5 best Minecraft vanilla survival servers in 2023

Vanilla Minecraft remains a beloved mode for countless players across the world, as some fans of the game prefer to forego all of the fancy amenities that mods generally provide. For many players, sticking to the game's original formula as closely as possible still yields a very enjoyable experience. Finding a pure vanilla server with a sizable player count can be tricky in recent times, with the advent of mods and plugins taking most of the Minecraft server community by storm.

Fortunately, there are still more than a few vanilla or vanilla-adjacent servers that offer the same core gameplay with minimal interference. Although a few anti-griefing plugins have been added, these servers generally feel a lot like a singleplayer or LAN experience. If Minecraft fans are searching for vanilla-style servers, this article will list a few options that are worth checking out.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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Minecraft servers that stay true to the spirit of vanilla gameplay

1) UneasyVanilla

UneasyVanilla, as the name might imply, isn't the easiest vanilla experience to deal with. The developers and admins of this particular server have stated that they want to keep the server as close to vanilla as possible and have only added plugins to keep players from hacking or cheating. However, this makes UneasyVanilla an Anarchy-style server, which means that players can be griefed or PvPed just about anywhere with no protections available.

The freedom of this vanilla server is likely to be enticing to some Minecraft players, but newcomers may want to give it a wide berth until they learn the nuances of survival and PvP first.

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2) Vanilla Europa

While Vanilla Europa considers itself a "semi-vanilla" server, it's about as close to vanilla survival as players can get. The main reason why the server is different from a traditional Minecraft experience is simply due to the anti-griefing and looting plugins that keep players from ruining each other's progress. Otherwise, players can enjoy the full breadth of Vanilla version 1.19+ without any interruptions or custom content/mods to speak of.

Vanilla Europa is quickly approaching its fifth anniversary, and while it doesn't have the sheer number of players that some servers can claim, it's still a great place to kick back and enjoy the mainline game mode that Minecraft is known for.

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3) Simply Vanilla

Another server that technically reaches Anarchy territory, Simply Vanilla certainly lives up to its name. With the exception of plugins and staff members that ensure hackers and cheaters never prosper, Simply Vanilla plays almost exactly like the original Minecraft experience.

However, this also means that other players can grief and PvP whenever they desire, and it can even be tricky escaping the safety of the spawn area. Be that as it may, once players manage to find their way out into relative safety, they can do as they please with no strings attached.

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4) Minehut

Minehut is a rather interesting choice on this list, as it technically isn't a server at all. Instead, this option is a massive hub where players can quickly create their own servers for free. While this has led to a deluge of servers that are no longer populated, there are still more than a few survival servers created by fans that adhere to the vanilla experience.

If all else fails, players can always create their own vanilla Minehut server and bring their friends in to enjoy it. Fortunately, Minehut's suite of tools makes creating a vanilla survival server fairly easy to accomplish and requires no real setup time.

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5) Donut SMP

A survival multiplayer server that was created by the Minecraft content creator DrDonut, Donut SMP is renowned for its difficulty. Interestingly, its Hardcore server world temporarily bans players who die in-game. Donut SMP possesses a pure vanilla semi-Anarchy server as well, where players can enjoy the barebones experience of the popular game with the exception of measures being taken to stop hackers and cheaters.

This server has no additional currencies, no loot crates, and no player-driven economy. Basically, what players harvest is what they have. However, as is always the case with Anarchy-styled servers, Minecraft players will have to be careful about how they build their bases and stash their gear. If not, other players could easily take over.