Gem Economy #

A semi-item based economy where shards are the currency.
This document explains every mechanic clearly — including the maths behind the scenes.

Table of Contents #

1. What are Gems?
2. How to Earn Gems
3. The Income Softcap
4. Fractional Accumulation
5. Death Penalty
6. Anti-Exploit Systems
7. QuickShop & Money Recirculation
8. Income History & Decay
9. Quick Reference

1. What are Gems? #

Gems are physical emerald items (◬/◭/▲) that drop in the world when you do certain activities. When you walk over one or pick it up, its value is added to your balance via Vault — there is no separate gem currency, it maps directly to money.

Gems glow for a few seconds after spawning so you can spot them.
If your inventory is full, gems within ~2 blocks are picked up automatically (no item needed).
Hoppers cannot collect gems — they are destroyed on contact.

2. How to Earn Gems #

Every source has a configured min/max range. A random value is rolled each time:

2.1 Breaking Blocks (Mining / Logging) #

Break naturally-generated ore or tree blocks to get a gem drop. Only blocks that existed before you joined the server count — blocks you placed yourself never yield drops (see §6.1).

*A negative roll means no gem drops. Logs are intentionally low-yield to limit tree farms.

2.2 Killing Mobs #

Kill a mob yourself (you must be the killer — assist kills don’t count).

Enderman drops are nerfed to near-zero specifically to discourage XP/gem-farm rooms.

2.3 Farming Crops #

Harvest a fully grown crop to get a drop. After harvesting, re-planting the seed in the same spot gives a small replant bonus automatically.

2.4 Animal Breeding #

Successfully breed two animals — you (the breeder) receive a drop.

3. The Income Softcap #

This is the most important mechanic. The richer you are (in terms of lifetime earnings), the fewer gems each activity rewards. The server tracks your total lifetime income (all gems ever picked up, minus adjustments — see §7 and §8).

The Formula #

effective_gems = raw_roll / (1 + (lifetime_income − 6000) / 10000)

This is capped at raw_roll — you can never get more gems than the base roll.

What this means in practice #

The sweet spot is below 6,000 income — you earn at full rate. Past that, each gem earned slowly reduces future yield. This is intentional: new players catch up, veteran players rely less on grinding and more on spending.

How to improve your rate #

• Spend money — buying from shops reduces your income (see §7)
• Wait — old income expires after 12 months (see §8)
• Die — the death penalty removes balance, but your income record stays

4. Fractional Accumulation #

When your softcap makes a drop worth less than 1 gem (e.g. 0.4), the fraction is saved across drops until it totals a whole gem, which is then awarded.

Specifically, fractions are halved before being added to your accumulator (a balancing mechanic that slightly slows down trickle income at high softcap). This means:

• A 0.4 effective rate → 0.4 / 2 = 0.2 added to your accumulator
• After 5 such drops: 5 × 0.2 = 1.0 → you receive 1 gem

You will still earn gems even at heavy softcap — it just takes longer per gem.

5. Death Penalty #

When you die, a percentage of your current balance is dropped at your location as a special death-gem. Other players can pick it up.

Your server admin can set a custom percentage per rank by granting the permission gemmy.death.<0-100>. The highest-numbered permission you hold wins.

⚠️ Death gems count toward the picker’s income, but not toward yours. Your income record is unchanged by dying — only your balance drops.

6. Anti-Exploit Systems #

These systems run silently in the background. Knowing they exist helps you understand why you might occasionally get 0 drops.

6.1 Player-Placed Block Tracking #

The server tracks blocks placed by players. Breaking a block you (or anyone) placed yields no drops. This prevents the classic “place ore → break ore → infinite gems” exploit.

• Works for ores, logs, and any other rewarded block
• Pistons moving a tracked block update the record correctly
• Crop placement does not block the replant bonus — only direct block breaks

6.2 Spawner Mob Filtering #

Mobs spawned by mob spawners drop no gems. This is tracked via a persistent tag on the entity, which also propagates through transformations (e.g. a spawner zombie that drowns is still tagged).

6.3 AFK = Zero Drops #

If you are detected as AFK (via AFKPlus), your effective drop rate becomes 0%. The moment you return from AFK, drops resume normally.

6.4 AFK Chunk Nerf (1 hour) #

When any player goes AFK, the chunk they were in is flagged for 1 hour. During that time, all players mining or fighting in that chunk receive only 10% of normal drops.

This prevents the strategy of rotating AFK accounts through a high-value farm area without actually grinding.

The nerf applies to the chunk, not the player — if you start mining in a recently-AFK’d chunk, you will see reduced yields.

6.5 Per-Chunk Hourly Limit #

Each chunk has a gem budget per hour (default: 500 total gem value). Once a chunk’s budget is exhausted, drops from that chunk are suppressed until the hour resets.

This caps the maximum throughput of automated farms or large group grinding sessions.

6.6 Hopper Blocking #

Gems that touch a hopper’s collection area are destroyed. There is no way to automate gem collection via hoppers.

7. QuickShop & Money Recirculation #

Spending money in the player economy reduces your lifetime income, making you eligible for better drop rates again. This is the primary intended way to “reset” your softcap mid-game.

How it works #

When you buy goods from another player’s QuickShop:

income_reduction = money_spent × 0.5   (50% by default)

This amount is subtracted from your tracked income. Your balance is spent normally — the reduction only affects how much income the server remembers you having earned.

Example: You spend 200 coins at a shop → 100 is subtracted from your income record → your softcap divisor decreases → you get better drops on your next grind session.

Anti-Alt Limit #

To prevent players from cycling money through alt-account shops to game the system, there is a daily cap per seller: by default, buying from the same shop owner can only reduce your income by 1,000 per day. Additional purchases from that seller still cost money normally but have no income effect until the next reset.

This cap is per buyer→seller pair. You can buy from multiple different players and each pair has its own daily limit.

What does NOT count #

• Buying from your own shop — no effect
• Admin shops / non-player-owned shops — no effect
• Selling to a shop (someone buying from you) — no effect on buyer’s income; it is your sale, not their spend

8. Income History & Decay #

Your income is not a permanent counter. Records are stored with a timestamp and automatically expire after 12 months (configurable by the server admin).

This means:

• Gems you earned more than 12 months ago no longer count toward your softcap
• Active players who grind consistently will stabilize at a softcap level, not hit a hard ceiling forever
• Long-time players who return after a break will find their effective rate has naturally recovered

9. Quick Reference #

Drop Rate at a Glance #

Rate = 100%  →  income ≤ 6,000
Rate =  50%  →  income = 16,000
Rate =  33%  →  income = 26,000
Rate =  10%  →  income ≈ 96,000

Ways to Improve Your Drop Rate #

Things That Give Zero Drops #

Gem Symbols #