Minecraft:Capture the Flag (server)
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Template:Redirect Template:Exclusive Template:ServerCapture the Flag was a minigame Minecraft:event server hosted by Minecraft:Mojang Studios, and the first to be introduced as a featured experience. It featured a traditional capture the flag minigame and a deathmatch minigame, where players were able to compete with a team, capture the opposing team's flag, and defend their own. Players could also get the Flag Runner Headband redeemed for 250 gems; an in game currency that was earned by winning a game or killing a Minecraft:player. It was first brought online starting on July 1, 2025, and ended on July 4.
The server was brought back online again starting on September 30, 2025, and lasted until October 6, at approximately 23:40 UTC. There have been issues where the server would sometimes not show up in the featured servers list.
On January 20, 2026, it was opened for a third time, and the server closed on January 31, at approximately 00:00 UTC.
Gameplay
Playing field
When Minecraft:players join a match on the "Arena" map, they're randomly assigned to the red or blue team. Each player starts at their team's Minecraft:spawn point, equipped with a Minecraft:bow and Minecraft:arrow, and have three hearts. Their main objective is to capture the opposing team's flag while defending their own, and winning the game by reaching the highest captured flag score for their team.
On the "Castle" map, players are randomly assigned to either the red, blue, green, or yellow team. Like the Arena, players start at their team's spawn point, and are given a bow and arrows and have 3 hearts. Each tower also contains a flag correlating with the team's color. However, capturing these flags at the respective base does not add any value to the score, except for the player's personal capture count. In order to win in this map, teams must compete in a death-match, where the first to get 20 kills wins the game.
Players can deal one heart of Minecraft:damage to other opponents by shooting them with the bow. When a flag is equipped, players can deal 3 hearts of damage to players, instantly defeating them. Upon killing one, they are rewarded with 5 gems. They are able to hit each other by Minecraft:melee attack, but doing so doesn't deal any damage.
The Minecraft:hotbar is noticeably gone, but players could still select other items using the mouse scroll wheel. The player's current statistic is shown on the top right of the screen, with the icons from top to bottom showing their earned gems, kills, deaths, and captured flag score. The player's current hearts is shown above the usual hotbar placement; other players' current hearts are also shown above their Minecraft:usernames.
Each team's flag is located near its own spawn point. When a player captures a flag, they must return it to their own team's flag to score a point for their team. A noticeable speed decrease is applied while moving with a captured flag.
Post game
The game tracks the scores for each team after capturing a flag in the Minecraft:scoreboard, and displayed on the sidebar. The first team to reach the maximum score wins the match, with the winning team's players receive the highest gems reward, while the losing team gets fewer. The numbers of maximum score and gems rewarded varies depending on the map:
- Arena has 3 captured flag and 50 gems reward for the winning team, while the losing team gets 25 gems.
- Castle has 20 captured flag and 100 gems reward for the winning team, while the losing team gets 50 gems.
A post game screen is displayed, showing the player's match statistics, such as their kills, deaths, K/D ratio (kill/death ratio), flag captures, and gems earned. Players can play a new match or return to the hub from the screen.
Places
Central Tower
Players spawn inside of a large, blackstone castle within the Crimson Ruins. Behind the spawn area is a curious installment made up of Minecraft:chiseled stone, Minecraft:crying obsidian, and Minecraft:froglights, with a blue Minecraft:parrot dancing inside. Walking down a stairway of stone brick slabs, the player can pass by large tapestries and boilers of lava, exiting out either a giant door under a Minecraft:stained glass window or two detours lined with nether brick floors and Minecraft:lanterns. Outside the castle is an Minecraft:NPC, the Macaw Guardian, with two Minecraft:written books on Minecraft:lecterns which tell the story of a conflict happening in the game world. When interacting with the NPC, they are able to choose from two maps: Arena and Castle.
Behind all that is a small drawbridge made of Minecraft:chiseled nether bricks, blackstone, and resin bricks, where a view can be seen of the towers. On a few spots of the bridge are magma blocks which can kill the player. Right of this area and left of the gate is a series of red nether brick slabs, serving as a parkour challenge. Climbing up these will lead the player up to a balcony above the spawn area, underneath the window, before leading to a narrow strip of slabs ending on a Minecraft:ladder. Halfway the parkour challenge is a secret passageway, indicated by the sign saying it is a secret passageway. Trough the passageway are signs hinting about what the tunnel could lead to. At the end is a dancing parrot.
Arena
An small map consists of the two blue and red sides opposing each other. Each side has a castle where the team's flag and spawn point are located. Players can climb on top of the castle to see the entire arena. On the front, there are pillars on each side which players can climb through the Minecraft:vines. The playing field has a tall tower on the center of the map. There are hallways in the edges around the playing field; they can be accessed from each team's castle, or entrances between the tall tower.
Castle
A massive map with a prominent dark stone castle stands at the map's center, with the inside hides the Volcano Heart, what it looks like leaking out Minecraft:lava fluids to the ground floor made out of Minecraft:deepslate materials. The top of the heart features Minecraft:slime blocks (covered by Minecraft:carpets) which players can bounce off from the rooftop of the dark castle. The outside walls of the dark castle being mixed of deepslate and Minecraft:stone bricks.
