The Vatican started a 'Minecraft' server and it was immediately attacked, according to the priest that set it up (MSFT)

December 05, 2019 at 09:49 AM EST

Father Robert Ballecer, a priest, made a "Minecraft" server for the Vatican last week.
Father Ballecer told Rome Reports that he was hoping to create a less toxic online community for players who wanted to join.
The test server was barely live when it was overwhelmed by people trying to "kill the server," according to Ballecer.
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Father Robert Ballecer, a Jesuit priest based out of Rome, wanted to give his followers a less toxic environment for gaming when he set up a "Minecraft" server.

"You can invite people who want to be creative, who don't want to be toxic, and you create an environment in which people can express themselves and build up a relationship," he told Rome Reports. "And the relationship thing is the most important part. That's ultimately what I want to do with the server. It's not about the technology. It's not even really about the gaming, it's about getting people together, who can then maybe move those relationships to the real world."

The idea started in August, when Father Ballecer tweeted asking what game he should "spin up a few servers in the Vatican" for, and "Minecraft" won out with 64% of the votes. Last week, the test server was barely live when it faced a possible DDOS attack — a coordinated effort to overwhelm a website or online server. Combined with an unexpectedly high number of users, the server was quickly overwhelmed.

Fr. Ballecer tweeted about the issue on Monday, writing that he had noticed some unusual activity on the server, with some people "constantly connecting and disconnecting to fill the player slots and kill the server."

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1201590102188863488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I'm looking at the logs of the Minecraft test server and it looks like there is a handful of people who are constantly connecting and disconnecting to fill the player slots and kill the server.

Interesting...

On Tuesday, he said that the server was the test, and early attention had overwhelmed the server.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1202038436619804672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Truth-time:

The MC server we've been running was the test server. It allowed us to build up a ban-list of 100 or so User IDs and IPs and see where we would be attacked.

Tomorrow we launch the production server. 😄

It will still get attacked, but now we've got a head start. pic.twitter.com/XvuLkvB0MA

In the tweet, you can see detailed "Digital Jesuit Minecraft Church," complete with pews, a baptismal font, and a garden outside. He even made sure that decor in the church is the right color for the Advent season.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1202395726812254209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Also... it's Advent...

So I built a device in the church that will change the beacon to the proper seasonal color. pic.twitter.com/IstMgCcUYH

The server was scheduled to re-launch Wednesday, and it can be accessed here. So far, the new server has had a "bumpy start," but Fr. Ballecer says that he is building it up.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1202395332753145856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The MC server had a bumpy start (had to downgrade to the 1.12.2 client b/c 1.14.4 is a DISASTER for more than 20 players) but we're up and building!

Still banning players who decide to troll/grief, but we're building up trust... and that's how you start a community! pic.twitter.com/X6rHInQcoU

The Catholic church has recently tried using technology to reach young Catholics, like with a wearable "eRosary" that tracks health information and helps the wearer pray via an app.

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