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2.5 billion obsidian, all placed in survival Minecraft. It is the largest work of art ever constructed on the oldest anarchy server in Minecraft. To put that in perspective, if you tried destroying it with just an enchanted pickaxe, it would take 176 years of non-stop mining. All of the other obsidian artworks created over the years can be found in just a small section of this massive build. A group of players secretly came together to solve a problem. How do you create something so massive from a logistical standpoint while also keeping it hidden from griefers? The story of how they pulled off this achievement is insane.
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Using a combination of in-game exploits, custommade software, and one of the most advanced item distribution systems in the server’s history, they did what many considered to be impossible. To understand why 2.5 billion obsidian placed is such a historic achievement, let me take you back to the year 2024 when a small breakthrough on the server led to a massive discovery. Normally in Minecraft, you can only place blocks by connecting them with others. Placing a block in midair cannot be done under normal conditions. But on 2b2t, a server where hacking is allowed, players figured out how to bypass the server’s antiche to use airplace.
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As the name implies, it allows players to place blocks in midair that are not connected to anything. It was initially used by the PvP community for midair crystal combat, but upon closer inspection, it was far more powerful. Meet Tyler the dev, a player that was actually banned from 2b2t after one of his teleportation exploits accidentally crashed the entire server. But using his technical knowledge, he discovered not only was air placement possible, but block restrictions could be bypassed entirely. This meant you could place 30 blocks per second in midair without getting kicked from the server.
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This could be extremely powerful, especially if it were to be used like a printer to create builds or works of art. Tyler and his friend East Alpha would go on to form a group on the server called the devs that specialized in using exploits in new and creative ways. And using this discovery, they wanted to create something that would cement the group’s legacy on the server. They wanted to set the record for the largest build ever created. East Alpha began planning the structure in February of 2025. The idea was to create the group’s logo out of billions of obsidian and have it stretch across vast regions of the server.
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Since this concept had been done countless times in the past, the build would have to completely dwarf all others in comparison. So, the bold decision was made to have all previous Obsidian builds fit inside the lens of the new logo. This would be the best way to make a statement and prove what the group was truly capable of. It was time to begin. The project would have nine trusted members that would each contribute in their own way. The first priority was securing the materials, gathering billions of obsidian the traditional way would take actual centuries. So, obsidian farms were utilized instead.
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This is a small scale version of what the devs used on 2b2t. I can’t show you the larger design since it would likely get nerfed on the actual server, but group members Mushik and Philip worked together to create a large-scale industrial version of this that would generate the blocks they needed. Now that they had the materials, the next issue became building the structure. Bringing more people onto the project would run the risk of having it be sabotaged. So instead, they did something completely different. First, entirely custom software was written to allow automated Minecraft accounts to be able to put all the obsidian in the build using AirPlay.
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These accounts would use their entire inventory of obsidian before requesting a teleport to a secret base, which held all of the materials. This restocking station was built in an undisclosed location far away from spawn. In the central chamber, a Minecraft account remained logged in that would manage the entire facility using lect turns to output redstone signals. If a bot account requested more materials, a signal was sent to a corresponding pearl chamber. So, no matter where the bot was on the server, it could be summoned back instantly. Once the pearl had landed and the bot was back at the base,
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it would head to the main storage area to withdraw all of the necessary materials. Once it had everything, it would return to the chamber, set a new ender pearl, and then use the /kill command to return to a respawn point close to its original location. Based on how far away the bed was, the accounts were programmed to elytra bounce back to where they had been working. So, in just mere minutes, an account would be back to work with a full inventory of obsidian. Absolutely no wasted time. Group member Z made a website that monitored all of the accounts online and their progress. Bot location was displayed using green and red dots to show whether the accounts were online or not.
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Whenever a bot would encounter another player in render distance, their Minecraft skin was displayed at the location of the encounter. This allowed them to predict where potential griefing could occur so specific accounts could be teleported out if things became too dangerous. On the side, the total progress of the Obsidian placement was tracked, letting everyone know if things were on schedule or not. I can’t stress enough just how mindblowing and impressive this system actually is. By June of 2025, the system was fully operational on 2b2t. There were still some bumps in the road, though. Early on in the project,
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aggressive mobs would attack the bots, so crying obsidian was evenly spread throughout the build to provide some light. This would keep mob spawning to a minimum and allowed greater efficiency. Over 36 million crying obsidian would be needed for the entire logo, which once again was obtained through an item farm that I cannot show you. But by this point, the logo was becoming so large that it was causing some interesting side effects on the ground below. During construction, the group discovered many different intact bases that would now be covered in total darkness. So, while it technically wasn’t griefing,
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these base owners learned a valuable lesson about why air rights are so important in real estate. But these bots worked around the clock for the next 10 months. As the logo began to truly take shape, the greater 2B community started to notice it. But by then, the build was far too large to do any actual damage to. Since they had built it so quickly and in a non-entral location, it had flown under the radar. Eventually, on April 4th, 2026, the group came together to place the final block of the build by hand. 2.5 billion obsidian placed. Let me make a comparison. 11 years ago, I remember watching Wrath Outpost being built near Spawn,
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which was considered the original obsidian mega structure on 2b2t. At the time, I thought it was insane just to see 100,000 obsidian blocks all in one place. Over a decade later, the amount of obsidian in the dev’s logo could build 25,000 Wrath outposts. Through sheer logistics and brain power, the devs had left a permanent mark on the server. To watch 2v2T players continuing to push the server to the absolute limits has been incredible to witness. What the devs have accomplished here is something I never thought would be possible. Will their record ever be broken? Only time will tell.