There are four Elemental Towers built around the dark castle:Template:Note
- Ice tower which features cold and snowy environment, with multiple tall, slender towers and spires and a tower with a large, arched doorway. It is built with Minecraft:snow blocks, light Minecraft:concretes, Minecraft:prismarines, and other blocks with various shades of light blue, white, and a greenish-teal, giving it a very cool and pristine appearance. It is used as the blue team's spawn point, as well the team's flag.
- Nether tower which features hell-like environment, with numerous tall, Minecraft:huge crimson fungus that are scattered across the landscape. The primary entrance to the tower is framed by Minecraft:nether bricks and has glowing Minecraft:shroomlights, leading into the base with invasive warped and crimson fungus. It is used as the red team's spawn point, as well the team's flag.
- Desert tower which features sandy terrain, with multiple Minecraft:cactus and Minecraft:dry grasses spreading the landscape. There is a Minecraft:savanna area with a pond which resembles an Template:W. The tower primarily made of Minecraft:sandstones and many of its variants. A Minecraft:dried ghast can be seen near the dark castle, which shows the harsh environment of the desert.
- Bamboo tower which features green and lush environment, with variation of oak and Minecraft:jungle trees on the terrain. The tower looks overgrown with Minecraft:vines and other vegetation, with the base building primarily made of out Minecraft:bamboo blocks and the outside pathway to the dark castle with Minecraft:mud bricks.
Each of them have a bridge connecting to the fortified open-air bastion of the dark castle.
Reward
Template:Needs render Players that earned 250 gems from playing CTF can redeem them at the Macaw Guardian to gain the Flag Runner Headband as a Minecraft:Character Creator item. A Blue headband was given out on 8/4/25 to those who already claimed Red.
| Name | Image | Type | Rarity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Render | |||
| Flag Runner Headband | Headwear File:Headwear.png |
Rare File:Rarity rare.png | ||
| Flag Runner Headband Blue | Headwear File:Headwear.png |
Rare File:Rarity rare.png | ||
Book pages
There are written books on lectern near Macaw Guardian which tell the story of "Hanging Island Tournament":
Server listing
Description
The featured servers listed Capture the Flag server with the following description:
"Mojang Studios needs your help! Join this Capture the Flag server and help us test our server tech. Compete with a team and be the first to capture the opposing team's flag while defending your own!
Activities
The Flag Runner Headband was listed as the reward in the server's activities:
"Unlock the Flag Runner Headband Test a feature and earn a reward!
Play Capture the Flag and earn gems to unlock the Character Creator item Flag Runner Headband
Trivia
- The "Flag Runner Headband" was originally called "Faster than Lightning" before being renamed.
- The spawn hub uses the same map as Castle being in the Minecraft:nighttime; the Central Tower where the player spawn can be seen on the background behind the ice tower.
- There is text word on the Minecraft:sky written "MADE WITH EDITOR", suggesting the map was made with Minecraft:Bedrock Editor.
- Players can go out of bound from the Crimson Ruins by jumping at the top right corner of the bridge near the Macaw Guardian. This makes the entire Castle map accessible in the nighttime.
Gallery
Central Tower
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Text word on the Minecraft:nighttime Minecraft:sky written "MADE WITH EDITOR"
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A player using Minecraft:emote on the bridge
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Players going out of bound
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A Mojang employee wearing the Minecraft:Mojang Studios cape
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The Crimson Ruins hallway
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Macaw Guardian NPC
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Minecraft:Map Marker above Macaw Guardian
Arena
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Arena map
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Steve holding the red team's Flag
Castle
Dark castle
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A light brimming from the top of the dark castle
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Inside the dark castle
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The Volcano Heart inside the dark castle
Ice tower
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The ice tower captured from the desert tower with the Central Tower seen on the background.
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A player capturing a flag.
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The dark castle's entrance from the ice tower.
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The blue team's flag position in the ice tower ground floor.
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Ice castle arched doorway.
Nether tower
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Nether tower
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A bridge connecting to the nether tower
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Inside the nether tower on the ground floor
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The Minecraft:crimson fungus scattered outside the nether tower.
Desert tower
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The pillars holding the bridge connecting the desert tower to the dark castle.
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Dried ghast near the dark castle and outside the desert environment.
Bamboo tower
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Outside of the bamboo tower.
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Bridge leading to the bamboo tower
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A bridge connecting between ice and bamboo towers.
Secret
Parrot Room
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A parrot room hidden under spawn on the left side. (inaccessible)
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Inside are 5 Parrots, (White: Rajmund, cool guy), (Green: Tari, the pirate), (Red: Mario, the plumer), (Blue: Tasha, the mischievous bird), (White: Eustace, the OG).
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The exit of the Parrot Room using sticky piston doors and a water elevator.
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You can find this room at the end of the secret tunnel halfway the parkour challenge.
Unused Structure
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Unused Castle out of bounds far away.
Notes
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