KeeperIn Core Keeper, explore a vast cavern of creatures, relics and resources in a mining sandbox adventure for 1-8 players. Mine, build, fight, craft and farm to unravel the mystery of the ancient Core.DayZHow long can you survive a post-apocalyptic world? A land overrun with an infected "zombie" population, where you compete with other survivors for limited resources. Will you team up with strangers and stay strong together? Or play as a lone wolf to avoid betrayal? This is DayZ – this is your story.Don't Starve TogetherFight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don't Starve. Check out Don't Starve Together.Echoes of ElysiumEver wanted to live on an airship? Now you have to. Echoes of Elysium is a co-op survival RPG where your airship is home, workshop, and war machine. Build a custom flying fortress, crew up with up to 6 players, and battle soul-powered clockwork beasts across a gorgeous, fractured sky.EnshroudedIn Enshrouded, you are Flameborn, last ember of hope of a dying race. Awaken, survive the terror of a corrupting fog, and reclaim the lost beauty of your kingdom. Venture into a vast world, vanquish punishing bosses, build grand halls and forge your path in this co-op survival action RPG for up to 16 players. Get ready for Enshrouded 1.0, releasing on 15 October 2026 by grabbing the game on sale before its price increases.HumanitZHumanitZ is an isometric, open-world sandbox survival game set in a world ended by a zombie outbreak. Survive alone or with friends by scavenging, crafting, building, and fighting to last as long as ‘humanly’ possible. You can’t change the past, but you can fight for the future of humanity.IcarusICARUS is a solo or multiplayer PvE survival game. Explore a savage wilderness in the aftermath of terraforming gone wrong. Complete narrative quests as either Open World operations or Individual Missions. Explore, build, craft and hunt while seeking your fortune and prospecting for exotic matter.NecesseBuild, quest, and conquer across an infinite procedurally generated world in Necesse. Play alone or with friends as you establish a settlement and explore deep dungeons, fight monsters and bosses, mine rare ores, craft magical equipment, recruit specialists for your colony, and more!PalworldPalworld has left early access and players are loving the 1.0 update! Fight, farm, build and work alongside mysterious creatures called "Pals" in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!Project ZomboidProject Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customizable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..RomesteadRome has fallen! Rebuild civilization in this action-adventure survival game for 1-8 players. Fight hordes of the walking dead, build settlements, restore the Roman gods... or kick back and farm with friends. Check out Romestead.Runescape: DragonwildsOn RuneScape's forgotten continent of Ashenfall, dragons have awoken. In Runescape: Dragonwilds, gather, build, skill and craft in this co-operative survival adventure. Only by mastering survival and uncovering ancient secrets can you hope to face the ferocious Dragon Queen. ScumWelcome to SCUM, a ruthless open-world survival game where deep character customization defines the prisoner you become. Loot, craft, hunt, build, and fight to outlast a hostile island where every choice can change your fate. Stay alive. Stay dangerous. Become harder to kill.Sons of the ForestSent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island, you find yourself in a cannibal-infested hellscape. In Sons of the Forest, craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator.SoulmaskDon the Ancient Mask. Wield the power of gods. In Soulmask, possess any of your tribespeople, recruit followers, and build a thriving automated civilization. Survive, expand, and forge your own legacy across a vast ancient open world — together with friends.StarboundIn Starbound, you’ve fled your home, only to find yourself lost in space with a damaged ship. Your only option is to beam down to the planet below, repair your ship and set off to explore the universe...StarRuptureStarRupture is a first-person open world base-building game with advanced combat and tons of exploration. Play alone or in a group on this sublime and ever-changing planet, extract and manage resources, create your complex industrial system and fight off hordes of alien monsters.TerrariaThe very world is at your fingertips as you fight for survival, fortune, and glory. Delve deep into cavernous expanses, seek out ever-greater foes to test your mettle in combat, or construct your own city - In the World of Terraria, the choice is yours!Blending elements of classic action games with the freedom of sandbox-style creativity, Terraria is a unique gaming experience where both the journey and the destination are as unique as the players themselves!The ForestAs the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. In The Forest, build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.ValheimEveryone is excited for Valheim 1.0, launching 9 September 2026. A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!VeinVEIN is a post-apocalyptic survival multiplayer sandbox game. Gather supplies to survive, explore abandoned buildings, defend your home, and rebuild society, whether alone or with friends.Voyagers of NeraVoyagers of Nera is a cooperative survival-crafting game where you must survive a magical ocean world brimming with