There’s also a cultural rhythm at play. In 2021, Minecraft’s playerbase had matured alongside sophisticated anti-cheat arms races and a growing sense that “client” meant not just mods but choices about fair play, creativity, and identity. For many, using Meteor was framed as customization — a toolbox to shape a personal experience. For server admins, it was another thing to police. For developers, it was a project whose reputation could be made or broken by a single controversial feature. The download query is therefore a prism reflecting disparate values: performance, freedom, fairness, and, occasionally, harm.