Liberty Minecraft operated from late 2015 through mid-2021, spanning roughly five and a half years from conception to shutdown. What began as one person's attempt to demonstrate Austrian economics and libertarian ethics inside a video game grew into a functioning digital society with its own economy, property markets, towns, infrastructure, culture, and controversies. This article traces the major milestones of that journey.

Origins: 2015-2016

In December 2015, NullCase decided to create a demonstration of free-market principles using Minecraft, the world's best-selling computer game. His reasoning was that virtual worlds offered a cost-effective and ethical way to test ideas about economics and governance -- a few hundred dollars instead of tens of thousands, with voluntary participation rather than coerced subjects.

Two beta tests followed, neither of which generated a profit. These early failures taught NullCase lessons about server management, player behavior, and economic design that would shape the final product. During this period, the server operated with a form of universal basic income and arbitrary rewards -- features that NullCase would later identify as mistakes and remove.

Official Launch and the First Year: 2017

Liberty Minecraft officially launched in March 2017, running Minecraft 1.11 and later 1.12. By September, just six months in, the server had grown enough to warrant an infographic summarizing its progress. The first year was defined by several watershed events.

The Landing Market takeover demonstrated free-market competition in action. When Alienslayer8 invented the SuperShop -- an automated system that repriced commodities based on supply and demand -- the existing trade center, The Bazaar (located in The End), was rendered obsolete almost overnight. Later, NullCase's own Nullmart (also in The End) captured further market share. Trade centers competed for players' business, and winners were determined by who offered the best deals.

Land disputes proved to be the server's most persistent source of conflict. Players repeatedly acted as though they owned land they had not claimed, leading to confrontations when others exercised their right to claim unclaimed territory. NullCase himself got involved, sometimes purchasing disputed land and reselling it at a profit. These disputes ultimately reinforced the importance of the server's property system: if you wanted to control land, you had to claim it.

TARP (Terrain and Agricultural Restoration Program) emerged as a private conservation effort. Haksndot and Japanimator teamed up to rebuild areas damaged by careless players, restoring destroyed villages and creating publicly accessible towns funded entirely by private investment. They restored Costa Vista, a seaside town, and funded reforestation efforts across the map.

The introduction of CreativeGates decentralized the portal system, replacing administrator-controlled warps with player-built portals. Any player could build a portal frame containing two diamond blocks and use a named clock to activate it. Dozens of portals appeared across the world, funded by millions of dollars of player investment. This gave the Old World instant teleportation between any two linked portals.

The Old World economy operated on a rate of 1 Diamond = $1,000 and claim blocks at $20 each. Players could earn playtime-based ranks, and claims could become permanent if a player invested at least $1,000,000 in claim blocks. Silk touch spawners, mob eggs, and XP bottles were all permitted. Claim expiration ranged from 28 to 60 days depending on rank.

Perhaps most significantly, purchasing power increased roughly tenfold during the first year. Wheat prices fell 96% due to automation. Iron, gold, and emerald prices dropped between 50% and 95%. The standard of living doubled multiple times over.

The New World: 2018

September 2018 marked the launch of Liberty Minecraft's New World, timed to coincide with Minecraft's massive 1.13 Aquatic Update. The transition was the result of six months of preparation, during which NullCase negotiated with seven different hosting providers and invested in new plugin development.

The Old World and New World ran in parallel from August 31, 2018 through approximately February 2019. NullCase framed this as direct competition: "Our servers will compete with each other." The New World won decisively -- September 2018 alone saw over 5,000 hours of play on the New World, while the Old World received zero donations from September 2018 onward.

The New World was not merely a map reset. It incorporated sweeping mechanical changes that reflected NullCase's refined vision:

• 10x Redenomination: The diamond conversion rate changed from $1,000 to $10,000, with claim blocks rising from $20 to $100. One diamond still bought 50 claim blocks, but the increased granularity made small transactions more practical.
• Removal of teleportation: CreativeGates and all forms of instant travel were eliminated. Players could only traverse the world using vanilla means -- walking, boats, minecarts, horses, elytra, and nether portals. This made physical distance meaningful and created demand for transit infrastructure.
• Removal of ranks: The playtime-based rank system was abolished. NullCase stated: "An arbitrary duration of play will not determine whether you are rewarded."
• Removal of permanent claims: No amount of investment could make a claim permanent. All claims expired after 60 days of inactivity. Subscribers ($5 per month) had their timer paused, but no one was exempt.
• GPAuctions: Expired claims were auctioned rather than simply released, with proceeds going to the original owner. This created a market-based solution to absentee ownership.
• Removal of silk touch spawners, mob eggs, and XP bottles: These items, which had been available in the Old World, were removed to encourage more organic gameplay and prevent certain industrial shortcuts.