lost spirits and deadly monsters. Sail to distant islands, build beautiful villages and surf across the waves with up to 10 players.WindroseEmbark on a PvE survival adventure in the Age of Piracy. In Windrose, fight on land and sea, solo or with friends. Build, craft and explore a vast open world filled with dark secrets. Master soulslite combat and take on challenging bosses, command your ship and plunder unspoken treasures!Why You Should Host a Private Server with NodecraftPVE Survival Crafting games are the PERFECT games to host. Here are the key reasons:Persistent World Progress: Keep your server running 24/7 so base production, automated crafting, and resource gathering continue even when you are offline.Full Control Over World Settings: Customize difficulty, spawn rates, resource multipliers, day/night cycles, and PvP/PvE rules to match your group's playstyle.Mod & Plugin Support: Easily install custom mods, community maps, and plugins to add new mechanics, items, or quality-of-life features.Seamless Multiplayer & Zero Host Lag: Offload performance demands from a single host's PC to dedicated hardware, ensuring smooth performance for everyone.Private, Safe Community Space: Maintain a troll-free environment with DDoS shield, and password protection or whitelisting so you only play with friends and trusted players.One-Click Game Swapping: With Nodecraft, easily switch your server between different survival crafting titles without paying for additional server instances or losing saved data.]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/what-to-expect-in-valheim-1-0-deep-north-achievements-crossplay-and-more https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/what-to-expect-in-valheim-1-0-deep-north-achievements-crossplay-and-more Tue, 01 Sep 2026 02:50:01 GMT More than five years after its Early Access debut, Valheim is preparing for its biggest milestone yet. Version 1.0 launches on Sep 9, 2026, completing the game's biome progression with the Deep North while adding achievements, new platforms, full crossplay, and a collection of technical and quality-of-life improvements.Iron Gate is keeping some surprises hidden, especially details about the Deep North's enemies and final encounters. Even so, the studio has confirmed enough to offer a clear picture of what is coming. Version 1.0 is more than a new biome. It is also a refinement update designed to make Valheim feel complete for returning Vikings and new groups alike.Valheim 1.0 Release Date and PlatformsValheim 1.0 will launch simultaneously on PC, Linux, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 are new additions, and every supported platform will have access to full crossplay.Dedicated servers can welcome players from every supported platform, provided the server and clients are running compatible versions.Crossplay does not include universal cloud saves. Save synchronization remains limited to Xbox consoles and the Microsoft Store version on PC, so players moving between other platforms should not expect their characters or local worlds to transfer automatically.The server limit will remain one to ten players.The Deep North Is the Main EventThe Deep North is Valheim's final major biome update. The frozen region has existed at the edge of the map for years, but version 1.0 transforms it into a fully realized endgame destination with new enemies, weapons, resources, foods, crafting options, and building pieces.The announcement trailer presents a harsher environment than Valheim's earlier biomes, with towering frozen structures and dangerous terrain that will demand serious preparation. Iron Gate has not published a complete enemy list or revealed the final boss, so the biome's biggest moments are still being saved for launch.Cold weather is only part of the challenge. Iron Gate has previewed slippery ice and deep snow that can obstruct building. Players will be able to craft a shovel to clear snow, suggesting that establishing a foothold in the Deep North will take more work than simply placing a portal and workbench.Lingonberries are also coming to the biome, along with a new meatball dish that uses them. Apparently, even Valheim's frozen endgame needs a proper side dish. Food progression is central to Valheim's health and stamina systems, so the new recipes should support combat, exploration, and building in the late game.The Frost Foundry is one of the most interesting confirmed additions. Iron Gate describes it as a crafting station that needs room to operate, making it more like a workshop than a compact bench. It should give late-game bases a new functional centerpiece and another reason to rethink established layouts. Late-game longhouses may need another expansion, which is practically a Valheim tradition.Builders will also receive a functional drawbridge and new 67-degree roof pieces in thatch and darkwood. The steeper roof sections reach four meters high, allowing taller, sharper silhouettes for halls, towers, and other Nordic-style structures.Iron Gate has also teased a massive gate or monument loosely connected to the saga of Hervor. The developers have warned that Valheim's version will not follow the original story exactly, so the teaser is best treated as a clue rather than a confirmed plot summary.More Than 50 AchievementsValheim 1.0 will introduce more than 50 achievements covering progression, exploration, and other accomplishments. Veterans will have a fresh checklist, while new players