Mapmaking FAQ

This page is for Frequently Asked Questions regarding mapmaking on Minr. For questions about the server itself, see Server FAQ.

Basics

How do I start building a map?

Firstly, reach Green Rank. Once you are Green, you can warp to Theta or Epsilon and find an unclaimed area to begin building from there. Most greens request regions, or areas where other players can't destroy or build blocks, to be created for their maps once they have made some progress on building.

Where are good mapmaking resources?

Mapmaking has several locations which contain helpful resources for creators. One place which contains many of these resources is the Greenie Resources page on this wiki in the Mapmaking section. The Greenies Only and Map Submission sections of the Forums also contain mapmaking information, and the #mapmaking Discord channel contains pinned links and information about mapmaking in it.

What are some general guidelines for making maps?

A general overview of map characteristics Board members like and dislike for published maps to have can be read about in this guide. A general overview of the page is as follows:

A certain level of aesthetic quality is expected of all maps. Typically, mapmakers should avoid cubic rooms, monopalettes, dark rooms, and confusing directions.
Parkour gameplay should have a smooth difficulty curve, be integrated into the environment, have directional cues, and be free of unintended skips.
Mazes should avoid allowing players to follow the left or right wall to reach the end and have hallways larger than the player's collision box of 2 blocks tall and 1 block wide.
Puzzles should be playtested, be self contained, and not have exploits.

Is there a list of requirements for maps?

All FFA published maps share two characteristics.

All maps are contained in regions, preventing players from breaking blocks or otherwise modifying the map in unintended ways.
All maps have Map Signs for the starting checkpoint and the finish sign.

In addition to these, submitted maps must follow The Map Model. This adds a few points.

Maps are always completable.
Maps cannot block players from leaving to spawn or elsewhere.
Maps are self-contained (i.e. they don't require other maps or outside entities to make progress).
Maps interface nicely with the server plugin (i.e. they don't circumvent the plugin or use loopholes in it).
Maps follow the Server Rules.

Map Creation

What's the best place to get mapmaking help?

The Discord channel #mapmaking is a good place to ask questions about mapmaking related questions.

What ways do players find inspiration for maps?

Map inspiration comes from a variety of sources, mainly other pieces of media or other maps on the server. It is common to see map inspiration credits at the end of maps for this reason.

How do I avoid burnout or scope creep?

Working on a single map for extended periods of time can lead to creative burnout. There are a few common suggestions to avoid this.

Have multiple kinds of projects.
Take breaks to do other things like play maps and participate in other forms of entertainment.
Reach out for help. A large number of maps on Minr were made by multiple players with different areas of expertise.

Scope creep is a common map issue where the list of things a creator wants to add to a map gets longer over time. This can also cause creative burnout. Score creep can be alleviated somewhat with a few common strategies.

Have a checklist of what needs to be done.
Cut non-essential aspects from the map until you are left with the core elements the map needs.
Outsource parts of the map to other players.

Is there a way to request work that requires staff if none are online?

Yes, and there are two options. The first and most common is to post in the #staff_requests channel in Discord outlining what work you'd like to have completed for your map. The second option is to post in the helpdesk on the Forums, though this is much less common and typically leads to slower responses.

What are regions?

Regions are defined 3D spaces in the world. These are typically used to create areas where only a list of players can modify blocks and other aspects about the world within it. These come from the WorldGuard plugin, which has online documentation here.

Regions serve purposes besides preventing other players from modifying builds. One of the most common requests is to add saturation and maptools (i.e. setting the parent region as saturation_maptools). This gives the region automatic saturation and allows players to use debug sticks.

What is WorldEdit?

WorldEdit is a plugin which allows staff members to help players remove tedious tasks from map building. This is done by modifying large areas or by using the copy and paste feature to create several copies of the same build. Some common uses of WorldEdit are to fill in a large floor or wall, copy and paste decorative trees, stack up walls, or to change one block into a palette of several blocks.

For documentation about all of the WorldEdit commands, visit this documentation link.

Can Greens modify their own regions?

Greens cannot modify the shape of regions nor the members/owners of a region. They can, however, modify a list of flags which change aspects of the region, such as locking the day and night cycle to a specific time or by preventing buttons from being pressed. The list of normal plugin flags and custom server flags can be found in this forum thread.

