TNTBall

Updated 4 min read

TNTBall is a team-based base-defense minigame: two or four teams each hold their own region, and the goal is to defend it while breaking down everyone else's using TNT arrows, special items, and tactical building. Explosive combat phases alternate with short breathing room to repair and regroup, while TNT blocks and Lucky Blocks keep falling from the sky to resupply every team. Whoever dies is out and switches to spectating; the last team with players left wins.

Teams

Matches are played with red and blue (2-team) or red, blue, green, and yellow (4-team), depending on the map. Pick your team in the lobby — teams are automatically balanced before the round starts so no side is left too small.

Phases

The round alternates between two phases:

  • Boom Phase (~60 seconds) — TNT arrows can be fired, enemy bases can be damaged, and falling blocks keep appearing over team regions. This is when the pressure is highest.
  • Peace Phase (~20 seconds) — TNT arrows are disabled. Use this window to repair your base, reorganize your inventory, and prepare for the next Boom Phase. Falling blocks keep arriving even now, so it's not purely downtime.

As the round goes on, the resources dropped each phase get more plentiful, making longer matches progressively more chaotic.

Building and mining

You can only build inside your own team's region — useful for repairing damage, building cover, or shoring up defenses, but you can't touch the map outside it. Most blocks are protected, but TNT blocks (drop TNT arrows) and Lucky Blocks (drop random items) can always be mined. Your own region is also protected against your own TNT arrows, so you can't accidentally — or intentionally — damage your own base.

TNT arrows

TNT arrows are your main weapon. Fired during the Boom Phase, they stick to whatever they hit and explode shortly after — sticking to a wall damages the structure, sticking to a player "tags" them with a visible warning before the TNT detonates.

Lucky Blocks and special items

Lucky Blocks drop random rewards the moment you mine them, landing straight in your inventory. The pool includes special arrows, potions, and a few standalone offensive items:

  • Mob arrows (Skeleton, Creeper, Zombie, Spider, Vindicator, Witch, Pillager, Evoker) — place a spawner where they land, distracting enemies or adding pressure to a damaged base.
  • Powder Arrow — turns blocks in the impact area into black concrete powder, useful for marking or weakening a base.
  • Potions — Speed, Jump Boost, Levitation, and Slow Falling, useful for aggressive pushes or surviving a collapsing arena.
  • Fireball and TNT Shower — extra offensive options that, like TNT arrows, can't be used against your own base.

Block selection

Choose your personal building block in the lobby — Oak Planks are free by default, with dozens of wood and plank variants unlockable for coins (roughly 500–1,500 coins depending on the block). Once unlocked, a block stays available to pick again in future rounds.

Rewards and statistics

You earn coins and XP for tagging opponents with TNT, landing kills, and surviving rounds, with a larger bonus for winning. Use /stats <player> to check wins, kills, deaths, K/D, shots, placed/destroyed blocks, stuck players, and mob kills for any player.

Tips

  • Don't waste the Peace Phase — repair your base and reorganize before the next Boom Phase hits, or you'll start it already behind.
  • Mine TNT blocks as soon as they land; running out of arrows mid-fight is one of the fastest ways to lose offensive pressure.
  • Coordinate attacks instead of pushing alone when your own base is already damaged — a base with no defenders is an easy target while you're off attacking.

More in Minigames