will gain a clearer sense of the game's major milestones.Achievement tracking begins only after version 1.0 is installed. Some accomplishments completed in an older save, such as defeating a boss, may need to be repeated before the related achievement unlocks. Players who want the cleanest achievement run may prefer a new character and world. Some veterans may therefore find themselves scheduling an awkward rematch with a boss they already defeated.Iron Gate is also changing how cheats affect progression. Most developer commands will permanently flag the affected character or world, spawned items will be visibly marked, and the game will request confirmation before applying the cheated flag. Server communities that care about clean progression should review who has administrator access before launch.Existing Worlds and Saves Will Still WorkExisting characters, worlds, and saves will remain compatible with Valheim 1.0. However, new terrain and biome content can generate only in unexplored areas. A world with large portions of the Deep North already revealed may not receive the complete updated biome in those locations.Iron Gate recommends starting a new world and playthrough for the intended version 1.0 experience. This is guidance rather than a requirement. Long-running groups can keep their current worlds, but the best results will be limited to unexplored regions. That is not an easy choice after finally getting the roofline right.Performance and Save ImprovementsVersion 1.0 includes technical improvements for everyday play. Iron Gate says the update reduces microstutters when loading new zones, makes saving faster, and includes other minor performance optimizations.Players with very large bases should temper expectations. Large, complex builds are not expected to receive a major performance boost. The improvements should make travel and routine saving feel smoother, but they will not remove every limitation caused by dense construction or large numbers of active objects. Even Odin has limits when every wall, roof beam, and storage shed becomes an architectural statement.What Valheim 1.0 Will Not IncludeA few popular requests fall outside the launch scope. The Ocean will not receive a full biome overhaul in version 1.0. The Deep North is the final biome focus, although bug fixes and quality-of-life updates will continue after release.There will not be a public test branch for version 1.0, so everyone will discover the finished Deep North at the same time. This protects late-game surprises, but it also gives server operators and modded communities less time to validate their setups before launch.Mod compatibility is another uncertainty. Iron Gate does not provide official mod support or Steam Workshop integration and cannot guarantee that existing mods will work with version 1.0. Any mod that changes world generation, creatures, items, or core systems should be treated as potentially incompatible until its developer releases or confirms an update.Price and Download SizeThe full-release price will be $29.99, subject to regional pricing. Existing owners will keep the game at no additional cost, while new buyers will pay the updated price after launch.Iron Gate estimates a download size of roughly 4.3 GiB on most platforms. Xbox One is expected to require about 3.0 GiB, while the Mac App Store and Microsoft Store versions may require about 6.5 GiB. The download is modest by modern standards, but server owners should still allow time for installation and validation before reopening their servers.How Server Owners Should PrepareA little planning will make the transition to version 1.0 easier and reduce the chance of a launch-day Viking mutiny. Before launch, server owners should:Create and verify an untouched backup of the current world, character data, and configuration files.Decide whether the community will preserve its existing world or start fresh for the complete Deep North experience.If the group plans to keep its current map, avoid exploring the Deep North before the update.Review installed mods and assume they may need to be removed or updated before the server can start safely.Plan a maintenance window so the server, clients, and crossplay components can be updated together.Tell players that achievement tracking begins with version 1.0 and that developer commands can flag progression.Make sure everyone understands the ten-player limit and the difference between crossplay and cross-platform save synchronization.Final ThoughtsValheim 1.0 looks like a fitting conclusion to the Early Access journey. The Deep North gives veteran groups a final frontier, while achievements, new building pieces, technical improvements, and expanded crossplay make the game easier to recommend to newcomers. Returning groups must decide whether to preserve an existing world or start fresh, but the preparation is the same: back up your data, review your mods, gather your crew, and prepare for one last voyage north.]]