New on Java Realms: Resorts, Rematches, and Rumbling Raids

It feels like just yesterday we were here, talking about new maps coming to Java Realms. Two releases in one month, with an epic number of new mini-games, adventures, and more? Madness! But, creators have been hard at work, and we’re overflowing with community content to share with you. If you’re looking for something to play for the weekend and beyond, join us as we take a peek at each of these creative collaborations.

Dimension Parkour

by Hielke

In my mind, the best maps of the running and jumping “parkour” genre take steps to justify what you are running and jumping on. Maps with blocks floating inexplicably in space are technical challenges, stripping away the scenery until you’re working with just the basics. But my favorites are when you still have those technical challenges, but set them within a more fully-formed environment. Dimension Parkour does just this, running you through a gauntlet of terrain that contains as much substance as it does style. Most of the game can be completed with a minimum of momentum loss, allowing you to run through areas filled with intuitive paths. One of the best parts of Dimension Parkour is the final segment, which contains a surprising boss fight that parkour enthusiasts should have fun dispatching.

Underwater Mob Arena

by PvPqnda and asluup

Most gamers are familiar with arena combat, where you defeat mobs one after the other in an enclosed area, attempting to survive until the very end. Underwater Mob Arena takes that concept to new depths as you complete wave after wave of aquatic combat. Defeating enemies will let you purchase upgrades to weapons, armor, or even powerful items with special abilities, such as sucking in nearby mobs or blowing your foes sky high.

Berries and Slimes

by Dieuwt

Berries and Slimes: a map with a mysterious name. Is it a high-concept piece that forces players to survive with just the two things? Perhaps a collection of both smart and ill-advised smoothie ingredients? I’m told that in reality, it’s about controlling the evolution of slime colonies. Who’d have guessed! By changing the environments you can control available resources, experimenting as you watch your slimes grow, hold steady, or decline and die out. I’ll probably take care of my slimes just like I did with my digital Tamagotchi pet back in the 90s – which my parents tell me is still very much alive and enjoying life on a nice farm.

OneBlock

by IJAMinecraft

Typical skyblock maps ask players to survive on floating islands with minimal resources, but OneBlock asks that you survive on a floating block with one resource. Hardcore! I should probably point out that as soon as you mine the one block, another pops back into the same position. It’s dirt! Now wood! Now… a chicken!? Now it’s wood again! Create your world around the block that keeps giving, throughout ten distinct phases, each containing new themes of blocks and mobs. With a blank canvas and unlimited blocks, show off your infinite creativity; don’t be like me and just make a dirt square with a fence!

Sunset Resort

By Feran and 62h

Sunset Resort is a place that I’d like to stay at for a long vacation. It’s got a nice, relaxing atmosphere, and you can choose between staying in a beach cabin, a treehouse, or a fancy resort. The creators have given life to the build, doing things like adding personal touches to the interiors, creating believable paths between structures, or… using beds as beach umbrellas? Actually, those look pretty great once you forget that they’re made of beds! I’ll be taking some inspiration from this map the next time I make a home by the beach!

GuessHead

by Flcme

Grab a friend and get ready to guess some heads! This is a two-player minigame that requires you to determine which head your opponent is looking at, out of a larger collection of heads. Narrow down your options, and hopefully you’ll pick the correct one! When I asked our artists how many possible color and pixel configurations were possible on a Minecraft head, the answer I got back was, “A lot, why are you asking us this?” With that fact confidently tucked away, I can tell you that there are a lot of possible heads in Minecraft!

Gold Puzzles

by FatalVortex

Shiny! A whole series of challenges involving everyone’s favorite block… lime concrete powder! Or, is that just me? Alright, this map is all about gold, which is definitely not lime and doesn’t even solidify when you throw it into water. But if you are into gold, you’ll need to know all of its unique properties in order to complete each of the twenty-five puzzles here. Did you know that a player can carry 44.5 million kilograms of gold if they filled their inventory with blocks? That’s not relevant to the puzzles in this map, but now you have a fact with which to impress everyone you know.

Rematch

by MCFilms, Jayjo_, and Flamingosaurus

Rematch is a PvP map, divided into 3 different phases. Gather resources through actions like finding chests or fighting mobs, go shopping for gear such as traps or spells, then hop into the arena for a battle against other players. Didn’t win? Change up your strategy, then rematch!

Raid Rumble

by GCodingStudios

Drawing inspiration from Minecraft’s village raids, this map takes that experience and cranks up the features and difficulty to the next level by attempting to overwhelm you with both good stuff and ill-tempered mobs. If waves of attacking pillagers weren't interesting enough, Raid Rumble adds classes, bosses, companions, trading, and more! 

Castle of Slarox

by Slarox and kartoffelgranate

If you’ve been looking for tips on how to build up your Minecraft town with a castle and surrounding builds, Castle of Slarox has something for you. A diverse set of exterior home types will help beef up your house-building skills, while the grand castle’s gardens, domes, and walkways provide a vision for how the royalty in your world might live. Then there’s the dragon who looks on menacingly, ready to eat anyone whose build skills aren’t up to par. That does explain why this map is devoid of inhabitants...

Panic Plates

by Flcme and BOPofficial

Much like following the 24/7 news cycle in the modern, digital age, this map is all about hopping around, avoiding random disasters that happen every fifteen seconds. Thankfully, the disasters here bear little resemblance to real life, and are instead features such as bee swarms or falling sand. Short and sweet!

I Hate Nature

by mickae

Plants and nature are generally pretty great for you, barring the occasional poisoning or wild animal attack. But what if grass was deadly, and everything green was pointing towards your untimely demise? You might just stay inside and play Minecraft all day! Luckily, this is all in Minecraft, so you’re totally safe. Just be sure to stay off of the grass, don’t let your opponents’ projectiles spread the grass, and just generally avoid all nature.

Pawn

by Meeples10, Pebble, and Kovu

You look down upon your pawn in the middle of a puzzle. Your tools are simply an aerial view and a set of instructions in your inventory. You can direct your pawn to the finish by placing instructions on the wall in front of you, but watch out, as only the correct set of instructions will allow you to move onto the next challenge. 

400 Levels

by PvPqnda

We started this journey today on a parkour adventure that was, for the most part, a single cohesive run. In this map, we have its thematic opposite. While you can still complete this in one run, this map is broken up into four hundred mini parkour challenges. They’re quick and bite-sized, with the difficulty ramping up and down in a satisfying way.

... and that's a wrap!

With an abundance of new content this week, that should be more than enough to keep players entertained for the foreseeable future. Check this space once you finish, because we’re already working on the next release!

To learn about loading this and other content into Java Realms for your PC, visit our help site. If you haven't yet tried Realms for yourself, you'll have a blue diamond on the Minecraft Realms button, located on the main screen of Minecraft: Java Edition. Click it, then follow the instructions to try Realms free for 30 days.

Want to have your own Minecraft creations featured on Realms and on Minecraft.net? Head over to this page, which explains the Java Realms Content Creator Program. If you have questions about this process, you can find me on Twitter.

Happy Minecrafting!