What map building tools can Greens use?

Greens have several tools for mapmaking.

Greens can test some aspects of maps (mainly Scripts) by using the Test Server which functions the same as the main server.
Greens can use debug sticks. However, these are limited to regions with saturation_maptools set as a parent.
Greens can use different sites to generate Minecraft commands. Two of the most popular sites for this purpose are MCStacker and Minecraft Tools.
Greens can use the Minecraft Heads website to get player heads. Since Minr uses the Head Database Server Plugin that comes from this site, Greens can run /hdb commands, including those that appear on playerhead pages.
Greens can get the head of a specific player by running /phead Insert Username Here.
Greens can hold flint in their mainhand and use it to modify armorstands.
Greens can use a block geometry creator site to generate the build shape for different large shapes in Minecraft.
Greens can get inspiration for or use palettes from the Block Palettes website.
Greens can create gradients between two blocks to use as palettes from HueBlocks.
Greens can create complicated block display creations using the Block Display Engine website.
Greens can create their own textures or 3D assets to use in map resource packs with Blockbench.

Alongside general tools, there are several warps on the server which exist to give players more tools to work with.

akmaphub is a warp for converting images into filled maps that can be used in item frames as decorations. The Void, as an example, uses these.
chillshop is a warp for generating and obtaining items that would typically need complicated commands to give to the player.
custom_models is a warp full of complex decorations made using armorstands. These can be copy pasted into your own map.
mapmaking is a warp for new mapmakers to receive tutorials on how to build common areas like trees, buildings, and so on.
palette is a warp with a few palettes for different common map locations.
slyplaza is a warp with several complex features like choosing a specific leather armor color to use in maps or giving armorstands animations.
tools is a warp with a large amount of Minecraft items used for mapmaking that would need complex commands to obtain otherwise.

Are there any restrictions on map codes or map names?

Map names need to be kept under 32 characters. Map codes are also generally meant to be between 3 and 5 letters characters long (inclusive), but there are some exceptions like City Commute with "cc" and The Exit with "the-exit". Avoiding special characters in map codes and map names is also desirable, including "&" as it leads to funky workarounds plugin-wise like needing apostrophes to reference any map codes with ampersands (e.g. for Fire & Ice Maze, /map info f&i fails, but /map info 'f&i' works).

Is there a formal way to call for playtesters?

Mapmakers can use the map submission form on the Forums and ask for the map to be set for Testing. This is a public way to call for testers for your map. One example of this process can be seen in this thread for Cliffs of Mayhem.

Another option is to ping the @Tester role in Discord to have players test your map. This role is seldom used, however.

Are there limits to listing creators for a map?

No. Who is listed as a creator typically comes down to the preference of the people who worked on the project. In some cases, especially community projects, Minr is listed as a creator to symbolize excess creators for a map. This is not a requirement, especially in recent times with the list of map creators being stored in the plugin instead of solely on signs. Kino Horror, for example, lists eight creators.

Do maps support resource packs?

Maps do support resource packs. The file must be hosted on a website, with two common methods being on MCPacks and GitHub.

Board

What does the map submission process look like?

Players can submit maps by going to this link on the Forums. Once the form has been filled out, the map will go through a Board process where a reviewer will post or privately send a review about the map. These reviews are color coded which typically indicates how the reviewer felt about a particular aspect of the map: green means great, yellow is typically a suggestion to improve the map, and red is a required change the map needs. You then need to update the map with, at minimum, required changes completed, and then need to post a changelog stating what is different about the map. This process repeats with a second different reviewer.

For more information about the Board process, see the The Board Protocol section of the Board Master Post or the Publishing a Map wiki page.

What do the map submission tags mean?

There are several tags map submissions can have on the Forums.

On Board and Submitted mean similar things, that the map has just been submitted and is awaiting its first Board review.
Altering means the map requires some small tweaks.
Reworking means the map needs major changes.
Nominated means one Board reviewer has approved the map, and the map is waiting for a second Board review.
Approved means the map has been approved by two Board reviewers and is currently in the 24 hour grace period before publishing.
Published means the map has been published to FFA.
Competition means the map was submitted for a competition.
Testing means the map was submitted for playtesting, and is not meant to be the final version of the map.
Declined means the map needs to be resubmitted, typically with changes.

