Minecraft players write touching tributes on in-game signs for "amazing" server owner who died of cancer

Minecraft players have left tributes at an in-game memorial for a popular server's creator after he died of cancer.

The touching community-created memorial includes hundreds of messages written on signs placed around the server's hub.

Bryan, otherwise known as Pendar2, created the Emenbee Minecraft server back in 2011, and at its peak it hit 1531 concurrent players. Over the course of its seven-year life, Emenbee saw over one million unique players. But in October 2018, Pendar2 shut down the server after struggling to maintain it.

In a touching note on the Emenbee website, friend "Mod_masta" said goodbye to "a genius, a compassionate person, and our hero".

"For the last couple years of the server's life, Bryan was not very active and many of you thought he had given up. The truth is that he was diagnosed with cancer. He endured chemo and surgery for several months, and eventually we thought he had been cured. But towards the end of last year, it unexpectedly came back. Recently, Bryan passed away.

"To me Bryan was a partner, a friend, and an amazing server owner. Working with him for several years, I learned how much of a genius he truly was, in both his knowledge that allowed Emenbee to become so popular and in how he excelled at developing with so little experience. Our time spent together on Emenbee together were some of the best years of my life. It was truly an honour to have a friend like him. He did so much more for the server than most players thought he did. I could not have done anything without him.

"Without Bryan there would never have been an Emenbee, and so many of us would have been deprived of so many fun and exciting experiences. Bryan will be remembered as a genius, a compassionate person, and our hero. He accomplished so much in so little time and influenced more people than most others have throughout their lifetime."

In-game, ex-Emenbee players came together to leave tributes to Pendar2, turning the server's hub into a memorial.

This image, posted to reddit by user remydesp, shows over a hundred messages written on boards in the hub.

"I played on this server since its birth, I'm saddened by its shutdown. The friends and memories I made are priceless. Thank you all for the time of my life," reads one message.

"In its prime, this was the best part of my day," reads another message. "Thank you for making EM the best place to be. I will never forget all that you've done for me as a person."

"Emenbee was a definition of my early teen years," said another. "Thank you."

It's one of the more impressive virtual memorials I've seen in a video game - and evidence Minecraft's community can certainly be a wonderful one.

Mod_masta pointed those who would like to support Pendar2's family to consider donating to Cancer Research.