Morterra adds signs, oceans, swimming and dynamic terrain

On January 1, 2026 we wiped every map and released a large Morterra update with dynamic terrain, oceans you can swim in, signs, wells and automatic map wipes.

Morterra's first update of 2026 went live on January 1, together with a wipe of every map. It added dynamic terrain, oceans with swimming, signs, wells, saddles, stone tools and automatic map wipes to the browser survival MMO. So much changed that we couldn't list all of it, and we expected plenty of new bugs, so we asked players to find and report them.

What changed

Dynamic terrain, so the ground itself can change
Oceans, and swimming
Signs you can place with your own text on them
Wells for drinking water
Saddles, so a horse no longer runs away when you leave it
New stone tools
Tweaks to the graphics and visual effects
Performance improvements
Better mobile controls, which we asked phone players to send feedback on
An account page where you can change your password
Looting players who are downed or asleep

Horses had been in Morterra since the 2016 Java alpha, and until this update one would wander off if you left it alone. Downing arrived at Christmas 2022, and now a downed player can be looted the same way as a sleeping one. Signs and looting were both on the plans list in our Christmas 2022 update.

Automatic wipes and the Apocalypse

Map wipes became automatic in this update, and the chat command that tells you when the next wipe is due now gives the right date. Thirty minutes before each wipe, Apocalypse mode starts and dynamite spawns everywhere on the map. Nothing built on the old map survives the wipe, so the dynamite gives everyone a last half hour to blow things up.

Highscores became seasonal at the same time. When a server wipes, its highscore leaders are saved to that season permanently, and each server keeps its own record. We first said Morterra would run in seasons in August 2020, when we planned to name a winner for each one.

What we planned next

A rework of fishing
Vaults, chests that keep items on your account across wipes
More holiday events
Bounties on other players
Memberships, with worlds only members can join
Skins and cosmetics