Dream SMP
History and plot
History and plot
----------------

The Dream SMP was created by [Dream](/wiki/Dream_%28YouTuber%29 "Dream (YouTuber)") and [GeorgeNotFound](/wiki/GeorgeNotFound "GeorgeNotFound") in April or May 2020 as a small server for a few friends. It quickly gained popularity, in part due to the [COVID\-19 pandemic](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic "COVID-19 pandemic") and collaborations across various Twitch and YouTube channels. It starred fellow *Minecraft* [YouTubers](/wiki/YouTuber "YouTuber") such as [Sapnap](/wiki/Sapnap "Sapnap") and [TommyInnit](/wiki/TommyInnit "TommyInnit"), who roleplayed as characters loosely based on themselves. They engaged in lengthy conflicts over political power and rare artifacts.

Most content was [improvised](/wiki/Improvisational_theatre "Improvisational theatre"), apart from major plot points which were loosely scripted in advance. [Wilbur Soot](/wiki/Wilbur_Soot "Wilbur Soot"), who planned many of the early story arcs, said in an interview for *Insider*, "I write up a series of plot hooks and points that should tie together, however we improv\[ise] dialogue and comedy throughout to take us from point to point." The server had over 20 "eras" in its plotline and over 30 characters as of August 2021\. The server's early storyline was inspired by *[Hamilton](/wiki/Hamilton_%28musical%29 "Hamilton (musical)")*, and the musical was referenced many times by the server members.

Within the plot, characters could die up to three times before being permanently dead. Some members played multiple characters, including ghost versions of themselves.

The Disc Saga, the server's longest\-running story arc, was a series of events centered around two rare music discs belonging to TommyInnit. Throughout the saga, Dream and other characters fought over ownership of the discs, and used them as leverage against each other. The Disc Saga concluded in January 2021, with Dream being imprisoned. TommyInnit's Twitch broadcast of the events peaked at over 650,000 viewers, making it the third\-highest all\-time concurrent viewer livestream on the platform.

[thumb\|The flag of L'Manburg](/wiki/File:Flag_of_L%27Manberg.svg "Flag of L'Manberg.svg")
Another conflict broke out when Wilbur Soot founded L'Manburg, an in\-game [breakaway state](/wiki/Breakaway_state "Breakaway state") for non\-American players. It seceded from the Greater Dream SMP nation and won a war for independence. L'Manburg would later hold a presidential election, which involved heated roleplay debates between the fictional political parties SWAG2020 and POG2020\. When SWAG2020 running mate GeorgeNotFound failed to show up, [Quackity](/wiki/Quackity "Quackity"), the presidential candidate for the party, formed an impromptu coalition party with [Jschlatt](/wiki/Jschlatt "Jschlatt"), SchWAG2020\. This coalition party went on to win the election with 46 percent of the vote. In January 2021, L'Manburg would go on to be invaded, destroyed, and permanently disbanded.

The heavy emphasis on the roleplaying aspect of the server and their overarching plots attracted significant attention. According to Rich Stanton of *[PC Gamer](/wiki/PC_Gamer "PC Gamer")*, "L'Manburg was taken very seriously by its players, to the extent the nation has not only a flag but a national anthem." The plot was likened to [live theater](/wiki/Theatre "Theatre") by [Cecilia D'Anastasio](/wiki/Cecilia_D%27Anastasio "Cecilia D'Anastasio") of *[Wired](/wiki/Wired_%28magazine%29 "Wired (magazine)")*, describing it as a "[Machiavellian](/wiki/Machiavellianism_%28politics%29 "Machiavellianism (politics)") political drama". Ryan Broderick of *[Polygon](/wiki/Polygon_%28website%29 "Polygon (website)")* described the server's plot as being played out like "a silly *[Game of Thrones](/wiki/Game_of_Thrones "Game of Thrones")* with anime pacing", and described the story's characters as being "not unlike how the wrestler [John Cena](/wiki/John_Cena "John Cena") plays the wrestler John Cena inside the narrative of [WWE](/wiki/WWE "WWE")". The Disc Saga was described by Julia Alexander of *[The Verge](/wiki/The_Verge "The Verge")* as a "dramatic tale of good versus evil" as Dream and TommyInnit fought over dominance in the server.

In a 2022 interview with *[Variety](/wiki/Variety_%28magazine%29 "Variety (magazine)")*, Dream said that the Dream SMP was just *Minecraft* being used as a storytelling medium as opposed to being an actual game, with GeorgeNotFound adding they do not actually "really" play *Minecraft* when doing Dream SMP streams.

In November 2022, TommyInnit and [Tubbo](/wiki/Tubbo "Tubbo") did four consecutive live streams on Twitch, starting on November 10 and ending on November 13, describing them as the Dream SMP season 1 finale. These four streams concluded with the server being blown up by Tubbo and Jack Manifold. The last part of the stream featured Dream, TommyInnit, and Tubbo appearing on a new world with no memories of what had happened earlier in the stream. Tubbo later announced that all subsequent finale streams will end in the server blowing up, calling it "The Event." In the same stream, he hinted that season 2 may have references to season 1\.

In March 2023, Dream announced that there would likely be no season 2; in response, CaptainPuffy uploaded over 300 images taken of locations on the server at various stages on her website.

Several members streamed together on the SMP on April 10, 2023, to defeat the [Ender Dragon](/wiki/Ender_Dragon "Ender Dragon") (a boss in *Minecraft*), which was inaccessible until that day due to Dream's rules.


What inspired the server's early storyline?