Anarchy Minecraft servers are unlike anything else in the game. There are no moderators keeping the peace, no plug-ins protecting your chests, and no rules about where you can build or who you can fight. For a new player, this freedom can feel paralyzing. Where do you even start when the entire world is out to get you? This guide lays out the best strategies for new players joining an anarchy survival Minecraft server like RefinedVanilla, covering everything from the anarchy mindset to advanced tactics for established players.
Understanding the Anarchy Mindset
Before you place a single block, you need to shift how you think about Minecraft. On a normal survival server, you build a house, lock your chests, and trust that the rules will protect your stuff. On an anarchy server, none of that exists. Every structure you build can be destroyed. Every item you carry can be taken. Every player you meet could be planning to kill you.
This sounds harsh, but it is also what makes anarchy so thrilling. The stakes are real. When you successfully build a hidden base that survives for months, it feels like a genuine achievement. When you win a PvP fight against a geared opponent, the adrenaline is unmatched. The key is to accept that loss is part of the game. You will die. You will get raided. Your base will eventually be found. The players who thrive on anarchy servers are the ones who plan for failure and rebuild faster than their enemies can tear things down.
Trust No One (But Find Allies)
This is the most important paradox on any anarchy server. You should never fully trust another player, but you also cannot succeed long-term completely alone. Solo players can survive, but groups dominate. The trick is learning how to build alliances without exposing yourself to catastrophic betrayal.
Start by joining the RefinedVanilla Discord. Observe conversations. Get a feel for who is active, who is respected, and who has a reputation for backstabbing. When you do find potential allies, start small. Collaborate on a minor project — a shared farm or a group mining trip — before ever revealing your main base location.
- Use alt accounts for diplomacy: If you have an alt, use it for initial meetings so your main identity stays protected.
- Share a secondary base, never your primary: Build a smaller outpost specifically for group activities. Keep your real base secret.
- Test loyalty gradually: Share small resources first. If someone proves trustworthy over weeks, you can increase your investment in the relationship.
- Have an exit plan: Always be ready to relocate if an alliance falls apart. Keep backup supplies at a location only you know about.
The strongest factions on anarchy servers are built on mutual benefit, not blind trust. Everyone brings something to the table — one player farms, another builds, another handles PvP. As long as the group is more valuable together than apart, the alliance holds.
Base Building Strategies
Your base is your lifeline. Where and how you build it determines how long you last on the server. On RefinedVanilla, there are no land-claim plugins or protection blocks, so your base's security depends entirely on staying hidden.
Go Underground
The safest bases are the ones nobody can see. Dig down to bedrock level, carve out your rooms, and seal the entrance behind you. Use a hidden Nether portal as your primary access point — link it to a tunnel in the Nether that only you know about. Some players even use piston doors or waterlogged blocks to create secret entrances that are virtually invisible.
Go Far from Spawn
Distance is your best defense. Most griefers and raiders operate within 50,000 blocks of spawn. Building your main base at 100,000 blocks or further dramatically reduces your chances of being found. Yes, the commute is long, but Nether travel and boat-on-ice highways make it manageable. On RefinedVanilla, the Fabric-based server software with multithreading ensures distant chunks load without lag, so there is no performance penalty for building far out.
Avoid Patterns
Experienced raiders look for subtle signs of player activity: modified terrain, unnatural tree patterns, torch light bleeding through blocks, or suspiciously flat ground. When building, leave the surface looking completely natural. Do not cut down trees near your base entrance. Do not light up the area above your underground rooms. The more invisible your footprint, the longer your base survives.
Resource Management and Stashing
On anarchy, you should never put all your eggs in one basket. The players who recover fastest from a raid are the ones who spread their wealth across multiple hidden stashes. Here is how to think about resource management:
- Main base storage: Keep your active inventory here — your farms, enchantment setup, and current project materials.
- Emergency stash (1-3k blocks away): A small underground room with a full set of diamond or Netherite gear, food, tools, and an Ender chest. If your main base is raided, this is your recovery point.
- Deep stash (10k+ blocks away): Your long-term vault. Keep your most valuable items here — spare enchanted gear, shulker boxes of resources, and rare items. Visit rarely to minimize the trail you leave.
- Ender chest: The single most important storage in anarchy. Your Ender chest inventory is private and untouchable by other players. Always keep a set of armor, tools, golden apples, and Ender pearls in your Ender chest.
