2009scape

About

RuneScape is a fantasy MMORPG created by Andrew and Paul Gower, first released by Jagex in January 2001 as a Java-based browser game. 2009scape is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) emulation server recreating RuneScape as it existed around build 530 (January 2009); it's primarily played by connecting to the team's own community-hosted live server via a downloadable launcher rather than running a private copy, and new contributions are required to be written in Kotlin except for fixes to legacy code.

How it differs from the original

It recreates RuneScape frozen at its January 2009 content state (build 530) rather than the game's later or current content.

Getting started

Most players connect to the team's community-hosted live server using the downloadable launcher rather than compiling the project themselves; the team explicitly does not provide support for self-hosted copies.

History

The codebase descends from earlier closed-source, for-profit private servers named Arios498 and later Arios530, whose developers eventually released the source code and went on to create Kratos 530 in 2015; 2009scape itself began afterward as a non-profit continuation focused on that 530 revision.

Credits & contributing

• The project explicitly refuses donations, and its contribution policy bars using AI to write merge request descriptions, issue descriptions, or discussion replies.