Java Realms Creators 2026 Map Jam

Schedule

Signups Open

May 2, 2026

Start

May 22 @ 12:00 AM ET (Midnight, beginning of Friday)

End

May 24 @ 11:59 PM ET (Midnight, end of Sunday)

Duration

3 days (72 hours)

Rating Period

May 25 – May 31

Results Announced

June 5 @ 6:00 PM ET

Teams

Teams can be Solo, Duo, or Trio — up to 3 people. All maps are judged and scored together regardless of team size; team size has almost no correlation with final ranking. Pick the format you find most fun.

After signing up you'll be given the Jammer role and a team channel on the Yeggs Discord. Team size, members, and name can be changed up until the jam starts. Participants may drop out at any time or simply not submit.

Theme

3 themes will be announced when the jam starts. Your map must incorporate at least 2 of them — only using one (or none) will significantly lower ratings.

Themes describe gameplay elements adaptable to aesthetic and concept: structural ideas (“the start is the end”), constraints (“control the environment, not the character”), adaptable nouns (“extinction”, “scale”), or guiding phrases (“It's not supposed to do that!”).

Submissions must include an explanation of how the map connects to the chosen themes — this is the Theme Implementation field on the submission form.

Rating & Judging

Type: Participant ratings + Judges

Participants and other mapmakers play the maps and rate them 1–10. Scores are standardized via z-scoring. The top 10 highest-scoring maps move on to the judging round, where judges deliberate live to determine final placement.

All rankings, feedback, awards, and prizes are sent privately to each team's channel after the announcement.

Prizes

$1,000 total. Prizes are awarded to teams, not individuals.

Special Awards

• Most Creative — 1x Nitro — most interesting/unique idea
• Best Execution — 1x Nitro — most polished, high-quality map
• Most Fun — 1x Nitro — most fun map to play
• Pity Award — 1x Nitro — real effort, low score (×2)

The remaining $50 goes to whoever correctly guesses the most themes before they're announced (max 3 guesses per jammer).

Rules

• No working before the jam. No coding or building any part of the map (used or unused) before the start.
• Submit before the deadline. No grace period for bug fixes. Only exception is a corrupted file.
• No outside help. No direct help from outside your team. Playtesters and technical questions are fine.
• No copying existing maps. Take inspiration, but be original.
• No existing world. The map must be made on a freshly generated or blank world.
• No pre-made tools/utilities. Don't prepare templates or resources for your jam map ahead of time.
• No mods. The final map must work in vanilla; no mods or plugins required to play.
• Atlas guidelines for the Atlas prize. Follow the Atlas guidelines and avoid experimental settings to be eligible.
• No private resources. Only publicly available, generic-purpose resources are allowed (full list on the Yeggs Discord).

If you're not sure if something is allowed, please ask in the Discord!

How to submit

1. Get the jam password from the Supersette Discord.
2. Visit the submission portal and enter the password.
3. Fill out your map details, including Creator / Team Name and Theme Implementation.
4. Need to fix something? Use the same password to edit your entry up to the deadline.

Disqualification

Disqualified maps are not accepted and are ineligible for ratings and prizes. A map may be disqualified for breaking the rules above or otherwise transgressing the spirit of the jam. Cheaters and troublemakers will not receive a prize and may be banned from future events. Disqualification is at the discretion of the hosts.