Civ
Civ is a genre of Minecraft servers which emphasizes minimal rules, player autonomy, and a natural emergence of organized groups of players. The name Civ is a shortening of both civilization and Civcraft, the first server of the genre. Civ servers usually feature players forming into organized groups called nations, and the emergent behavior of conflicts and relationships between both players and nations.
The first Civ server was Civcraft 1.0, which launched in March 2012. There have been many Civ servers since; the mainline servers include Civcraft 2.0 in May 2013, Civcraft 3.0 in July 2016, Devoted 3.0 in September 2016, CivClassic 2.0 in June 2017, and CivMC in June 2022. There have also been many other non-mainline Civ servers.
Definition
Broadly, a Civ server:
- Has minimal or no admin-enforced rules, preferring player-enforced rules and justice
- Encourages the organization of players into groups, potentially implicitly (usually as the natural emergent behavior of the server mechanics)
Some also consider the following to be critical aspects of a Civ server:
- Expensive but powerful investments (such as tech trees) and finite (or difficult to obtain) resources
- Long-term worlds, on the order of months or years
- An emphasis on forming "nations" explicitly (rather than simply groups of players) and storytelling
Other games
While Civ servers are primarily Minecraft servers, there are have been several Civ servers on other games. For instance, Vintage Civ for Vintage Story, and Civtest for Minetest.
Quotes
Quotes from both players and Civ servers about the essence of a Civ server.
...where players can work together to create and shape civilization or to watch it crumble.
— Civcraft
An experiment in social interaction and civilization, a total political sandbox for you to play in.
— Devoted
Where gameplay intertwines with politics, economy, diplomacy, and history.
— CivMC
It's a game about choices, and the consequences of those choices.