> Game News & Tips https://nodecraft.com/blog/development/letting-ai-agents-drive-your-game-servers-with-webmcp https://nodecraft.com/blog/development/letting-ai-agents-drive-your-game-servers-with-webmcp Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:56:08 GMT Nodecraft has a habit of spotting useful infrastructure shifts early and putting them to work for game servers before they become obvious. We moved MCVersions onto Cloudflare Workers Sites when the product was barely a week old, ended up serving nearly a billion API requests a month from the edge (it's well over this now), and rebuilt our backup system around Zstandard back when most of the gaming industry had not yet caught up to it.Getting there early means we can spend more time turning new infrastructure into practical advantages for game servers, long before it becomes standard across the wider hosting market.WebMCP is the latest of these bets. This week, it moved from “interesting experiment” to “we’re glad we got here early.”So what is WebMCP?WebMCP is a proposed web standard, currently incubating in the W3C with editors from Google and Microsoft. The pitch is simple; instead of an AI agent operating your website by taking screenshots and guessing where to click, the page tells the agent what it can do.A web app calls document.modelContext.registerTool() and registers a set of named, typed tools, each with a description and a proper input schema. An agent visiting the page sees those tools and calls them directly, like functions. No pixel-hunting, no "I clicked the button that looked most deletey".The part we like most is where the tools run - they live in the page, in your browser, in your session. There are no API keys to mint, no separate service to log into, and the agent only gets the access you already have. Every tool call goes through the exact same code paths as the buttons in the panel.Compare that to "computer use" style agents that screenshot the page and move a virtual mouse around - that approach is slower, more expensive, and much more fragile - you're always one ambiguous button label away from clicking the wrong thing. For a control panel that manages live game servers, that difference matters.We got here earlyWe shipped our first WebMCP tools in nodepanel back in April. At the time, there was barely anything that could call them. WebMCP lived behind a Chrome flag, and the main way to use them was through browser extensions that bridged page tools to a local agent, plus a handful of experimental clients. We started with read-only basics like listing your servers and reading console output, mostly to learn the shape of the thing, then kept building through the summer. Full file management landed in August, followed by a much bigger expansion covering settings, backups, scheduled tasks, and the entire server lifecycle.Chrome moved WebMCP into a public origin trial, and this week OpenAI added WebMCP support to the ChatGPT desktop app's built-in browser. Now, when ChatGPT visits a WebMCP-enabled site, it can discover the site's tools and call them directly. Overnight, the audience for these tools went from "a handful of developers with the right extension installed" to anyone with ChatGPT on their desktop.This means the tools we've been quietly building all year now have somewhere real to run."Why did my server crash?"This is one of the flows we built first, because it's the question every server owner eventually asks at 1am. Open your server in nodepanel, ask your agent what happened, and it has enough context to start digging. It can pull the crash log with get_console_output, check live CPU and RAM with get_instance_metrics, and dig through get_instance_usage_history to see whether memory has been creeping up all week or suddenly spiked ten minutes ago.The fix is where it gets genuinely useful. Say the console shows your Minecraft server dying on a broken plugin config, your agent can read_file the offending YAML, spot the unclosed quote, and repair it with edit_file, which works like a code editor's find-and-replace, changing exactly the bytes that are wrong and leaving everything else alone. Then restart_instance, and it watches the console to make sure the fix actually took. A complete diagnose-and-repair loop, in your browser tab, against the same file manager and console you'd use yourself.Changing settings without hand-editing configsEvery game stores its settings differently, and some config formats are actively hostile to being rewritten by anything. So alongside the raw file tools, we exposed the panel's own settings system, backed by Rulesmith, the custom configuration engine we've been refining for years.get_settings returns the same validated fields our settings pages use: labels, current values, allowed options, and the guardrails behind them. set_settings writes changes back through the same validation. Ask your agent to "turn off PvP and set the difficulty to hard" and it doesn't need to know which file Valheim keeps that in or what the syntax looks like. It finds the fields by label, sets them, and lets the panel write valid config. Your agent cannot produce a malformed file through that path, which is more than we can say for ourselves at 1am.Automation you describe in a sentenceOur Automated Tasks scheduler is powerful, but like every scheduler ever built, it involves a form with a lot of dropdowns. Now you can just describe what you want:Back up my server every night at 4am my time, and warn players in chat five minutes before the restart.Your agent builds that with create_task, wiring up a scheduled trigger, a console command job for the chat warning, a five minute wait, then the restart and the backup, in order. It confirms the schedule and timezone with you first, creates the task, and double-checks its own work with list_tasks. Backups are exposed directly too, so "take a backup before we touch anything" is a one-liner with create_backup!From zero to deployed