I found EchelonMC and it feels like a serious survival server made for building with people and sticking around. It is custom built from the ground up and it is not trying to be a PvP chaos place. They say it is not about stealing or griefing.
It runs on Minecraft Java with 1.21.11 recommended and older versions supported. The server is hosted in Canada and it has been in active development for about a month with frequent patches. They also say there is no pay to win.
The gameplay has a bunch of custom systems like auto pathing where you make paths by walking and you can get speed bonuses on them. There is a currency called Echelites you earn by playing and you can spend it on progression and utilities.
Land claiming is a big deal here with visual borders and lots of settings like mob controls and protection for stuff like TNT fire spread raids and fluids. You can also publish public chunks so other players can visit your builds and it tracks rankings.
There are teams so you can invite friends share utilities and show team nametags. Deaths make graves that hold your items for a time and there is a back command to help you recover after teleports. There is also voting rewards discord linking with chat bridge a spawn hub with custom NPCs and anti x ray protection and they say they keep changing things based on player feedback.
EchelonMC Custom SMP Built to Last
Hacker-Free Anarchy With Crazy Weapons
This server is basically an anarchy style SMP where people can do whatever and cause chaos but pvp hacking is not allowed so fights are meant to be fair.
It has a bunch of wild weapons from the Unstable SMP like Wemmbus Nuke Flamefrags and the Wolf Army stuff so the combat can get really crazy.
You can make teams and alliances and try to take control or just play solo and gear up. The owner also said it is pretty empty right now so it is still being built up and you might be one of the first players on.GG.MINEWIND.NET New Server IP30 Plus Vanilla+ SMP With Voice Chat
I found a vanilla plus SMP made for people who are 30 and up. It is for gamers who want a chill place and do not want to deal with random kids online. The community is small but active with about a dozen people.
The world is about two months old and it is on 1.21.11. It has quality of life mods like Animal Pens Comforts Gravestones and Storage Drawers. There are already some awesome builds and there is still lots of space to make your own stuff.
They use a Discord whitelisting system where you can whitelist yourself so you do not have to wait on an admin. There is Simple Voice Chat if you want to talk and nobody cares if you stay quiet. The vibe is no pressure so you can play a lot or just hop on when you can.GG.MINEWIND.NET New Server IPMinecraftOffline 1.21.11 Permanent Map Server
I found a server called MinecraftOffline that runs on version 1.21.11 and it is made for people who want a world that sticks around.
The map is permanent so it is not getting wiped all the time. It also uses a custom plugin suite so it is not just plain vanilla.
It is based in Finland so it should feel good for players in Europe. The server also says it runs on reasonable hardware and that helps keep things stable.GG.MINEWIND.NET New Server IPCreative Central Plots and Earth Towny
Creative Central is a Minecraft network that is still being built up and it has almost 10 years of lore and worldbuilding behind it.
It has two main modes right now. One is Creative Plots with huge 512×512 plots. You get WorldEdit for free and there are only small limits on blocks and commands so you can really go wild. It also has Head Database and Armor Stand Tools included so you can customize builds and decorations a lot.
The other mode is Earth Towny on a 1 to 500 scale Earth map. You can start towns to claim land and use the in game economy to keep your settlement running. You can also form nations with other players and expand together. PvP exists in some parts but it is not the main focus so it should not mess with normal progress.
The server says it is strictly not pay to win and it does not do microtransactions. There is a single sponsor rank for people who want to support it and it is for cosmetic stuff like colored names and particle effects and styled item names.
Creative Central is also tied to Project Everything which is a shared canon for different worldbuilding and story collections made by different people.GG.MINEWIND.NET New Server IPBlueth Soul Lifesteal SMP With Duels
Blueth Soul SMP is a lifesteal survival server where every kill takes a heart and every death costs one. If you hit zero hearts you get eliminated unless someone brings you back so fights feel risky all the time.
This server runs a custom made plugin and it has a bunch of custom enchants with different rarities. Some enchants can combo into hidden effects and the Blood Moon event can flip everything into chaos with boosted procs and louder combat vibes.
There is a ranked duel system where you can challenge people with /duel then climb ELO and even wager souls. If you get eliminated you can still fight in a Gulag style 1v1 and the winner comes back with one heart.
PvP feels different here because the combat has extra physics like momentum knockback and stuff like ground pounds and air juggles. The spawn area is handcrafted with places like a plaza a colosseum a wizard tower a market area and a nether hub. It supports 1.21 and Java plus Bedrock crossplay.GG.MINEWIND.NET New Server IP