The first project I ever created in this scene was known as ‘KindleKraft’; A Minecraft 1.7.10 server running on the infamous Amazon Kindle.
Introduction
Prior to entering the modding scene, I was extremely invested in Minecraft server admin: From Purpur to AdvancedSlimeWorldManager, plugin development, and general server optimisation. When I discovered the power of this tiny Linux device, I immediately knew what I wanted to do:
… If you couldn’t tell. Run a Minecraft™ Server.
Specifically, I was aiming to run a 1.8.x server on the limited amount of RAM (512mb) a Kindle has, on armel (newer Kindles are armhf and have 1gb RAM, so less constraint, but I only had a PW3 at the time).
Issues
Right off the bat, I noticed Paper servers and any Paper-forks would not work on the Kindle whatsoever. I was using Azul Zulu J8, since the Kindle’s bundled Java is mostly used for some legacy UI components (dubbed “Kindlets”). Regardless, I kept getting issues regarding paperclip.jar, and was unable to surpass them.
I shifted towards using Spigot instead, but almost immediately experienced OOM (out-of-memory) crashes. To circumvent this, I added a 256m swapfile and killed some memory-intensive processes such as mesquite, KPPMainApp, etc. Even so, the featureset of 1.8.x was simply too heavy for the device.
Luckily, I was able to discover a Spigot 1.8 Nethack. Although the server was technically based on 1.7.10, 1.8 clients were able to join, and mechanics such as the hunger bar worked perfectly!
The Future
Today, on my Jailbroken Kindle AppStore KindleForge, I host ‘KindleCraft’ (notice the different spelling); A Kindle-optimised build compiled by Gingrspacecadet, it’s a 1.21.8 Bareiron server, and whilst more modern and impressive, is unfortunately severely lacking in features.
In the future, if anyone reading this post manages to run a newer, featureful Minecraft server, especially on the latest/most powerful models, don’t hesitate to reach out - via Guestbook, or through my Discord! :)
- Penguins184 Out