PvP Preparation and Gear
Even if you prefer building and farming, you need to be ready for PvP on an anarchy server. A surprise attack can happen at any time, and being unprepared means losing everything you are carrying. Here is the standard loadout you should work toward:
- Netherite armor: Full Protection IV, Unbreaking III, Mending on every piece. Thorns is optional — it drains durability faster but punishes attackers.
- Netherite sword: Sharpness V, Unbreaking III, Mending, Fire Aspect II, Looting III.
- Bow: Power V, Infinity or Mending (preference depends on your arrow supply), Flame, Punch II.
- Shield: Keep one in your off-hand at all times when traveling.
- Golden apples: Carry a stack of regular golden apples for healing during fights.
- Totem of Undying: Farm raids for totems. Swap to your off-hand when you are in dangerous territory.
- End crystals and obsidian: Crystal PvP is the dominant combat style on anarchy servers. Learn to place, detonate, and shield against crystals.
- Ender pearls: Your escape tool. If a fight goes badly, pearl away and live to fight another day.
On RefinedVanilla, hacks and cheats are strictly prohibited. This means PvP is genuinely skill-based. There is no kill aura to worry about, no reach hacks extending someone's attack range, and no fly exploits. Your gear quality and combat skill are what matter. Review the full server rules to understand the boundaries.
Trading and Diplomacy
Even on an anarchy server, trade exists. Players exchange rare items, share farm access, and negotiate non-aggression pacts. Trading is a powerful tool if you use it wisely.
The safest way to trade is through neutral meeting points — locations that both parties agree on, far from either player's base. Bring only what you are trading and gear to defend yourself. Many trades happen through Ender chest drops: both players place their items in their Ender chest, meet at a specified location, and exchange in person.
Diplomacy matters more than you might think. Having a reputation as a fair trader and a reliable ally opens doors. Players will invite you to group projects, share farm coordinates, and warn you about incoming threats. A bad reputation, on the other hand, makes you a target. The Discord community is where most diplomacy happens, so stay active there.
Using Allowed Vanilla Mechanics
One of the things that makes RefinedVanilla special is its commitment to true vanilla gameplay. The server runs on custom Fabric-based software — the most vanilla server software out there — which means every vanilla mechanic works exactly as it should. Certain duplication methods that exist in vanilla Minecraft are explicitly allowed:
- TNT duping: Essential for large-scale excavation, perimeter clearing, and world-eater machines. TNT dupers let you create massive amounts of TNT from a single block, making megaprojects feasible.
- Rail duping: Useful for building long-distance minecart transportation networks without mining thousands of iron ingots.
- Carpet duping: Carpet dupers produce infinite fuel for your furnace arrays and can be used in various Redstone contraptions.
All other forms of duplication are banned. You cannot dupe items through glitches, exploits, or hacked clients. The allowed mechanics are the ones that exist within vanilla Minecraft's Redstone and game engine — they reward technical knowledge rather than exploit abuse. Make sure to read the server rules for the complete list.
Advanced Tips for Established Players
Once you have survived the initial weeks and established a secure base with reliable resources, it is time to level up your game:
- Build a raid farm: Totems of Undying, emeralds, and enchanted gear from raid farms give you a massive advantage in PvP and trading.
- Create a world eater: Use TNT dupers to build a world eater that clears massive areas down to bedrock. This is the fastest way to gather resources and create hidden underground spaces.
- Set up Ender pearl stasis chambers: These let you teleport instantly back to your base from anywhere in the world. Throw a pearl into a stasis chamber before you leave, and activate it remotely to return in an emergency.
- Map art: Creating map art is a respected activity on anarchy servers. It is also a valuable trade commodity — unique maps can be exchanged for rare items.
- Build infrastructure: Nether highways, public farms near spawn, and community builds earn you reputation and allies. Some of the most legendary anarchy players are known for what they built, not what they destroyed.
Join the Community
The best strategy of all is to get started. Every veteran player on RefinedVanilla was once a confused newcomer standing at spawn with nothing. The difference between the players who quit and the players who thrive is persistence. Accept that you will lose everything multiple times. Learn from every death. Adapt your strategies based on experience.
Ready to put these strategies into practice? Join RefinedVanilla today at refinedvanilla.net on Java or Bedrock edition (version 1.21.11). Connect with the community on Discord, find your first allies, and start building your legacy on the most vanilla anarchy server out there.