What are common reasons that maps get declined?

The most common reason, making up a supermajority of declined map submissions, is underestimating time spent making map changes during the Board review process. Most maps are declined because they have gone six months without a change log. Another reason, albeit less common, is because the creator decided for the map to be a Mount Minr map instead of an FFA map.

How do I submit a secret map or maps within a map?

Secret maps are submitted by making an extra post in the main map's submission thread. For example, this thread shows a map submission for the main map, Vezzano Ligure, and then a post about the map within it, Faces of Vezzano.

Scripts

What are Scripts?

Scripts are a server made system that allows players to implement rudimentary code into maps. Scripts allows for everything from running Minecraft commands to complex logic systems seen in Bomb Squad and Skullerful. Scripts can be triggered in several ways: by clicking a block, walking over a block, entering an invisible region, and so on.

Where can I ask about scripts?

Script questions are best asked in the #scripting channel in Discord or in the Minr Scripts subforum on the Forums.

How can I learn scripts?

The #scripting channel in the Discord is a good place to ask for help regarding scripts. There is also script documentation here which lists everything about scripts and includes an appendix for all built-in types and methods in scripts. There are also several resources in Greenie Resources, including the ones below.

Scripts with rman! (Beginner Introduction)

Tutorial (beginner) -- a tutorial included in the documentation. Slightly broader than Scripts with rman! but not as deep.

Functions! A How-To Guide (intermediate) -- what functions are and how to create your own.

Custom Types - A Comprehensive Guide (advanced) -- what custom types are and how to create your own.

Guide to yeroc% -- what yeroc% skips are and how to fix them.

Are there any scripting tools?

There are several scripting tools available. Exporting and importing scripts use paste.minr.org, a script website that works similar to notepad. There is also a Visual Studio Code extension linked here for Minr Scripts.

How do progress savers work?

Most progress savers work by storing a variable indicating how far into a map the player has reached. Players can then use the saver at the beginning of the map which nullifies their time (i.e. their completion is valid, but no time will be stored for leaderboards). Many maps use this linked template, such as Fractal Maze, Thrice, and Egghunt 3.

Map Events and Awards

How do Map Competitions and Jams work?

Mapjams and map competitions work by having players build a map over a period of time (usually within a week for jams and over several months for competitions). These competitions typically have a type of map or theme that all maps submitted must follow. Maps are then judged by a panel of around five judges and graded on several criteria to determine a winner.

Are there any awards maps can receive?

Maps can receive awards in two ways: by being voted as a high quality map by FFA+ / Map of the Year, or by placing well in map competition events. FFA+ maps receive special boxes, and maps that place well in competitions or Map of the Year receive notes about it above the FFA+ box entrances.

What is White Map Tag?

White Map Tag is an event headed by Board to encourage players to create White difficulty maps. Tagged players create a map and then tag up to three other players to continue the chain. Specific event details and currently tagged players can be viewed in this forum thread. Players that publish a map for White Map Tag receive a cosmetic trail.

Skips and Exploits

What are considered skips and exploits?

Skips and exploits refer to two different ways of circumventing the intended design of a map. Skips refer to jumps or routes which bypass gameplay in a map, and they are typically seen in parkours. Exploits are using unintended consequences of scripts or the server's plugins to bypass gameplay in a map, and they are typically seen in puzzles.

Is it alright for my map to feature skips or exploits?

Most skips are fine to include in maps, several maps in fact use the premise of needing to find a skip to beat a section in time. Exploits are far less likely to be accepted in maps due to how powerful they can be and because they can be patched due to updates.

What are the most common forms of skips, exploits, and map escapes?

Some skips, exploits, and map escapes frequently crop up in mapmaking that are useful for mapmakers to know about so that their maps do not have them. These are listed below.

