EchelonMC is a Java 1.21.1 survival SMP that feels like it was actually made to last. It is hand built by the owner and it has had about 2 months of active development. The server is hosted in Canada and it keeps getting updated every week.
The whole point here is long term building and real progression. There is no pay to win and there are no planned world resets. It is also not a copy paste plugin pack kind of server. A big part of it is that player suggestions matter and over 100 of them have already been added.
Protection is a big deal too with advanced land claiming. You get visual borders and lots of settings like TNT and creeper control fire spread protection raid prevention and even claim decay options. There are teams with invites and private chat. There is also a public builds system so people can visit vote and climb rankings.
You can earn an in game currency by just playing like mining farming fishing exploring and building. Graves help you recover your stuff with timed protection so losing items is not as painful.
