CreatorSMP Hardcore has become the Dutch Minecraft event of the year, and season 4 was the biggest one yet. From October 4 through 25, 2026, 90 Dutch content creators played on one world for three weeks, with a single rule: one death and you're out for the rest of the season.
What was CreatorSMP Season 4?
Season 4 was organized by Jeremy Frieser and Duncan Massink (Djuncan) and ran from October 4 through 25, 2026, 21 days in total. With 90 participants, this was the biggest season yet, a big jump from the 60 creators of season 2 and the 80 of season 3.
The lineup included well-known names like DonKaaklijn, LinkTijger, Gio Latooy, Enzo Knol, Royalistiq, Qucee, Acid, Jelly, GameMeneer, Job Dutchtuber, Pangi and Loony, with defending champion ClownPierce (winner of season 3) back in the arena.
The hardcore rule created plenty of tension: one death means instant elimination for the rest of the season. That made every stream and every clip just a bit more intense, and the audience noticed. On opening day alone, eleven of the ninety participants together generated more than 3 million views on YouTube and Twitch. Bigger streamers racked up 500,000+ views on day one alone, with streams sometimes running for six hours straight.
Behind the scenes at Etheron
Etheron Hosting is the official hosting partner of CreatorSMP and supplies the servers the entire event runs on, using the same panel and the same anti-DDoS protection (up to 2.5 Tbit/s) our customers use.
For season 4, there was a new challenge: for the first time, we ran a modded Minecraft server instead of a vanilla or plugin-based setup. Despite the extra complexity mods bring, it went completely smoothly: no lag and no issues throughout the entire season.
On top of that, we helped with the production and technical side behind the finale, together with Streamrebelz. That collaboration made it possible to pull in 50 individual feeds simultaneously without a hitch, and to switch everything live to 300,000 concurrent viewers online, plus 14 packed cinema halls where fans watched the finale together. A serious challenge, but it turned out great.
Website and merchandise without a hitch
It wasn't just the game server that had to hold up, the CreatorSMP website ran on our infrastructure too. That website processed more than 13 million visitors this season, without any significant issues. The merchandise releases ran through the same website as well, completely smoothly, despite the traffic spikes that come with a drop like that.
A nice side effect: the more data we made available about the game server, the more fun viewers found it to keep the website open while watching. At peak, we were handling nearly 5 million requests per day for live game server data, from player stats to who was still alive.
We stay involved even after the season ends
Our role doesn't stop once the finale airs. Even after the season wraps up, we keep sponsoring servers for creators who took part, so they can keep building, keep making content, or just keep playing. That's how we stay actively involved and keep growing our collaboration with creators, well beyond the season itself.
Why this keeps making sense for us
Dozens of creators livestreaming simultaneously from the same server, helping bring a finale to hundreds of thousands of viewers and packed cinema halls, and a website processing millions of visitors and nearly 5 million requests a day: that's exactly the kind of scale our infrastructure is built for. Every time CreatorSMP grows, the challenge grows with it, and honestly, we kind of love that.
Want to start your own Creator SMP?
You don't need to be a known creator to try this format. With a group of friends and your own server, you can set up the exact same thing: one world, one life, and see who survives the longest. With a Minecraft server from Etheron, you're online within minutes, and with the discount code creatorsmp you get 10% off your first order.
Have questions or need help setting up your server? Reach out via Discord or open a ticket via the client panel.