Looking at the JIRAs https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-94438 seems to be the one with the momentum but even that one has a fix version in the past.

There are about 3000 open issues with public visibility. The good news is this one is one of about 300 that is actually assigned.

It is about 14th on the most popular issues list. https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC?selectedTab=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.project%3Apopularissues-panel

If we want Mojang to spend time on this we need to put it in thier face. It is all about visibility. Who ever is managing this is probably only looking at the top 5, maybe 10, issues each week.b

I would suggest everyone we an muster (and Crafty I would include other Vanilla server friends you have in that) go and create a Mojang JIRA account https://bugs.mojang.com/secure/Signup!default.jspa and then vote for the issue (which is just a link on the right-hand side of the issue page). Signing up is trivial, no personal details needed other than an email address.

Thanks Crafty & Dawn...LifeLongStew is on now and he is very happy - I might get some peace for a while.

Can't wait to get started in 1.9 if only to save me from LifeLongStew's questions: When will Crafty move to 1.9? Will we still have our base? Will Dawn still be an admin? Will we still have our rainbow? Will Crafty need new staff? What will happen to spawn? Where will the villagers be in the new spawn? Do you think Crafty will kill the Ender Dragon? Will admins still be allowed to fly? Why hasn't Crafty made the 1.9 server yet? Has he done it now? Has he done it now? Why does it take so long? Will I still be a VIP? Will Dawn still look the same? What happens if Dawn doesn't look the same and I think she is a raider and I try and kill her, will I get banned? What about the banned people will they still be banned...

(NB: The only admin he recognises is Dawn).

Note that I wrote this post on the original forums 8 months ago. I still stand by it. I have been playing on CraftyMynes for a year and live in a 128 block high spruce tree with a 3300 block stained glass rainbow and a beacon - I have never been raided. There is always the chance of being found but the odds are with you if you are careful.

A common question in chat and on this forum is 'Where should I build my base?' impling 'where no one will find it'.

I was pondering this at lunch today and broke it down into 3 parts:

1. Where in the world is a base least likely to be found.
2. What are the odds of someone finding my base there by chance.
3. How do I avoid leaving a trail to my base.

I do not claim to be an authority on such issues and, in fact, I am keen to learn from others with greater experience, but here are my musings.

1. Where in the world.

There are two parts to the obtuse answer:
  a) where people are the least likely to be 
  b) where people are the least likely to look

Part a) is addressed by building 'far' from spawn. Spawn has the highest population density which drops off at some rate as you travel further away. Crafty provides a random 10k TP which will place you somewhere between -10k and +10k in both the X and Z directions in the Over world. Most people who plan to stay on the server a while use this facility and I think it is safe to say a surface base <|10k| in either X or Z from spawn stands a fair chance of being found. Greater than that the odds of your base being found reduce quickly, on average, but see b)

Part b) is about trying not think like another player or, put a better way, trying to think how another player would think and then not doing that! Here are my thoughts (which have some empirical evidence in support), maybe others can comment further:

  i) Some people random TP and then hike past the 10k point in the overworld. This is tedious and slow so I would not expect too many to venture out this way beyond 15-20k, but those that do will be viewing a lot of the world. So whilst better than <10k I think 20k is still not as good as 30k from spawn.

  ii) To travel more than 30k in the overworld most people turn to the nether where the ratio of blocks is 1:8 (i.e. if you travel 1 block in the nether you travel 8 blocks in the overworld). This changes the dynamic a bit because instead of a player walking (and viewing) a vast strip of the overworld trekking to the site of thier new base they just appear in a spot through a nether portal. That means that distance from spawn becomes less significant relative to covering your tracks (see 3), but don't think you can just keep going and your odds of remaining hidden keep improving - they don't - see iii).

  iii) People are attracted to 'special' places. The more special the more likely someone will show up there. Good examples are:
      I) The cardinal lines (directly North (N), South (S), East (E) & West (W))
      II) The ordinal lines (directly NE, SE, SW, NW)
      III) The world borders

      IV) Round numbers: 10,000, 50,000 etc.

  So if you are thinking setting up base in the corner of the world is a good idea - the chances are someone has already done that. The best way to not think like another player is to leave it to chance - i.e. some random coordinate rather than selecting a place.
  iv) Finally, it is easy to spot a surface base from a distance (especially if it is lit at night) but an underground base you literally have to bump into.

Summing that up. Set up your base :
    o In the 'goldilocks zone' >30k out from spawn but < 95k (world border is +/-100k from spawn)
    o >5k from a "special location"
    o Ideally below ground.

2. What are the odds?
Its very hard to say without having player numbers and movement statistics but assuming your base is on the surface in the goldilocks zone think of it like this: There are about 35000 million blocks (surface area) between 30k and 95k from spawn (in both X & Z). You can see about 64 blocks in any direction (in fact it is less than that due to obstructions) from a given point. Every time someone pops out of a new portal and runs 1000 blocks (assuming they do not go back on themselves at all) they sweep ~130k blocks. The chances of your base being in that area are 35,000,000,000/130,000 = ~1 in 270,000 and that is probably generous. So for 1000 unique portals with 1000 blocks of unique trail around them there is still <<1% chance of finding your base - unless, of course, you have left a trail (see 3).

If your base is underground, even with a surface opening, the odds of staying hidden are greatly improved. Instead of having to walk within 64 blocks of your base, someone could walk right by it and not see it. If they would have to walk within 5 blocks of the entrace to see it then the sweep width is 10x less and your odds at staying hidden 10x better. With no surface opening the odds of being found are effectively 0 (but see 3).

3. (Not) Leaving a Trail
Every mark on the landscape increases the foot print of your base and increases the odds of it being found. The most common is having a nether portal in it. The nether is a lot smaller to search than the overworld and having a nether portal within a 1000 overworld blocks of your base is not a good idea. Experienced players will notice every out of place block, half cut tree and diverted stream. Your best bet is leave as much undisturbed as possible when travelling to set up base. When setting up your base avoid harvesting locally - set your home, go to spawn and random TP to somewhere to collect surface materials e.g. wood.

A tinsy bit of advice: build your empire out >20k at a random coordinate and TPA members to you. if you build it 1k from spawn it will be a smoking ruin before Sunday morning. I wrote a post on base positioning 8 months ago, which I will have to rescue from the old forum. Still stand by it.

You do keep it entertaining Soviet. How things have evolved since I stumbled across your base a few months back. I don't suppose that still exists? Good luck with the security services/extorsion business and the war. Keep us posted.

I think most of them got banned. Apathy was a group of strong Minecrafters. Very good at PVP, farms and the strategy of the game. A formidable combination. Unfortunately some of them sailed on the edge and eventually, inevitably, slipped over it.

RE: Jeb & Dinnerbone comments: I have no idea what Mojang's release terminology is but Feature Complete for me means the code has been written but only used in a relatively few vertical test cases and there is an awful lot system expression to discover and debugging to do to get it ready for First Customer Ship. Since the take over I bet the developers have been pounded on for the features that Microsoft management saw to justify the $2b price tag and that will all need hardening up before release. Given the anticipation in the market place the pressure that will be building up internally, short cuts will be taken and stability will be an issue to start with. Crafty is wise to treat with caution.

Finally got around to doing a bit more inside our tree. LiteConstant59 helped me get a few more levels up and I got some Endermen decorations.