USU club recreates campus in Minecraft

Aggies gather in an online space to build, survive and engineer. The Utah State University Minecraft Club runs the Minecraft server that is replicating structures and landmarks of the USU Logan campus. 

David Jorgensen, a senior studying computer science and the president of the Minecraft Club, was asked what his favorite thing that the club has replicated in the server was.

“I’d have to say either the pixelated statues or the Old Main,” Jorgensen said. “It was a really fun project to convert Mike Whiting’s artwork into the game using code and to do a collab with him on Instagram.”

The server is full of various places to explore, from campus buildings to art installations. The club’s Instagram posted images of the statues that were recreated in pixel form around the Minecraft version of campus.

Jorgensen describes how his friend inspired him to start the club​​.

“The USU Minecraft build got started when my friend Chris recommended building Reeder Hall in 2022,” Jorgensen said. “After building it, I built Old Main, and the rest is history.”

This history led to what is now a growing server and​​ a club on campus for students to enjoy. The M​​inecraft Club is free to join. 

The club meets in the TSC Clubhouse on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Jorgensen shared what people can expect if they join the server or club.

“People can expect a low-key, welcoming Minecraft community,” Jorgensen said. “On the server, we also have a survival world for Aggies to build and have fun together.”

Cody Puertas, a junior at U​​SU, was asked if he had heard of the Minecraft Club. 

Though he hasn’t joined himself, Puertas said he’s heard from others that the club is fun and everyone is welcome. 

“It’s not a club where you’re forced to join or a club that you have to come to every week to keep your membership,” Puertas said. “It’s more something that, if it interests you, it’s fun, and it’s there for you if you have the interest to play Minecraft and do whatever you want with the server, as long as it stays within their boundaries.”

​​T​he server has a few rules to continue playing on it: be respectful of others, do not use hate speech or harass other players, claim the land if a player would like to protect it and ​​keep any machines and farms lag friendly. 

The Minecraft Club also hosts events such as the Potato Rush, which happened Sept. 27 through Oct. 3. This gave club members a chance to serve other students going to USU through Johnson Family Farms and the Student Nutrition Access Center.

According to the club’s Discord, the Potato Rush involved collecting or farming potatoes within the game. The club collected over 760,000 potatoes in the Minecraft server. This contributed to the club being able to donate over 2,000 pounds of potatoes to SNAC with Johnson Family Farms. 

An in-game image capture shows a virtual Big Blue standing next to a Block A in USU’s Minecraft Club server.

The server also has a newly launched Bedwars map.  Bedwars is a player versus player minigame in Minecraft where players attempt to protect their own beds and destroy other players’ beds. The goal is to be the last player with their bed intact.

The USU Minecraft server supports Java Edition which is also the main version supported by the server. However, the server can also be accessed through Windows 10 PC Edition or Pocket Edition.

To join the USU Minecraft server in Java, start out by clicking “Multiplayer” and then the “Add Server” button. From there, type “USUMC” in the server name and “mc.usu.net” for the server address. Then click “Done,” and finally double click the line for the USUMC server you just made. 

To join the USU Minecraft server in Bedrock, click “Play” and then click the “Servers” button at the top of the screen. Next, click the “Add Server” button in the top left. Like with Java, type in “USUMC” for the server name and “mc.usumc.net” for the server address.​​ Leave the port the same, finally click ”Add and play.”

Before being able to join the server​,​ there will be a prompt to download the server’s resource pack, which is what makes the textures in game look the way they do, including making Big Blue look more realistic and true to the real-life version.