DonutSMP Server Updates
DonutSMP is currently in Season 2, which is intended to be permanent following the conclusion of Season 1. The server has experienced significant economic adjustments and gameplay changes, with DrDonut planning a major world border expansion that would fundamentally alter server dynamics.
Early DonutSMP
The server first debuted in late 2020 as a small private server for DrDonut and his friends. It quickly grew in popularity after DrDonut started using the server for this TikTok clips. In late 2022 DonutSMP added a lives system following the Lifesteal trend. Players started with 3 lives and were banned for 2 days opon death. As the player counts surged single-server infrastructure faced extreme lag and continuous downtime.
In October 2023, the legacy world was abruptly lost after ArchivePedro accidentally deleted the network’s main proxy server and database while clearing storage. Lacking a comprehensive backup, player data and worlds were permanently wiped, prompting DrDonut and his team to completely overhaul the infrastructure from scratch.
Season 1
The first season of DonutSMP started on the 2nd of December 2023. During Season 1, DonutSMP originally had a plugin where crate keys would have a random chance to give you a number of items, being more of a lootbox in practise. YouTuber, and part of the Anti Pay-to-win community, TheDuperTrooper, together with TheMisterEpic, decided to abuse a duplication exploit on the server to protest the lootboxes. After this, the crates on the server had their gambling aspect removed.
Season 1 of DonutSMP ended due to severe economic problems. An overinflated economy combined with widespread item duplication exploits made the server unsustainable. The duping crisis allowed players to generate unlimited items, destroying any semblance of balanced gameplay or fair competition.
Season 2
Season 2 launched on the 7th of December 2024 as a fresh start with improved anti-cheat measures and stricter enforcement against exploits. Unlike Season 1, Season 2 is designed to be permanent, with the server team committed to maintaining long-term stability. In this update the server removed the lives mechanic, The feature had drawn significant criticism from the community. DonutSMP has become the world’s most popular Minecraft server, regularly beating Hypixel in concurrent player counts. The server attracts players through DrDonut’s near-daily livestreams, which pull upward of 10,000 viewers. One of his signature activities involves teleporting to random players and rating their bases live on stream, driving massive engagement and player recruitment.
The current season maintains a robust concurrent player count that regularly exceeds 35,000 users, reaching a historic peak of 60,000. However, DrDonut later confirmed that this record-setting milestone included approximately ~15,000 automated Chinese bots. The revelation sparked significant backlash within the broader Minecraft community, with critics accusing the network of artificially inflating its player counts to rival legacy servers like Hypixel.
The Spawner Update
In a major economic adjustment, DrDonut significantly increased shard shop prices for all items. Server developer ArchivePedro confirmed these price increases are permanent. As part of this rebalancing, Gold and Amethyst keys were removed from the shard shop entirely, making them significantly rarer and more valuable on the player market.
A server update changed how spawner stacking works. Previously, spawners needed to be spread across separate chunks to avoid diminishing returns. See the spawners page for current mechanics and farm design.
The Removal of /shop Update
On the 3rd of June 2026, in preparation for the planned world border expansion, DonutSMP underwent a massive update to shift the server toward a more vanilla Minecraft experience. The /shop command was removed, which previously allowed players to buy items directly from the server. The AFK Area, Spawn, and Duels were removed entirely. Teams were disbanded and all team commands were removed. Crates and crate keys were removed from the game, with existing keys converted into shards. The sell multiplier system was removed alongside the /sellmulti command. Several other commands were also removed, including /team, /shop, /spawn, /world, /duel, /warp, /sellmulti, /spectate, /billford, /hide, and /fly. New commands added include /friend and /friends. The combat log timer was increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds, and RTP, as well as other teleports are now instant without the previous 5 second timer.
The shard shop was completely reworked. Spawners were removed from the shop and can now only be found naturally in the world. New shard items were added, including tools, armor, weapons, and consumables. The rank system also was expanded.
The scoreboard was simplified and is now customizable through the settings menu. The tab menu was updated alongside these UI changes. Sell categories were removed from the economy alongside the removal of sell multipliers. The ability to turn mob spawns off in player settings was also removed, contributing to the push toward a more vanilla experience. The update was met with a lot of backlash from the community and heavily impacted the player count upon release with many players vowing to never play again.
Planned World Border Expansion
Server owner DrDonut has discussed expanding the world border to 30 million by 30 million blocks, which he has stated is “95% likely” to happen. This represents a massive increase from the current world size and would fundamentally change several aspects of server gameplay.
The border expansion would significantly affect the server’s economy and item values. Prices for currently limited items are expected to drop due to increased availability, as the expanded world would provide access to more rare resources and structures. However, spawners would become more difficult to acquire through raiding, as the increased space would make bases harder to locate. Players investing in skeleton spawners may see their assets appreciate significantly, as raiding becomes less viable and spawner scarcity increases.
Player bases would survive significantly longer due to the vast increase in available hiding spots. The current world’s limited size means bases typically get discovered and raided within days to weeks, with exceptional locations surviving perhaps a month. The expanded border would make pie-charting and systematic base-hunting far less effective. The expanded world would favor players who can spread their infrastructure across multiple distant locations, making higher-tier rank additional home slots even more valuable.
While no specific timeline has been announced for the world border expansion, DrDonut’s 95% likelihood statement suggests active planning is underway. The server development team continues to balance gameplay mechanics, adjust prices, and implement features based on player feedback and server health. Major updates are typically announced through DrDonut’s streams and the official DonutSMP Discord server.