HeartSMP — lifesteal

The one rule that changes everything#

Die, and you lose a heart. Kill another player, and you gain one.

That is the whole mechanic, and it rewrites the rest of survival around it.
On a normal server, dying costs you your stuff and some time. Here it costs you
a permanent slice of your health bar — and it hands that slice to whoever
killed you.

What that does to the game#

Every fight has stakes. There is no such thing as a casual duel. The person
who wins is measurably stronger afterwards, and the person who loses is
measurably weaker. Fights are therefore rarer than on a plain PvP server, and
much more deliberate when they happen.

Distance is a strategy. Building far out is not cowardice, it is a real
defensive choice. The cost is that everything is far away, including help.

Reputation matters. You will meet the same people repeatedly. Alliances
hold because breaking them is expensive later, not because anyone is nice.

Running out of hearts#

Losing your last heart is the failure state the mode is built around. Do not
plan on the assumption that it will not happen to you — plan for what you keep
if it does.

The practical version of that:

• Keep a second stash, away from your base, with the basics to start again.
• Do not carry everything you own at once. The gear you are wearing is the gear

you are betting.

• Know your way home before you go somewhere new.

The first week, honestly#

1. Get away from spawn before you build anything. Spawn is where people

look for easy fights.

1. Food and iron first. Diamonds later. A full set of iron and a full

hunger bar beat a diamond sword and no food.

1. Do not fight the first person you meet. You have nothing to gain from a

fight you did not plan and nothing to lose by walking away.

1. Find one or two people to work with. The mode punishes solo players

quietly — not by killing them, but by making everything slower.

1. Read the rules before you decide that something

clever is allowed. Teaming and trapping are part of the game; the rules draw
the line at harassment and at clients that play for you.

The store side#

The HeartSMP categories in the store are visible but marked
as coming soon, and that is exactly what they mean: they are planned, not
available. Nothing on this website will sell you a HeartSMP perk today.

What does work across both modes are shards from voting and the items in the
shard shop.