I found Silver Cove MC and it feels like an SMP that actually tries to stay alive. The main idea is that the server listens to players a lot and adds new stuff based on what the community suggests so it does not get stale fast.
It is a semi vanilla survival server on Paper for 1.21.5 and you can join on any higher version too. They use plugins but it is mostly quality of life so it still feels like normal Minecraft.
They also say it will never be pay to win. Ranks are earned for free by putting in work and you can support through a store only if you want.
To fight the two week phase they do custom events often and keep updates coming from player feedback. The community is meant to be welcoming to everyone.






