Reigha Weaver | Arts & Life Writer
For many college students, finding a community that is stress free seems nearly impossible. However, one Baylor Minecraft server is working to change that.
BearCraft is a student-run Minecraft server that allows Baylor students to play, create, and chat across Discord and Minecraft.
The server’s owner, Huntsville sophomore Hannah Gomez, created the server after hearing that there was a BearCraft-shaped hole in the Baylor community.
“I was inspired to create this server because I love Minecraft and I overheard a lot of people talking about how they wished Baylor had a personal server,” Gomez said. “I realized I could fill that want.”
Last year, a Baylor Minecraft server was started but quickly lost traction due to lack of advertisement.
To get BearCraft off the ground Argyle freshman Gordon Pezzuto works as the server’s Discord and communications lead, which involves working fervently in both the server and its Discord.
“I made this discord and coded two bots for the server, one which I named ‘Nuntius,’ which is just Latin for the word ‘messenger,'” Pezzuto said. “The other bot is named ‘Gordium,’ which does all of the maintenance, moderation and reporting work for us so we don’t have to manually do logs.”
As of Sept. 9, BearCraft’s Instagram account has 125 followers and counting. Recently, the Instagram featured the server’s latest competition, “BearCraft Anywhere,” where students took pictures of themselves playing Minecraft in strange or absurd locations.
Along with “BearCraft Anywhere,” the server has many events and competitions.
“Events are normally in game and consist of building competitions, PVP events and big server moments like defeating ‘the End’ together,” Gomez said. “I will say however that our events tend to get pretty creative when they are outside of Minecraft.”
Each player gets to let their creativity soar and create anything they want. Pezzuto’s favorite build he’s made is a War Angel statue.
“This statue has appeared in many Instagram posts,” Pezzuto said. “I remember telling some people I planned on building something and as everyone logged off for the night, I slowly built it layer by layer. When people woke up and logged on the server they went crazy.”
For San Francisco sophomore Ethan Zambrano, his favorite buildings are tied to memories.
“My favorite building on the server would either be Landon’s church building, where we’ve held real services and theological talks, or Abbie’s dance hall, which I helped build and is a fun place for everyone to gather and goof off in while listening to music,” Zambrano said.
But for Gomez, the building isn’t what makes BearCraft special, it’s the community and friendships made along the way.
“It is incredibly easy to open up to people you play games with, especially when you are having fun,” Gomez said. “I’ve made a lot of friends from this server and met a lot of new people. This server has made everything from quick lunch breaks to full tutor sessions possible and helped me and so many others connect.”
Pezzuto said that all of his favorite memories were made talking to people on the server.
“We would just be talking for hours late at night, laughing at jokes, and bonding with each other,” Pezzuto. “That’s what I love so much about BearCraft. It’s creating a community of friends outside of school, assignments, and stress where we can just be ourselves and have fun together. A lot of our new members are first-year students just like myself. Being able to get to know people in a fun, non-stressful way during your first semester on campus is such a good way to get acclimated to college life.”
The community on BearCraft is so strong that the connections players make translate to real life, with players helping each other from all around Texas.
“At the end of Thanksgiving break last year I was trapped at DFW,” Zambrano said. “When I randomly said in the BearCraft chat how I was stuck, a friend I had made in game offered to pick up since they were driving down to Waco. We had a blast heading back to school, and I had never imagined the day would be saved because I had randomly decided to join a Baylor-themed Minecraft server.”
To join the BearCraft server, students must join the Discord and download the Java edition of Minecraft on their Mac or Windows device.