The New World also saw the arrival of Rehns, an exceptional builder whom Haksndot commissioned to construct a mansion at Spawn -- then gifted to NullCase as a token of appreciation (see the article on NullCase). New Stockholm was founded by Heronproject and later developed by Haksndot into one of the server's most prestigious districts. Haksndot built Origo Station in the Nether within hours of the New World's launch, establishing the foundation for the Netherway transit system that became essential in the absence of teleportation.

NullCase published the first of his quarterly reports for Zeroth Position, framing Liberty Minecraft as a valid demonstration of Austrian economics -- not a simulation of reality, but a real economy with real actors making real decisions about scarce resources. He addressed criticism about centralized authority by pointing out that his enforcement of the server's single rule occurred within a competitive market of thousands of server operators.

Maturity: 2019

By 2019, Liberty Minecraft had developed a sophisticated economy with specialized roles. An elite class of real estate developers had emerged: Heronproject specialized in early-stage land speculation, Haksndot developed New Stockholm into a premium district, and EndristON and Vallenius operated private towns away from Spawn.

_Wildfire of the WildStar clan became the server's most prolific industrialist, building massive automated farms that reduced prices by 99% on more than twenty different commodities. His gold farm was so productive it nearly crashed the server, requiring him to build the world's fastest auto-sorter just to manage the output.

The year also brought cautionary tales. K9us founded Mein Kraft and the city of Ventura, becoming the world's largest landowner and goods provider. But his model -- buying above market rate and selling below it -- was inherently unsustainable. Ventura collapsed, its leader exhausted and its infrastructure abandoned. The liquidation of K9us's assets created opportunities for other players, but the failure demonstrated that even in a virtual world, economic laws could not be defied indefinitely.

GPAuctions launched in 2019, introducing automated property auctions that solved the problem of abandoned claims reducing server performance. The system allowed departing players to be compensated through market pricing while ensuring that valuable land returned to productive use.

The Final Year: 2020

The server's last full year was paradoxically one of its most active. Oak Hills, founded by Pancen, became the most commercially dynamic settlement in the server's history (see the article on Pancen). Minarchu built the City of Valmur in the far north, complete with its own mythology. Aewheros accumulated the largest land portfolio around Spawn. New businesses like Downhilldriver's IKEA and VernierYeti's McBonalds brought fresh energy.

NullCase paid for hosting services through 2021 and beyond, even as he dealt with PayPal disputes and hardware failures that destroyed his personal computer. In June 2020, he confirmed that all main services were paid up for one to five years.

But on August 27, 2020, NullCase announced that Liberty Minecraft was closing (see the article on The Closure). The game server would go offline in mid-June 2021. No further updates, backups, or development would occur. Players would have nine months to enjoy the world free of charge.

Closure: 2021

The server went dark in June 2021, as announced. The website remained online through 2024. The domain name was set to expire the following year. Five years of building, trading, disputing, innovating, and governing came to an end.

Key Dates

• December 2015: NullCase conceives of Liberty Minecraft
• 2016: Two beta tests, neither profitable
• March 2017: Official launch (Old World, MC 1.11)
• September 2017: Six-month infographic published
• 2017: Landing Market takeover, land disputes, TARP founded, CreativeGates introduced
• November 2017: NullCase writes "Building Liberty in Minecraft" for Zeroth Position
• August 31, 2018: New World launched with 1.13 Aquatic Update; Old World continues in parallel
• ~February 2019: Old World effectively abandoned; New World wins the competition
• 2019: GPAuctions launched, Ventura rises and falls, Wildfire's industrial revolution
• 2020: Oak Hills boom, Valmur founded, NullCase publishes "Lessons from Liberty"
• August 27, 2020: Closure announced
• June 2021: Game server goes offline
• 2024: Website goes offline