A MapJam is a Minecraft game-dev competition akin to a gamejam or hackathon. Mapmakers are given a short timeframe (usually 3 days) to make a map from scratch following one or more themes given at the start of the jam. The maps are then ranked by players and/or judges to determine the winners, who sometimes get prizes!
This jam was sponsored by the Java Realms content creator program to promote the Realms community and introduce new creators to the program. Winning teams were invited to publish their map on Realms, and Yeggs sponsored a $1000 prize pool.
The themes are Overgrowth, Resource Management, and Liminal. The winner is Synapse by The Farlanders (Bansed, MrCube6, Liminar).
The themes are Retro, Transport, and Loop. Phaic and Bastraction finally reach the number one spot with their map Below the Loop!
This jam was hosted by flcme and sponsored by the Java Realms content creator program to promote the Realms community and introduce new creators to the program. Winning teams were invited to publish their map on Realms.
The winning map was Adventures of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and the themes to choose from in this jam were Outnumbered, Takes Two, Deep Below, Rebuild, and Mutation.
Scale, Fantasy & Dungeon are the themes this time! AUREATE SACRIFICE by Vilder50 and pollieboy takes first place, marking yet another victory for the duo.
The themes were Cosmos, Mythology, Antique, and Odyssey. TITANOMECHIA by DrSallan, Tado, and Eroxen won the jam.
Vibrant, Delivery and Two Dimensions were the themes. Vrug Team finally takes the win with yet another impressive goblin-themed map!
The themes for this mapjam are Love & War. aNNein brings it home with Arena Wars!
The comedic map Harry Poorter by Coffee^2 secures the win, filled with unexpected surprises!
Three themes: Unexpected, Fuse and Magic. Maps must include at least 2 of the 3 themes!
Team Scripted wins the first ever "no limits" jam with The Good Phantom, a map about running around dream worlds collecting gold and ender eyes!
Packet Delivery Service by GeoSD wins.
Ashen wins. Supersette and Chopper2112 deliver a standout horror map that perfectly matches the theme: "the more you have, the worse it is."
A Gift for Allay by L0Y wins.
Mission FLORA wins, created by Vilder50 and pollieboy. The themes for this jam were Nature, Dystopia, and Illusion.
The Abomination of the Swamp by Dominexis, Lithium and friends wins. Teams had to choose two of the four themes: Stranded, Witchcraft, Summer, Haunted.
Rewind Time by TheblueMan003 & Benjamin874 wins.
Parkour Pantheon by Chopper2112 wins. This jam was unique in that, rather than traditional themes, players were required to incorporate pre-made game mechanics provided as a datapack by the host (clove).
The Capturer by twn (@foxblit @wolfguy2005 @jijik_hal @embers_ablaze) wins. The theme was Capture.
This is widely regarded as one of the best mapjams even to this day, considering the quality and innovation seen in many of the submissions. This was the second and last jam hosted by Vertex before the team disbanded.
Tranquil Gardens by Vilder50 and pollieboy wins. The themes were Isolation, Ethereal, and The End Is The Start.
This is the first known public competition to use the "mapjam" name. Previously, "modjams" had been hosted in an unofficial capacity by developers at Mojang, but these included modding and were not exclusive to vanilla mapmaking.
Sleepless Night by Ts and friends wins. The themes were Winter and Magic.