StarMade has released a more updates and this underlines why we have not been running the server recently. As it stands we would probably have to start the Universe over once again to take full advantage of the changes.

This is a risk that is run with running a server for any game that is in Alpha and even Beta.

During Alpha the creator's may not have a full view of what some of the systems they have built into the game will be once its farther along. Some things may have to change or will change to improve their function.

- Some of the more notable changes since our server was up is the new worlds (No longer flat)

- There has also been reports of lag issues (not sure if this improved with 0.158)

- Changes to the weapon system

- And now changes to shields and factories (you will need to redesign your ships after these last two)

Once things become more stable and optimized we will bring the server back online. We may bring it back up before hand if enough interest is shown in people wanting to join it.

Any rate, some patch notes:

Undo/Redo - Players can now undo and redo their last steps of building ships. This makes it a lot easier to correct small mistakes. The size of the undo-queue can be adjusted in settings.cfg if needed.
Copy/Paste - While still a little wonky when selected, it already serves its purpose. You can now select a region of your structure and paste it as often as you want. For block connections, they are also copied as long as the control block is in the copied area. It doesn't yet work with the symmetry planes, but that will be added soon
Remove Filter - To quickly refit ships, this option was added. You can use it to select one block type to remove. Remove-Clicking will then only remove that type of block.
Mass Place Size (10^3) - This may now be set to new sizes in the server config, **placing in large volume has a high risk of lag, be cautious.**
Shields - Shields are now divided into two blocks, to allow for better balancing. There is now the shield-capacity and the shield-recharge blocks. Current shield blocks on ships will be replaced with shield capacity, so it's advisable to use the new build tools to replace some of them with recharge blocks. Shield Recharge doesn't have a texture yet, but that will be updated in a few days.
Thrust - This is still in balancing. Thrust has been adjusted with more configurable values to be more in line with the new balance numbers.
Block HP - Non hull blocks have had a reduction in their HP, this should eventually be followed by a reduction in their mass in a later patch.
Crafting - The existing crafting system is changing, we are retiring the old "L1-L5" ores and replacing them with a smaller set of minerals, the 8 new metals and crystals are already in the game as the new Crystal and Ingot blocks we introduced recently, the new crafting system will be based on the ores for these as a basic resource. You can still sell off your previous minerals, but you will no longer be able to purchase them from shops. (For additional decorations, try placing the new Capsule items.)
Collision Damage - Another update has been done on collision damage, the damage effect should now be more realistic, based on the mass/velocity of the 2 entities.
Asteroid Names - fixed name collision in asteroid files.
Debugging - Added debug methot to track save-reroll bug.
Duping - fixed exploit to duplicate blocks (not giving more info.)

More detailed notes can be found on their website: http://star-made.org