Skips and Map Escapes

Unintended Jumps - Jumps that were either missed by the mapmaker or incorrectly deemed impossible. Most skips fall into this category, and the best way to combat these kinds of skips is to have playtesters checking for them.
Decoration Paths - Paths that are unintentionally created due to decorations or changes in aesthetics. These similarly can be weeded out with proper playtesting.
Lava - Lava is a fluid that regularly appears in maps as a hazard. However, mapmakers regularly overestimate how deadly lava is and incorrectly treat it like a solid block. This leads to several different kinds of issues.
- Lava skips - Swimming in lava for a few seconds to reach otherwise inaccessible blocks has lead to skips in maps like Survivor and End of World. Making lava pools inescapable or adding kill regions can fix these.
- Lava map escapes - Both because it is deadly and because it is opaque, lava is occasionally used in the floor, walls, and ceiling of some maps. Several maps, however, don't put solid blocks behind them, which has lead to map escapes in maps such as Ember Island, Fire & Ice Maze, and Planets. Make sure to put solid blocks behind lava.
Minecraft Update Bugs - When updating to new Minecraft versions, bugs or entire new gameplay systems can cause new unintended skips to be created. For example, update 1.21.5 caused cacti to grow which could lead to map escapes. Changes to player movement (i.e. updates like swimming and crawl states) commonly cause issues, and maps using vines are typically the most impacted since the vine growth region flag routinely breaks.

Exploits

Desynced Trapdoor Glitching - Despite some maps disallowing players from flipping trapdoors, trapdoors can be briefly jumped on by flipping them before the server corrects it. Technically, this can be done for some other blocks like fence gates, but cases other than for trapdoors are rare. To prevent these, make sure to test if a jump is possible if trapdoors are in their other state, or avoid using trapdoors entirely.
Set-ups - Set ups exploit how some puzzles only reset when players complete a puzzle rather than every time a player reaches it. This leads to a faster speedrun time since less time is wasted on inputting answers. These are especially problematic because they can lead to unintentional answer sharing with new players stumbling into a mostly completed puzzle. To prevent these, make sure puzzles (or other map types, if applicable) reset when players enter the area.
Co-oping - Multiplayer is an important part of the server, but most maps are designed for a single player to go from the start to the end. This leads to instances where a player can hold a door open for someone else, and has been used in some co-op maps to get faster times than normal. The main way to prevent these is to put checks on how much progress a player (or sets of players) have made.
Relog Invulnerability - Minecraft has a mechanic where players are invulnerable for three seconds upon logging into a server. This creates situations such as relogging to avoid lava damage and relogging to survive great heights. One of the best ways to combat these is to use a system similar to It's Better Together where regions have a join-location flag that sends them to specific coordinates. Making kill regions in lava also works.
Yeroc% - This is the name of a powerful exploit that regularly appears in maps due to improper scripting. To perform the exploit, players trigger a script that has a teleport on a delay and then rejoin the map. Once the delay is up, the teleport runs and the player is now further in the map without it being reflected in their time. The main way to prevent these are to check that the player is inside a reasonable bounding box they're supposed to be in before teleporting.
- Some maps, such as rubby and the giant carrot, cannot be fixed solely by checking that the player is inside the correct region before warping. This is because it is possible to reach the region from the beginning of the map before the pre-teleport delay ends. To resolve this issue, the script needs to check that the player's attempt number (the number which tracks how many times they've started a map) has not changed between starting the script and teleporting the player.
World Wrong Warping - One major difference between Minr and regular Minecraft maps is that Minr maps all exist on the same server across several different worlds. Despite this, many mapmakers do not put which world a player should be teleported to in a script, allowing players to go to a different world while the delayed teleport is running to be sent to the same coordinates in a different world entirely. The main way to prevent these is to both check that a player is in a reasonable bounding box before the teleport and to specify a world in the teleport itself.
Prompt Attempt Desyncs - Chat prompts frequently lead to issues due to being implemented improperly, and one such case of this is when players start a prompt, restart the map, and then reach a specific region before giving an answer. This can be an issue both when there is a delay before receiving a prompt and when the prompt itself has a large window of time to submit an answer. This can be prevented by making sure the player's attempt count hasn't changed from starting the script to answering the prompt.

Can I patch a skip, map escape, or exploit in one of my own published maps?

Yes, so long as it is to patch a skip, map escape, or exploit and not to update the maps in other ways. For overhauls to published maps beyond this, you need to ask for Board or staff permission.