Waychest is a PvE survival server that feels like you are starting alone but it is actually one big shared world. You and your friends get placed into your own Journey with a random spawn point. It feels like a private realm at first but other Journeys are out there too.
The cool part is how you end up meeting people without it being forced. Special Waychests and other custom stuff act like clues left in the world. They can guide you toward places other players built and sometimes you even run into them for real.
There is also Waychest Flight where you craft an Elytra and it turns into a flying ring challenge that leads to a Waychest made by a stranger. Fast travel exists too but you have to discover warp points first. It runs on Java 1.21.11 with a vanilla client.