serverThe lifecycle tools take you from an empty slot to a running server. An agent can check your account's free slots with get_available_slots, create a new server with create_instance, deploy it into a slot with deploy_instance, and start it up. We were extra careful here. create_instance always does a dry run first, and returns the full plan (game, version, location, connection address) for you to approve before anything real happens.Guardrails, because these are live serversA tool that can delete files on a running game server deserves more caution than one that lists them, and WebMCP's safety model is still evolving, so we added our own guardrails.Read-only tools are marked read-only and just work.Anything destructive (deleting files, overwriting on copy, editing configs) requires your agent to pass an explicit confirm flag, and each destructive tool description instructs your agent to show you exactly what will change before it sets that flag. delete_path is blunt about it too: no undo, no recycle bin.Tools are page-scoped. File and console tools only exist while you're actually viewing that server, so an agent can't rummage through a server you don't have open.Signed out, there is barely anything to call beyond an auth check and knowledgebase search.It's not just the panelWe've also been wiring WebMCP into the free tools on nodecraft.com, turning static utility pages into things your agent can actually operate.Our Minecraft item ID lists expose search and a /give command builder that knows the syntax quirks of every version, numeric IDs, data values, and which target selectors existed yet. Ask for "a give command for 64 cyan wool on 1.8" and your agent gets it right, because the page told it the rules.The map art generator lets an agent load an image, tune the grid, palette version, dithering and framing, and hand you finished .dat files, while the live preview updates as it works.The NBT workbench gives agents structured read, search, and edit access to Minecraft NBT files, right in the browser. No more manual SNBT copy/pasting.Nodecraft.com also offers knowledgebase search, our supported games list, and datacenter locations as tools, so an agent helping someone pick a host can pull real answers instead of guessing.The future of WebMCPWebMCP is still an origin trial, not a finished standard. The spec will keep moving underneath us, but that's fine. It already moved underneath us between April and now, and we kept up.With ChatGPT's desktop browser speaking WebMCP and Chrome's origin trial open to everyone, "I asked an AI to fix my server and it did" is about to get a lot less weird.Try it today by opening your server in nodepanel inside the ChatGPT desktop app or another WebMCP-capable browser, then just ask. If your agent does something brilliant, tell us. If it does something daft, definitely tell us. And if there are flows you want it to handle next, we want to hear those too!]]> James Ross Development https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/oblivionmp-is-coming-multiplayer-for-oblivion-remastered https://nodecraft.com/blog/game-news-tips/oblivionmp-is-coming-multiplayer-for-oblivion-remastered Mon, 24 Aug 2026 14:45:48 GMT OblivionMP Brings Multiplayer Game Servers and We Can't WaitThe world of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered may not stay single player for much longer.The team behind ReadyM, the creators of WukongMP, has officially shown off OblivionMP, an upcoming multiplayer project that aims to bring shared adventures to Cyrodiil. While it's still in pre-alpha, recent gameplay footage has given players their best look yet at what's being built, and it's already generating plenty of excitement within the community.What Is OblivionMP?OblivionMP is an ambitious multiplayer framework currently in development for Oblivion Remastered. Rather than simply adding drop-in co-op, the project is designed to provide a foundation for community-created multiplayer experiences.Early demonstrations have shown players exploring the world together while features such as spellcasting, stealth, swimming, alchemy, and other gameplay systems remain synchronized between multiple clients.The developers have also indicated that the focus is on giving server owners and mod creators the tools to build their own unique experiences instead of recreating Oblivion's original single-player story in multiplayer.Still Early, but Progress Looks PromisingLike any project of this scale, OblivionMP is still under active development. Many features are still being refined, and there's no public release available just yet.That said, each development update has shown noticeable progress, and the team has stated that a public alpha is planned in the near future. As always with pre-release software, features, timelines, and functionality may change before launch.Looking AheadThe Elder Scrolls has one of the most passionate modding communities in gaming, and the idea of exploring Cyrodiil alongside friends has been a long-standing dream for many players. If OblivionMP reaches its goals, it could open the door to everything from cooperative adventures to large community-driven roleplay servers and custom multiplayer worlds.We'll be keeping a close eye on its development and will share updates as more information becomes available.And of course, when OblivionMP arrives, we'll be just as excited to help players get their multiplayer worlds up and running.]]> Game News & Tips